The Hillbilly Bears

*The Hillbilly Bears*
The Hillbilly Bears
	Title card
Directed by	William Hanna; Joseph Barbera
Voices of	Henry Corden; Jean Vander Pyl; Don Messick; Paul Frees
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producers	William Hanna; Joseph Barbera
Running time	6 minutes (per short)
Production company	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Screen Gems
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 2, 1965 –; September 7, 1967
Chronology
Related shows	The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show

The Hillbilly Bears is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired as a segment on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show from October 2, 1965 to September 7, 1967.^[1]

Overview[]

The Hillbilly Bears, played on a social stereotype of the "hillbilly", with a gun-toting, mumbling father Paw Rugg (voiced by Henry Corden) who was always "feudin" (the "feudin" was usually a lethargic operation, in which the protagonists fired the same bullet back and forth from the comfort of their rocking chairs) with their neighbors, the Hoppers.^[2]

Paw Rugg's voice was a low mumble, splattered with a few understandable words. Particularly in the first episodes, Paw Rugg's voice was incomprehensible; his speech improved with the later segments. His wife Maw (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) was a homemaker who appeared as the more level-headed parent. Their daughter Floral (also voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) had lemon-colored fur (as opposed to the darker-colored fur of Maw, Paw and Shag); she was the Southern belle and most sophisticated member of the family. Shag (the youngest and smallest of the clan, voiced by Don Messick) was a troublemaker who looked up to his father. The voices and personas of Floral and Shag were nearly identical to Judy Jetson and Elroy from The Jetsons respectively.

List of episodes[]

Season 1 (1965)[]

Nº	Ep	Title	Air date
1	1	"Detour for Sure"	October 2, 1965 (1965-10-02)
A construction crew is attempting to evict Maw and Paw Rugg out of their house so they can put in a new highway; however, the Ruggs are content to stay right where they are.
2	2	"Woodpecked"	October 9, 1965 (1965-10-09)
A woodpecker is disturbing Maw's beauty rest; Paw and Shag try to get rid of it, but it outwits them at every turn.
3	3	"Anglers Aweigh"	October 16, 1965 (1965-10-16)
Maw sends Paw to catch a catfish for their dinner and Paw gets more than he bargains for when he runs into Ol' Whiskers.
4	4	"Stranger Than Friction"	October 23, 1965 (1965-10-23)
Disgusted with Paw's shooting strangers, Maw makes him swear to invite the next one to dinner: then along comes an escaped chimpanzee.
5	5	"Goldilocks and the Four Bears"	October 30, 1965 (1965-10-30)
A movie star named Goldy Looks gets a flat tire and finds the Ruggs' house while looking for help; she ends up eating their food and sleeping in their beds. She runs off when the Ruggs get home with an idea for a movie.
6	6	"Going, Going Gone Gopher"	November 6, 1965 (1965-11-06)
Paw is put in charge of guarding the garden when Maw goes to town, but he winds up having to defend it from a very hungry gopher.
7	7	"Courtin' Disaster"	November 13, 1965 (1965-11-13)
A truce is called between the Ruggs and the Hoppers so that Floral and Claude can begin dating.
8	8	"Picnic Panicked"	November 20, 1965 (1965-11-20)
At the annual Hog Waller picnic, Claude Hopper chases Floral, hoping to share her picnic basket, while Paw chases Claude.
9	9	"Judo Kudos"	November 27, 1965 (1965-11-27)
Sumo, the Japanese fighting bear, is on his way to the circus when he falls out of the truck when it hits a bump; Sumo helps Paw learn karate so he can use it on his rival, Claude Hopper.
10	10	"Just Plane Around"	December 4, 1965 (1965-12-04)
The experimental plane X-Ray-X lands near the Rugg house and Paw goes for an unexpected ride with Agent 00700 and his pal, who are trying to steal the plane.
11	11	"War Games"	December 11, 1965 (1965-12-11)
The Pentagon decides to conduct war games in the Ruggs' backyard.
12	12	"Bricker Brats"	December 18, 1965 (1965-12-18)
Shag and the Hopper boy keep getting into fights over who has the toughest dad, threatening to start the feud back up.
13	13	"Slap Happy Grandpappy"	December 25, 1965 (1965-12-25)
Grandpa Rugg comes for a visit, much to the excitement of Floral and Shag; Grandpa wants to shoot some Hoppers, not knowing that Paw has just ended the feud with them.
14	14	"Pooped Pops"	January 1, 1966 (1966-01-01)
It is July and time for Paw's yearly bath; when he is finished, Maw makes Paw play a Robin Hood game with Shag, even though he is very tired.
15	15	"Leaky Creek"	January 8, 1966 (1966-01-08)
Maw sends Paw down to the creek to take a bath, even though he just took one last year and does not think he needs another one; but when he gets to the creek he finds it has gone dry due to a pesky beaver that has built a dam.
16	16	"My Fair Hillbilly"	January 15, 1966 (1966-01-15)
Maw is tired of Paw being such a slob, so she sends him to the J.P. Snobbs School of Charm and they try to turn Paw into a gentleman.
17	17	"Rickety-Rockety-Raccoon"	January 22, 1966 (1966-01-22)
Paw battles with Rickety Raccoon after he steals eggs from the Ruggs' hen house.
18	18	"Modern Inconvenience"	January 29, 1966 (1966-01-29)
Maw and Paw are selected as the Hillbilly Family of the Month by Good Hillbillying Magazine and are given every modern convenience for one month.
19	19	"Rabbit Rumble"	February 5, 1966 (1966-02-05)
Maw sends Paw and Shag to hunt for a rabbit for dinner.
20	20	"Speckled Heckler"	February 12, 1966 (1966-02-12)
Professor Beetlebottom arrives at the Rugg house looking for a rare butterfly, the Speckled Fleeby Doo, and offers a $1,000 reward if the Ruggs capture one alive.

