The Magilla Gorilla Show
The Magilla Gorilla Show is an animated television series starring Magilla Gorilla. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems, and was originally sponsored in syndication by Ideal Toys from 1964 through 1966.[1] The show had other recurring characters, including Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, and Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long. In syndication, the main and supporting characters from the Peter Potamus show were also added.[2] Like many of Hanna-Barbera's animal characters, Magilla Gorilla was dressed in human accessories, sporting a bow tie, shorts held up by suspenders, and an undersized derby hat.[3] Repeats were aired in 1966 and 1967 during ABC-TV's Saturday morning schedule.[4]
| The Magilla Gorilla Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation Comedy |
| Created by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Written by | Warren Foster Michael Maltese Dalton Sandifer |
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of | Allan Melvin Howard Morris Jean Vander Pyl Don Messick Mel Blanc Hal Smith |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 31 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor | Screen Gems |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndicated |
| First shown in | 1964 |
| Original release | January 14, 1964 – December 25, 1965 |
The show aired on Boomerang until July 22, 2012.
Segments
Magilla Gorilla
Magilla Gorilla (voiced by Allan Melvin[3]) is an anthropomorphic gorilla who spent his time languishing in the front display window of a pet shop run by Melvin Peebles (voiced by Howard Morris in 1964–1965, Don Messick in 1965-1966), eating bananas and being a drain on the businessman's finances. Mr. Peebles marked down Magilla's price considerably, but Magilla was invariably only purchased for a short time...for example, by thieves who needed to break into a bank or by an advertising agency looking for a mascot for their new product. The customers always ended up returning Magilla, forcing Mr. Peebles to refund their money. Magilla often ended each episode with his catchphrase "We'll try again next week." Magilla's only friend was an adorable, admiring little red headed girl named Ogee (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl), who asked, "How much is that Gorilla in the window?" during the show's opening theme song.[5]
Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse
In a send up of the feuding Hatfields and McCoys, an orange hillbilly cat named Punkin' Puss (voiced by Allan Melvin) is constantly chasing a hard-to-catch hillbilly mouse named Mushmouse (voiced by Howard Morris). Punkin' Puss' weapon of choice is a shotgun.
Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long
Ricochet Rabbit (voiced by Don Messick) works as the sheriff of Hoop N' Holler with his slow as molasses deputy Droop-a-Long Coyote (voiced by Mel Blanc). In addition to his super-speed, Ricochet Rabbit uses an arsenal of trick bullets (for example, one with a skull bashing mallet that pops out of the shell) to help him take down criminals. He would introduce himself as "Sheriff Bing! Bing! Binnnng! Ricochet Rabbit!"
Cast
- Mel Blanc – Droop-a-Long Coyote
- Allan Melvin – Magilla Gorilla, Punkin' Puss
- Howard Morris – Mr. Peebles (1964–1965), Mush Mouse
- Don Messick – Mr. Peebles (1965–1966), Ricochet Rabbit
- Jean Vander Pyl – Ogee
Home media
Warner Home Video released the Classic Collection of the Magilla Gorilla Show consisting of 31 episodes of Magilla Gorilla, together with the 23 Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long and 23 Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse shorts in a boxed DVD collection on August 15, 2006.[6] The DVD set does not include the original Magilla Gorilla Show main/end title sequences and the cartoons are not restored, drawing heavy criticism from fans.
A "Diamond Collection"[7] of the complete series was released on June 6, 2017. However, it contains only 23 of the 31 Magilla Gorilla shorts. It is therefore missing 6 shorts previously included on the 2006 Classic Collection, which include Camp Scamps, The Purple Mask, Love at First Fight, Pet Bet, Makin' With the Magilla, High Fly Guy and Deep Sea Doodle. All 23 Ricochet Rabbit and all 23 Punkin' Puss shorts are included as they were on the previous release. There are no special features on this set and the opening and closing titles are still not included.
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Collection | 31 | August 15, 2006 |
|
| Diamond Collection | 23 | June 6, 2017 |
|
References
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 522–523. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 376–377. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 0740793071.
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 174–175. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 122. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- tvshowsonDVD Archived April 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- https://www.toonzone.net/hanna-barbera-diamond-collection-coming-dvd-digital-summer-2017/