Huckleberry Hound

In 1953, Tex Avery created a character known as the Southern Wolf for his MGM cartoons The Three Little Pups and Billy Boy. Introduced as an antagonist to Droopy, the wolf had a southern drawl and laid back mannerisms provided by Daws Butler. The most memorable trait of the character was that whenever something painful or unpleasant happened to him, the Wolf never lost his cool, instead, he calmly talked to the audience or kept whistling the song 'Year of Jubilo'. After Avery left MGM, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced two more shorts with the character. In two of his cartoons (Billy Boy and Blackboard Jumble) the wolf plays a role that was exactly like a usual Huckleberry Hound short, aside from his frequent use of slang, and the echo-like repetition of words he only had in Billy Boy. While Sheep Wrecked was the wolf's final appearance, Huckleberry can be considered his reincarnation.

Huckleberry's name is a reference to classic American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain. Hanna and Barbera almost named Yogi Bear "Huckleberry Bear".[9]

He was voiced in the original cartoons in 1958 by Daws Butler, who had given a similar voice and characterization to the dog character in Ruff and Reddy. The voice for Huck was actually inspired by a neighbor of Butler's wife, Myrtis Martin, in her hometown Albemarle, North Carolina. Butler would visit Myrtis and her family and would talk to the neighbor who was a veterinarian. Butler found the man's voice amusing, and would remember it when it came time to voice Huck.[10] The voice bore similarities to that of Andy Griffith, who likewise based his character accent on a rural North Carolina town (in Griffith's case, Mount Airy), and Hanna-Barbera was known for its characters' voices being parodies of known celebrities; Butler, who had been using the accent for about a decade before Griffith became famous, denied using Griffith as an inspiration.[9]

Huckleberry's voice was originally loud, enthusiastic and joyful, to fit his occupation of a showman. As the show progressed, it became deeper, and more calm.

• Huckleberry, Yogi, Boo Boo, Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, and Snagglepuss traveled around America in the half-hour series Yogi's Gang. Debuting in 1973, the characters traveled in Ark Lark, a hot air balloon. They solved problems including Mr. Waste and pollution, Mr. Bigot's bigotry, and other various issues.[9]
• Huckleberry appeared as a member of "The Yogi Yahooeys" team on Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics / Scooby's All-Stars from 1977 to 1979.
• The Galaxy Goof-Ups segment of the 1978 series Yogi's Space Race featured new characters Captain Snerdley, Scare Bear, and Quack-Up the Duck with returnees Huckleberry and Yogi, traveling through space to multiple planets in a race throughout the galaxy. The series soon split off to its own half-hour program where Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Scare Bear, and Quack-Up are bumbling intergalactic police officers.[9]
• Yogi's First Christmas featured Huckleberry and others helping Yogi Bear prevent Jellystone Lodge's owner from tearing it down.[9]
• Syndicated series The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera included a segment in 1985 called Yogi's Treasure Hunt; Huckleberry appeared alongside characters including Yogi and Boo Boo, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Dick Dastardly and Muttley, and Top Cat.[9]
• In 1987, he appeared in the television film Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, traveling around the world, saving animals and fending off the Dread Baron and Mumbly.[9]
• Huck's leading role comeback was in the Western television film The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, released in 1988, where he was portrayed as a "mysterious stranger" who ends up becoming a town sheriff and falls in love with the Indian chief's daughter, Desert Flower.[9]
• Huckleberry appeared as a teenager in the series Yo Yogi!, voiced by Greg Berg. Wee Willie was also featured as a teenager with his vocal effects done by Rob Paulsen.
• Huckleberry along with other Hanna-Barbera characters including Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Wilma Flintstone, Betty Rubble, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and George Jetson made appearances in the live show Hanna-Barbera Gala Celebrity Nite at the Australian amusement park Wonderland Sydney in 1997. Keith Scott provided the voices of all the characters (except Wilma and Betty, who were voiced by Robyn Moore) including Huckleberry himself.
• On June 11, 2000, Cartoon Network aired a short animated film called "Sound Hound" as part of a series of short animations called "Cartoon Network Shorties" that would eventually be moved with the short musical animations known as "Cartoon Network Groovies" to its other channel devoted to old classics, Boomerang. The short features Huckleberry as the lead character, voiced by Maurice LaMarche. Attempting to sing his signature song "Oh My Darling Clementine", he is repeatedly interrupted by the sounds of New York City, like car horns, jackhammers, and birds, and a visibly irritated Huckleberry zips a radio host's mouth closed, interrupts a man and woman's phone calls, and silences two teenagers rocking in a car, all rendered with cutout animation. As he begins to sing, all of the people he silenced begin to scream in agony.[9]
• Huckleberry Hound appears in the Johnny Bravo episode "Back on Shaq", voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He appears as Seth Green's good luck charm in his basketball match against Shaquille O'Neal and Johnny Bravo.
• Huckleberry made a pictured cameo in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Droopy Botox".
• Huckleberry appeared as a guest star in the 2017 reboot Wacky Races, voiced by Billy West. In one episode "Hong Kong Screwy", he appears as Peter Perfect's stunt double in scenes where the racers and Hong Kong Phooey fight the soldiers of the evil organization K.I.T.T.Y. led by Golden Paw. In the other episode "Slow and Steady", Huck joins the racers and Ricochet Rabbit in a romp through the Appalachian Mountains.
• Huckleberry appeared as Snagglepuss' friend and Quick Draw McGraw's lover in the 6-issue comic book miniseries Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles.[11]
• Huckleberry appeared in Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special #1.[12]
• Huckleberry will appear in the upcoming series Jellystone!.[13]

Huckleberry Hound in Hollywood Capers is a 1993 computer game for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST, released only in Europe. It was, in fact, adapted from an earlier game, Dino Jr. in Canyon Capers.[14]

• The Huckleberry Hound Show
  • List of The Huckleberry Hound Show episodes
• List of Hanna-Barbera characters

• The Huckleberry Hound Show at IMDb
• The Huckleberry Hound Show at TV.com