Season 2 (1966)[]

Nº	Ep	Title	Air date
21	1	"Whirly Bear"	September 10, 1966 (1966-09-10)
Paw goes on an unexpected ride while trying to fix the windmill.
22	2	"Saucy Saucers"	September 17, 1966 (1966-09-17)
Paw is captured by aliens who take him back to their planet for observation.
23	3	"Chipper Chirper"	September 24, 1966 (1966-09-24)
Paw is out hunting a meal for dinner when Maw's pet bird gets out of its cage and runs away.
24	4	"Gettin' Paw's Goat"	October 1, 1966 (1966-10-01)
Paw battles with the neighbor's goat that is eating everything in the garden.
25	5	"Buzzin' Cuzzins"	October 8, 1966 (1966-10-08)
Gorzo the Wild Man escapes from a truck delivering him to the circus and is mistaken for Paw's cousin Fud when he shows up at the cabin.
26	6	"Do the Bear"	October 15, 1966 (1966-10-15)
Maw tries to wake up Paw from his between-naps rest period so he can go to the store for her; then music producers offer Paw a lifetime music contract after hearing him play the guitar in the store.

Cast[]

Don Messick - Shag Rugg
Henry Corden - Paw Rugg
Jean Vander Pyl - Maw Rugg, Floral Rugg
Paul Frees - Claude Hopper

Home media[]

GoodTimes Home Video (under their Kids Klassics label) released a VHS tape of The Hillbilly Bears in the 1980s.

The episode "Woodpecked" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's vol. 1.

The episode "Picnic Panicked" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2.

Other appearances[]

Reruns of the Hillbilly Bears appeared as a segment on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.

The Rugg Family appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang.^[3]

Paw and Maw Rugg appeared in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.

The Rugg Family appeared in a Cartoon Network Shortie, "Miss Understanding" where Maw takes them on a Jerry Springer-like show due to the fact she cannot understand Paw, although the audience assumes that she means she does not "understand" him in the sense that she does not know who he is anymore. This results in Paw shooting on the wall with his gun the sentence "I luv you Maw".

On the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Chubby Cheese", an animatronic Paw Rugg is seen playing the xylophone during Chubby's song.

The Rugg Family appears in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Guitar Control" defending their home from the SWAT team and Bear. Paw Rugg's name can also be seen in Harvey's black book in "Babysitter". Paw can be seen using a crowbar to tear off the logo for Sebben and Sebben in "The Death of Harvey".

Paw and Maw Rugg had a minor cameo in the Wacky Races episode "Grandfather Knows Dast" with Paw Rugg voiced by Billy West and Maw Rugg voiced by Jill Talley.

The Rugg Family all appeared in the HBO Max original series Jellystone! with Paw Rugg voiced by Jim Conroy, Ma Rugg voiced by Angelique Perrin, Floral Rugg voiced by Georgie Kidder, and Shag Rugg voiced by Ron Funches.^[4]^[5] The Rugg Family runs a cafe.

References[]

^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part I: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 27–29. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-1476665993.
^ "HBO Max Sets New Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Robert Zemeckis Hybrid Series 'Tooned Out', More for Kids & Family Slate". 29 October 2019.
^ "Trailer: Hanna-Barbera Favorites Return in HBO Max Original 'Jellystone!'". 24 June 2021.

External links[]

The Hillbilly Bears - Cartoon Network Department of Cartoons (Archive)
The Hillbilly Bears at IMDb
The Hillbilly Bears at the Big Cartoon DataBase
The Hillbilly Bears at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.

[Woolery-1] Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part I: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 27–29. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

[2] Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.

[3] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[4] "HBO Max Sets New Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Robert Zemeckis Hybrid Series 'Tooned Out', More for Kids & Family Slate". 29 October 2019.

[5] "Trailer: Hanna-Barbera Favorites Return in HBO Max Original 'Jellystone!'". 24 June 2021.

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v t Hanna-Barbera
Founders	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Original productions	2 Stupid Dogs The Adventures of Gulliver The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour Birdman and the Galaxy Trio Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels Cattanooga Cats Clue Club Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines The Flintstones Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles The Funky Phantom Goober and the Ghost Chasers The Great Grape Ape Show The Herculoids Hong Kong Phooey The Huckleberry Hound Show Jabberjaw The Jetsons Jonny Quest Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har Loopy De Loop The Magilla Gorilla Show Moby Dick and The Mighty Mightor The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The New Scooby-Doo Movies The Perils of Penelope Pitstop The Peter Potamus Show The Quick Draw McGraw Show The Ruff and Reddy Show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Scooby-Doo Show Shazzan The Smurfs Space Ghost and Dino Boy Speed Buggy Top Cat Touché Turtle and Dum Dum Wacky Races Wally Gator The Yogi Bear Show Yogi's Gang Yogi's Space Race
Tom and Jerry	The Tom and Jerry Show (1975) Tom & Jerry Kids (1990–1993) The Mansion Cat (2001)
Cartoon Network productions	What a Cartoon! (1995–1997) Dexter's Laboratory (1996–1997) Johnny Bravo (1997–2002) Cow and Chicken (1997–1999) I Am Weasel (1997–2000) The Powerpuff Girls (1998–2002)
Amusement attractions	Hanna–Barbera Land The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
Comics	Hanna-Barbera Beyond
Other media	Films Video games
See also	Tom and Jerry Characters List of Scooby-Doo media