Commander McBragg

Commander McBragg is a cartoon character who appeared in short segments (usually lasting 90 seconds) produced by Total Television Productions and animated by Gamma Productions. These segments first appeared in 1963 on the animated series Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales,^[1][2] then on the Underdog animated television show from 1964–1973, and have appeared in some syndicated prints of The Bullwinkle Show, Hoppity Hooper and Uncle Waldo's Cartoon Show.

Segment format

The segments opened with an image of a revolving globe and the title "The World of Commander McBragg." In each episode, the Commander would buttonhole a hapless member of his gentleman's club, and proceed to relate some story filled with unlikelihoods and outright impossibilities, always concluding with a hairbreadth escape. For example, McBragg would point to a map on the wall (or globe) and say: "There! Zanzibar! Did I ever tell you about the time I ...?" His colleague would, despite his initial reticence ("NO, Commander, but I-"), become very engaged in the exciting tale ("Good Heavens! What did you do?"), and at its conclusion would compliment the Commander on his cleverness—usually incorporating a terrible pun— to which the Commander would always respond, "Quite."

Character origins

The deep, gravelly voice of Commander McBragg was provided by veteran voice talent Kenny Delmar, best known for his stammering Non-Stop Talking (as "Senator Claghorn" [Which morphed into the WB cartoon rooster, "Foghorn Leghorn"]) on the old Fred Allen radio show. The character of McBragg is based upon C. Aubrey Smith, a famous English actor - from the 1939 movie "Four Feathers" ('War was war then') - who often played roles in films similar to the exploits related by McBragg. The stories, more often than not, were either taken directly from or were imitations of the Baron Münchhausen stories of Rudolf Erich Raspe. Other influences include the early animated character Colonel Heeza Liar,^[1] the subject of a number of animated shorts created by John R. Bray and directed by Walter Lantz, who would later become better known for the Woody Woodpecker franchise.

Other media

Commander McBragg appeared in The Simpsons episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" voiced by Maurice LaMarche. He was acting as the judge for a scavenger hunt between Montgomery Burns and the Rich Texan, both eccentric millionaires in the same gentleman's club, known in the episode as "The Excluder's Club" as it is known for being very exclusive.

External links

• The World of Commander McBragg at The Big Cartoon Database

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Markstein, Don. "Commander McBragg." Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed July 17, 2008.
2. ^ Tennessee Tuxedo on Toontracker.com. Accessed July 17, 2008.