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January 1961 - December 1961, syndicated
Hanna-Barbera Productions
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nagglepuss was a minor character in
several Hanna-Barbera cartoons before he got his own series,
although his first appearance is open to debate. A character
very similar in design, called Snaggletooth, originally appeared
in an episode of Quick Draw McGraw in 1959, but despite the name
difference he definitely formed the seed of the Snagglepuss
character. In addition to Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss got
work as a supporting character on
Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy
and with Snooper & Blabber before getting his own series in
1961. Snagglepuss episodes were seven minutes in length and
played alongside segments of Yogi Bear and
Yakky Doodle on The
Yogi Bear Show.
Despite having
an air of sophistication and fancying himself as something
of an actor and a poet, Snagglepuss's mountain lion heritage
meant that he spent much of his time in the gun sights of
hunters or having to escape capture from zoos, circuses or
simple cages - although his natural home was either a stone
house or a furnished cave. His passion for classic
literature came through in his frequent (mis)quotes of
Shakespearean phrases or passages. Uttered just as
frequently was his catchphrase, "Heavens to Mergatroyd!"
when he was surprised or alarmed, or "Exit...stage left (or
right)" before running off screen when attempting to escape
danger.
Snagglepuss found
himself in conflict with a different adversary in nearly every
episode. The only recurring supporting character in the series
was Major Minor, an otherwise successful big game
hunter whose one failure was
bagging Snagglepuss. Major Minor's membership with The
Adventurers Club was always in jeopardy because of this
embarrassment.
When his own series ended, Snagglepuss
went on to appear in a variety of made for TV specials, as well
as becoming a regular cast member of several brand new series,
including Yogi's Gang (1973),
Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics
(1977), Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985) and
Yo Yogi! (1991). |
