Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera}}

{{good article}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| image = The Hair Bear Bunch.jpg

| alt = Three bears wearing shirts wave to the viewer amidst a purple background with the name of the television series in the upper left corner.

| caption = The series' titleTitle card

| runtime = 30 minutes

| creator = [[Joe Ruby]]<br />[[Ken Spears]]

| director = [[William Hanna]]<br />[[Joseph Barbera]]

| company = [[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Productions]]

| producer = William[[Charles Hanna<brAugust />JosephNichols|Charles BarberaA. Nichols]]

| executive_producer = William Hanna<br />Joseph Barbera

| voices = [[Daws Butler]]<br />[[Paul Winchell]]<br />[[William Callaway]]<br />[[John Stephenson (actor)|John Stephenson]]<br />[[Joe E. Ross]]

| theme_music_composer = [[Hoyt Curtin]]

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| num_episodes = 16

}}

'''''Help! ... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!''''' is an American [[List of animated television series|animated television series]] created by [[TelevisionJoe program#series|televisionRuby]] seriesand [[Ken Spears]], and produced by [[Hanna-Barbera Productions]], which originally aired foron one season[[CBS]] on [[CBSSaturday morning cartoon|Saturday mornings]] from September 11, 1971, to January 8, 1972, for 16 episodes. [[Daws Butler]], [[Paul Winchell]] and [[William Callaway]] voice the three bears that comprise the Hair Bear Bunch, while [[John Stephenson (actor)|John Stephenson]] and [[Joe E. Ross]] voice Mr. Eustace P. Peevly and Lionel J. Botch, respectively, the two individuals who patrol the zoo in which the bears live. The series' producer andwas director[[Charles wasAugust Nichols|Charles A. Nichols]], with [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]] directing, and [[Hoyt Curtin]] serving as the composer.

A 13-issue comic book series was created by [[Gold Key Comics]] and began distribution in November 1971. Many television critics compared the premise of the show to other Hanna-Barbera productions, such as ''[[Wally Gator]]'', ''[[Top Cat]]'' and ''[[The Yogi Bear Show|Yogi Bear]]''. While in syndication, the series aired on multiple television networks in the United States, including [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]], [[Cartoon Network]], and the [[USA Network]]. In total, ''Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' contained sixteen 30 minute-long episodes. It has also been released digitally to the [[Google Play Store]] and [[iTunes Store]] and physically on DVD as part of [[Warner Bros.]]' [[Warner Archive Collection|Archive Collection]] on a four-disc set.

==Storyline==

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* [[Paul Winchell]] as '''Bubi Bear''', the "more level-headed confederate" to Hair Bear, though he sometimes speaks in unintelligible gibberish.<ref name="America Toons In" />

* [[Bill Callaway]] as '''Square Bear''', the most idiotic and "dimwitted" of the three bears, though he is the one who usually conjures up the "invisible motorcycle[s]" they use to make their escapes.<ref name="America Toons In" /> His personality has also been described as "dopey" and "laid-back".<ref name="From Abba to Zoom" /><ref name="1970s Childhood" />

* [[John Stephenson (actor)|John Stephenson]] as '''Mr. Eustace P. Peevly''', the irritable, frustrated and authoritarian zoo director at Wonderland Zoo whom the three bears constantly try to outsmart – often successfully.<ref name="From Abba to Zoom" />

* [[Joe E. Ross]] as '''Lionel J. Botch''', a zookeeper who is the "harebrained assistant" to Mr. Peevly.<ref name="The Art of Hanna-Barbera">{{harvnb|Sennett|Barbera|1989|p=178}}</ref> He is constantly completing work for Mr. Peevly, despite him putting Lionel "in dangerous situations for selfish reasons". He is also constantly rebuked by Peevly whenever he asks about his promotion to some unspecified title.<ref name="Common Sense Media review" />

