The Hillbilly Bears

"The Hillbilly Bears" is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It aired as a segment on "The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show" for two seasons, from 1965 to 1967. During the first half of the 1966-67 television season, "The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show" was split into two shows, and "The Hillbilly Bears" aired as part of "The Atom Ant Show". The characters in the series were a family of four anthropomorphic bears: Maw and Paw Rugg, their teenage daughter Floral, and their young son Shag (whose voices and personas were nearly identical to Elroy and Judy Jetson).

Overview

The Hillbilly Bears played on a social stereotype of the "hillbilly", with a gun toting, mumbling father (Paw Rugg) who was always "feudin" with the neighbors the Hoppers. Paw Rugg's voice was a comical mumble, splattered with a few understandable words. Particularly in the first episodes, Paw Rugg's voice was incomprehensible; his speech improved with the later episodes. "Feudin" was usually a lethargic operation in which the protagonists fired the same bullet back and forth from the comfort of their rocking chairs.

Episode list

There were a total of 26 six-minute episodes produced.
# "Detour For Sure" (1965)
# "Woodpecked" (1965)
# "Anglers Aweigh" (1965)
# "Stranger Than Friction" (1965)
# "Goldilocks and the Four Bears" (1965)
# "Going, Going Gone Gopher" (1965)
# "Courtin' Disaster" (1965)
# "Picnic Panicked" (1965)
# "Judo Kudos" (1965)
# "Just Plane Around" (1965)
# "War Games" (1965)
# "Bricker Brats" (1965)
# "Slap Happy Grandpappy" (1965)
# "Pooped Pops" (1966)
# "Leaky Creek" (1966)
# "My Fair Hillbilly" (1966)
# "Rickety-Rockety-Raccoon" (1966)
# "Modern Inconvenience" (1966)
# "Rabbit Rumble" (1966)
# "Speckled Heckler" (1966)
# "Whirly Bear" (1966)
# "Saucy Saucers" (1966)
# "Chipper Chirper" (1966)
# "Gettin' Paws Goat" (1966)
# "Buzzin' Cuzzins" (1966)
# "Do the Bear" (1966)

Cast

* Henry Corden - Paw Rugg
* Paul Frees - Claude Hopper
* Don Messick - Shag Rugg
* Jean Vander Pyl - Maw Rugg, Floral Rugg

Other Appearances

The Hillbilly Bears appeared in "Yogi's Ark Lark" and its spin-off series "Yogi's Gang".

The Hillbilly Bears made a cameo in the "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" episode "Guitar Control."

The Hillbilly Bears are in a Boomerang short, where Maw takes them on a Jerry Springer like show due to the fact she can't understand Paw. This result in Paw shooting on the wall "I luv you Maw"

ee also

*"The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show"

External links

*imdb title|id=0303469