Time for Beany

infobox television
show_name = Time for Beany


caption =
format = Puppet show
runtime = 15 minutes
creator = Bob Clampett
starring = Daws Butler
Stan Freberg
country = flagcountry|United States
network = Paramount Television Network
first_aired = 1949
last_aired = 1955
num_episodes =
imdb_id =

"Time for Beany" was an American television series, with puppets for characters, which aired locally in Los Angeles starting in 1949 and nationally on the improvised Paramount Television Network from 1950 to 1955. It was created by animator Bob Clampett, who later reused its core characters in the animated "Beany and Cecil" series. The principal characters were Beany, a plucky young boy who wears a beanie; the brave but dimwitted Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, who claimed to be 300 years old and 35 feet 3 inches tall; Beany's uncle, the pigheaded Captain Horatio Huffenpuff (whose name is a play on Horatio Hornblower), familiarly called Uncle Captain; Dishonest John, whose cape and handlebar mustache clearly identified him as the villain; and Tearalong the Dotted Lion. Another character, a circus clown aptly named Clownie, appeared in early episodes but was later dropped.

The principal voice actors were Daws Butler and Stan Freberg. The puppets, created by Maurice Seiderman, were presented against simple sets or crude background drawings.

"Time for Beany" recounted the exotic voyages and landfalls of the ship "Leakin' Lena" under the at times inept command of Uncle Captain. The episodes, each fifteen minutes in length, frequently contained topical references, usually of a satirical nature. One episode portrayed President Harry S Truman in puppet form, accompanying Cecil's singing. Other characters spoofed popular entertainers; examples are Dinah Saur and The Red Skeleton, parodies of Dinah Shore and Red Skelton.

Albert Einstein was a fan of the show. On one occasion, the physicist interrupted a high-level conference by announcing, "You will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It's "Time for Beany"." ["It Only Hurts When I Laugh", Stan Freberg, Times Books, 1988. ISBN 0812912977] Rock musician Frank Zappa was also a fan.

Animaniacs Pinky and the Brain paid homage to the show by having a puppet show called "The Meany Show". It also references Albert Einstein being a fan of the show, as Pinky and the Brain are mice in his 1954 laboratory.

Videography

* "Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil: The Special Edition" (Image Entertainment, 1999) (4 episodes)

References

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/7762/timebean.htm Toon Tracker]