==Production and promotion==

Executively produced and directed by [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]]'s [[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Productions]], [[Charles August Nichols|Charles A. Nichols]] served as the series' main producer.<ref name="Television 1970 and 1980">{{harvnb|Terrace|1981|p=88}}</ref> Additionally, [[Bob Givens|Robert "Bob" Givens]] contributed as the layout artist for the storyboards.<ref name="Who's Who in Animated Cartoons">{{harvnb|Lenburg|2006|p=104}}</ref> The show's official theme song was written by [[Hoyt Curtin]], who also served as the series' music composer.<ref name="Billboard music article">{{cite magazine|last1=Tiegel|first1=Eliot|title=From the Music Capitals of the World: Los Angeles|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=July 31, 1971|volume=83|issue=31|page=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uggEAAAAMBAJ&q=help+it%27s+the+hair+bear+bunch+hoyt+curtin&pg=PA24|access-date=May 26, 2017|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> Other than the main cast, frequent Hanna-Barbera voice actors [[Janet Waldo]], [[Joan Gerber]], [[Lennie Weinrib]], [[Vic Perrin]] and [[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]] and [[Vic Perrin]] played several minor characters for the show.<ref name="Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies">{{harvnb|Lisanti|2012|p=303}}</ref><ref{{Better namesource needed|reason="ObituariesLisanti incites the Performing Arts">{{harvnbIMDB|Lentzdate=May III|2007|p=3972025}}</ref> A group of five writers wrote for ''Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'', including Joel Kane, [[Heywood Kling]], Howard Morgenstern, [[Joe Ruby]], and [[Ken Spears]].<ref name="episode 1 ref">{{cite episode|title=Keep Your Keeper|series=Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!|credits=Writer: Kane, Joel; Kling, Heywood; Morgenstern, Howard; Ruby, Jon; Spears, Ken Director: Hanna, William; Barbera, Joseph|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=September 11, 1971|season=1}}</ref> Despite Stephenson ultimately playing the role of Mr. Eustace P. Peevly, Barbera had intended for [[Joe Flynn (American actor)|Joe Flynn]] to play the part since the character was based on Flynn's Captain Binghamton from ''[[McHale's Navy]]''; however, when Flynn came into audition for the part, Barbera was unimpressed and cast Stephenson for the part instead. Barbera claimed "that Joe Flynn didn't sound enough like Joe Flynn."<ref name="News from Me article and review">{{cite web|last1=Evanier|first1=Mark|title=Hairy History|url=http://www.newsfromme.com/2013/04/08/hairy-history/|publisher=[[Mark Evanier|News from Me]]|access-date=May 29, 2017|date=April 8, 2013}}</ref>

[[Gold Key Comics]] adapted several Hanna-Barbera and "Saturday morning-based" productions (such as ''[[The Funky Phantom]]'', ''[[Harlem Globetrotters (TV series)|The Harlem Globetrotters]]'', and ''[[Lidsville]]'') into comic books. The adaptation of ''Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' was titled just ''The Hair Bear Bunch'' and began distribution in 1972.<ref name="American Comic Book Chronicles">{{harvnb|Sacks|Dallas|Dykema|2014|p=87}}</ref> 13 different issues were made for the series overall.<ref name="The Official Overstreet Comic Book Companion">{{harvnb|Overstreet|2008|p=179}}</ref>

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''Help! ... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' was broadcast on [[CBS]] between September 11, 1971 and January 8, 1972.<ref name="TV Guide episode 1" /><ref name="TV Guide episode 16" /> The series was cancelled after the first season, consisting of sixteen episodes, was completed airing; according to Lehman, the series was unsuccessful because it did not appeal to a younger audience, citing its similarities to ''The Phil Silvers Show'' as an additional reason.<ref name="American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era" /> It returned Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM on September 9, 1973 then was moved to Saturdays at 8 AM on February 2, 1974 after CBS revamped their Saturday line-up.

In syndication, the series was replayed on several television networks after its cancellation. [[USA Network]] ran the series beginning February 19, 1989, and until November 7, 1991.<ref name=Erickson>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=403}}</ref> The United States' [[Cartoon Network]] began broadcasting it in 1994 and its sister channel [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]] did so on several occasions in the early-to-late 2000s.<ref name=Erickson/><ref name="August 11, 2003 Boomerang schedule">{{cite web|title=Boomerang Schedule: Monday, August 11, 2003 |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/BoomerangServlet?action=selectBMDay |publisher=[[Cartoon Network]] |access-date=May 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030812033534/http://alt.cartoonnetwork.com/Schedule/0%2C3671%2CBOO%2C00.html |archive-date=August 12, 2003 |date=August 11, 2003 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A physical release on [[VHS]] first occurred in September 1988 and features three episodes from the series.<ref name="Bowker's Directory of Videocassettes for Children">{{harvnb|Bowker|1999|p=97}}</ref> Years later, as part of the [[Warner Bros. Television|Warner Bros. Television Distribution]]'s [[Warner Archive Collection|Archive Collection]], the complete ''Help! ... It's the Hair Bear Bunch'' series was made available on DVD as a four-disc set.<ref name="Warner Archive Collection">{{cite web|title=Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch: The Complete Series (MOD)|url=http://www.wbshop.com/product/help%21+it%27s+the+hair+bear+bunch-+the+complete+series+%28mod%29+1000383806.do|publisher=[[Warner Archive Collection]]|access-date=May 22, 2017|archive-date=October 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030003454/http://www.wbshop.com/product/help%21+it%27s+the+hair+bear+bunch-+the+complete+series+%28mod%29+1000383806.do|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was also released digitally to the [[Google Play Store]] and [[iTunes Store]] libraries in its entirety.<ref name="iTunes Store download">{{cite web|title=Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch!, The Complete Series|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/help-its-the-hair-bear-bunch-the-complete-series/id855455830|publisher=[[iTunes Store]] (US)|access-date=May 27, 2017}}</ref>

