Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har

Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and aired as one of the three segments of the syndicated show The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, the other two being Wally Gator and Touché Turtle and Dum Dum. The segment stars the titular anthropomorphic lion and hyena duo in a series of goofy misadventures.^[1]

Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har
Running on a ship's deck, Lippy (right) leads Hardy Har Har (left) in an episode of the show.
Genre	Comedy
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Voices of	Daws Butler Mel Blanc
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Opening theme	Theme from Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har
Ending theme	Theme from Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har
Composer	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	52
Production
Producers	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network	First-run syndication
Release	September 3, 1962 (1962-09-03) – August 26, 1963 (1963-08-26)

History

Lippy the Lion (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Joe E. Brown^[2]) and Hardy Har Har the hyena (voiced by Mel Blanc) first appeared in The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series on September 3, 1962, along with Wally Gator and Touché Turtle and Dum Dum.^[3] Mel Blanc used the same voice, personality and expressions for Hardy Har Har that he used playing the postman on the Burns and Allen radio show.

Their cartoons revolve around ever-hopeful Lippy's attempts to conduct a get-rich-quick scheme, with reluctant Hardy serving as a foil. Whatever the consequences were to Lippy's schemes, Hardy ends up getting the worst of it — a fact he always seems to realize ahead of time, with his moans of "Oh me, oh my, oh dear". Although the intro shows them in a jungle setting proper for such beasts, most of the cartoons' stories take place in an urban setting.

Since then, the duo have been infrequently included in the cast of Hanna-Barbera's ensemble shows (e.g., Yogi's Gang). They are no longer constantly pursuing Lippy's get-rich-quick schemes, but their personalities were unchanged: Lippy is still the smiling optimist, Hardy the moaning pessimist.

List of episodes

Main article: The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series § List of episodes

Voice cast

• Daws Butler – Lippy the Lion
• Mel Blanc – Hardy Har Har
• Additional voices – Julie Bennett, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl, Doug Young

NOTE: Before the series regained its popularity among Hanna-Barbera fans, websites describing the series claimed that Mel Blanc left the series after 18 episodes, with Daws Butler taking over the role of Hardy as well as Lippy for the remaining 34 episodes. This is untrue, however – Mel Blanc voiced Hardy in all 52 episodes. This confusion likely came about because a prototype Hardy Har Har first appeared in a Snooper and Blabber cartoon several years before, in which he was voiced by Butler.

Home media

The show's first episode, "Sea-saw", is available on Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2.^[4]

On July 9, 2019, Warner Archive released Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection.^[5]

Other appearances

• Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har were seen in Yogi's Ark Lark. In one scene, Lippy was fed up with Hardy's behavior when those that were on the Noah's Ark were getting bored looking for the perfect place. Though he did save Hardy when the Ark ended up in a storm. Both of them were also in the TV movie's sequel series, Yogi's Gang. In both appearances, Hardy Har Har was voiced by John Stephenson while Daws Butler reprised Lippy.
• Lippy and Hardy appeared in one issue of a 1963 comic book by Gold Key Comics, and also featured in three issues of Gold Key's 1962-1963 Hanna-Barbera Bandwagon.^[6]
• Lippy and Hardy appeared in the 1977 Hanna-Barbera comic book issue called "The Flintstones' Christmas Party".
• Lippy and Hardy had appeared in an episode of Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
• Lippy and Hardy were seen in Yo Yogi!, voiced by Greg Burson and Rob Paulsen respectively. Hardy Har Har is a teenager that appears in the episode "Tricky Dickie's Dirty Trickies" where Yogi ended up hanging out with Hardy after Dick Dastardly does something to get Yogi fired from the L.A.F. Squad so that Dick Dastardly can lead the L.A.F. Squad. In "Polly Want a Safe Cracker", Lippy the Lion appears as the proprietor of "The Precious Gems and Jams Store" that gets robbed by the Birdbrain of Alcatrax.
• Lippy and Hardy appeared in DC Comics Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special #1 as captured animals alongside other Hanna-Barbera characters.
• Lippy and Hardy appeared in the series Jellystone! with Lippy the Lion voiced by Jeff Bergman in a Yiddish accent and Hardy Har Har voiced by Jenny Lorenzo in a Latina accent.^[7] Both characters are elderly, Hardy is also depicted as a female and wears glasses, and they are married.^[8] The episode "Face of the Town" reveals that Lippy is Jellystone's oldest citizen and that he knew Jellystone's founder Hubert Bartholomewbert who Lippy stated lied about his stories which he did for fame and money. The episode "Baby Shenangigans" reveals that Lippy and Hardy were still in their prime when they were 72.

References

1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 362. ISBN 978-1538103739.
2. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 501. ISBN 978-1476665993.
4. "Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s - Volume 2 DVD Review - IGN". IGN. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
5. "Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har: The Complete Series (MOD)". WB Shop. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
6. Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
7. Hemmert, Kylie (June 24, 2021). "Jellystone!: Hanna-Barbera Characters Return in HBO Max Original Animated Series". Comingsoon.net.
8. "Jellystone! I Official Trailer I HBO Max Family". YouTube. June 24, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved June 24, 2021.

External links

• Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har at IMDb
• The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series at IMDb
• Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 8, 2015.
• Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase