Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.

Yogi Bear is the first breakout character in animated television; he was created by Hanna-Barbera and was eventually more popular than ostensible star Huckleberry Hound.^[30] In January 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show, sponsored by Kellogg’s, which included the segments Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle.^[31] Hokey Wolf replaced his segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show.^[32] A musical animated feature film, Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!, was released in 1964.

Yogi was one of the several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a collar. This allowed animators to keep his body relatively static, redrawing only his head in each frame when he spoke – one of the ways Hanna-Barbera cut costs, reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around 2,000.^[33]

Personality – Yogi Bear – Great Balloon Blast

Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, Yogi’s personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time. Art Carney‘s Ed Norton character on The Honeymooners was said to be Yogi’s inspiration;^[34][35] his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton.^[36] Carney, in turn, received influence from the Borscht Belt and comedians of vaudeville.^[35]

Yogi’s name was similar to that of contemporary baseball star Yogi Berra, who was known for his amusing quotes, such as “half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.” Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation, but their management claimed the similarity was just coincidence. Berra withdrew his suit, but the defense was considered implausible.^[37] At the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, Yogi Berra was a household name.^[38] Journalist Walter Brasch once wrote that “whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the [animation] industry who believes it.