===Critical response===

''Help! ... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' was compared to several other Hanna-Barbera productions. David Mansour, author of ''From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century'', compared the show's premise to the storyline of Hanna-Barbera's ''[[Top Cat]]'' and wrote, "but instead of a gang of hip cats residing in an alley, it starred a bunch of cool bears living at the zoo."<ref name="From Abba to Zoom">{{harvnb|Mansour|2011|p=210}}</ref> Christopher P. Lehman, who wrote ''American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era'', also compared it to a previous television series, but instead to the live-action ''The Phil SilverSilvers Show''.<ref name="American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era">{{harvnb|Lehman|2006|p=142}}</ref> Author David Perlmutter considered the show to be a reworked version of ''[[The Yogi Bear Show|Yogi Bear]]'', which he deemed appropriate because "the youth of the late 1960s and early 1970s" had a "'hippie' mindset." He also noted that because the series "incorporated some of the 'flip, sophisticated' style of the early animal con-artist formula, the series maintained a distinct connection with the time and place in which it was produced."<ref name="America Toons In">{{harvnb|Perlmutter|2014|p=157}}</ref>

Besides ''[[Wait Till Your Father Gets Home]]'' (1972–1974) and ''[[Hong Kong Phooey]]'' (1974), Nichola Dobson wrote in ''The A to Z of Animation and Cartoons'' that ''Help! ... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'' was one of Hanna-Barbera's more successful shows.<ref name="The A to Z of Animation and Cartoons">{{harvnb|Dobson|2010|p=98}}</ref> However, in ''The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures: 1001 Things You Hate to Love'', three different authors labeled the series as one of Hanna-Barbera's "lesser-known efforts" but ultimately called it a "guilty pleasure" and enjoyed that it had its own score.<ref name="The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures">{{harvnb|Stall|Harry|Spalding|2004|p=118}}</ref> In a retrospective view of older cartoons, the staff at [[MeTV]] included the show on their list of "15 Forgotten Cartoons from the Early 1970s You Used to Love."<ref name="MeTV review">{{cite web|author1=MeTV staff|title=15 Forgotten Cartoons from the Early 1970s You Used to Love|url=http://www.metv.com/stories/15-cartoons-from-the-1970s-you-probably-forgot-about|publisher=[[MeTV]]|access-date=May 22, 2017|date=June 17, 2016}}</ref> Deirdre Sheppard from [[Common Sense Media]] rated it three out of five stars and noted that it has "no educational content"; however, she also said that "other than the mildest of mild violence, and the characters' tendency to poke fun at each other, the series is fun and inoffensive."<ref name="Common Sense Media review">{{cite web|last1=Sheppard|first1=Deirdre|title=Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch!|date=21 August 2006|url=https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/help-its-the-hair-bear-bunch|publisher=[[Common Sense Media]]|access-date=May 29, 2017}}</ref>

==Other appearances==

* The Hair Bear Bunch made special guest appearances at a celebrity roast honoring [[Fred Flintstone]] in the TV special ''[[Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue]]'' (1977).{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

* Hair Bear made a cameo appearance as a animatronic in the ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' episode "Chubby Cheese".

* The Hair Bear Bunch also made a brief appearance in the pilot of ''[[Welcome to Eltingville]]''.

* Hair Bear made an appearance in the ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law]]'' episode "Juror in Court". He was accused of property damage and attacking customers and co-workers at a fast food restaurant when Harvey Birdman thought that he was on trial for not wearing a hair net. Mentok the Mindtaker had to clear things up with Harvey Birdman about Hair Bear's case.

* The Hair Bear Bunch appear in ''[[Jellystone!]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/the-hanna-barbera-gangs-all-here-in-new-jellystone-key-art/|title = The Hanna-Barbera Gang's All Here in New 'Jellystone!' Key Art|date = 15 July 2021}}</ref>

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* {{cite book|last1=Lehman|first1=Christopher P.|title=American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era: A Study of Social Commentary in Films and Television Programs, 1961-1973|date=October 26, 2006|publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn= 0786451424 |edition=illustrated }}

* {{cite book|last1=Lenburg|first1=Jeff|title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators|date=2006|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=155783671X|edition=illustrated|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinanimate0000lenb}}

* {{cite book|last1=Lentz III|first1=Harris M.|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=April 26, 2007|publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn= 978-0786429332 |edition=illustrated }}

* {{cite book|last1=Lisanti|first1=Thomas|title=Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969|date=August 24, 2012|publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn= 978-1476601427 }}

* {{cite book|last1=Mansour|first1=David|title=From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century|date=June 1, 2011|publisher=Andrew McMeel Publishing |isbn= 978-0740793073 }}

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{{USA Cartoon Express}}

[[Category:CBS1970s originalAmerican programminganimated comedy television series]]

[[Category:1970s American animatedchildren's comedy television series]]

[[Category:1971 American animated television series debuts]]

[[Category:1972 American television series endings]]

[[Category:American children's animated comedy television series]]

[[Category:American English-language television shows]]

[[Category:Television series by Hanna-Barbera]]

[[Category:Animated television series about bears]]

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[[Category:Television series created by Joe Ruby]]

[[Category:Television series created by Ken Spears]]

[[Category:CBS animated television series]]

[[Category:Children's television series about talking animals]]