Huckleberry Hound

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Eyes: Black
Hair: Blue fur
Race: Dog


Occupation: Assorted jobs
Marital Status: Single


Story: Huckleberry Hound is a stoic guy getting the job done. Whatever the job may be.


Continuity: Hanna & Barbera Cartoons
Company: Hanna-Barbera Productions
First app.: Cartoons: Sheriff Huckleberry (1958)
Creator(s): William Hanna
Country of origin: USA


Background notes: Huckleberry Hound was created for the TV series The Huckleberry Hound Show, which ran for 55 episode from 1958-1961 (voice by Daws Butler). The series was the first in which Hanna and Barbera produced and controlled the content of the entire show. The series had the honor of winning an Emmy Award during the 1959-60 season. This was the first ever given to an animated series. In the series the dog Huckleberry had a number of different jobs, and with his stoic attitude he took care of whatever the assignment was. In many ways the series felt like a toned down version of the Droopy cartoons. Also, when comparing to the other series by Hanna and Barbera, it is noticeable that there is no recurring cast or theme associated with the series, and thus gives the impression of the series also serving as an outlet for funny ideas that did not fit in the other series. After the show stopped, the character apparently did not appear in cartoons until 1972 in Yogi's Ark Lark, and on a regular basis not until the series Yogi's Gang from 1973, this time interacting with the other Hanna-Barbera characters. After this, Huckleberry Hound appeared on a regular basis on the various shows like The Galaxy Goof-Ups, Scooby's Laff-A-Lympics, and Fender Bender 500, where he teamed up with Snagglepuss as a race car driver. The last record in cartoons is the episode Behind The Laughter from The Simpsons (2000), however, as an actual character in a story, the last record is the cartoon series Yo Yogi! from 1991.

Huckleberry was transferred to comics in Four Color Comics #990 from 1959 (Dell), where he appeared along with other characters from Hanna and Barbera. In 1960 Huckleberry got his own series, starting with #3. There is no explanation as to why the series started with #3, but other series have counted the issues in Four Color Comics and started the numbering from there. In that case the series should have started with #4, but whoever did the numbering may have missed and issue. The series lasted 43 issues, shifting from Dell to Gold Key with #18, the last issue being from 1970. A new series was started immediately after from Carlton. This series only lasted eight issues and was the last Huckleberry Hound comic. The character himself continued appearing in other series like Yogi Bear, Laff-A-Lympics and Hanna-Barbera Presents. The last record so far is Cartoon Network Presents # 16 from 1998.

In games the character has appeared more or less as long as the cartoons. The earliest records are the board games Huckleberry Hound Spin-O Game and Huckleberry Hound Western Game, both from 1959, but older games may exist. The first (and only) computer game appears to be Huckleberry Hound in Hollywood Capers from 1993 (for Amiga, Atari ST and PC).

One of the platforms for storytelling used for Hanna and Barbera's characters were records with songs and short stories. The first record was the LP Huckleberry Hound (TV Soundtrack) from 1959 containing songs from the Huckleberry Hound cartoons. The first LP with stories was Huckleberry Hound Kellogg's Great TV Show Stories, also from 1959, where the voice actors from the cartoons also played the various characters. Records and later CDs with Hanna-Barbera characters were published at least up to the mid 1990's.

In terms of merchandise, Huckleberry has appeared in many types over the years. Other than the games, the character can be found as figurines, plush toys, coloring books, lunch boxes and whatever other items kids may have an interest in. There are no indications of merchandise aimed at grown-ups, e.g. ties and shot glasses.


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