> Joseph Nebus wrote:

>> Another little thought inspired by watching rather more of the
>> funny-animal early 60s Hanna Barbera cartoons:
>>
>> Alfy Gator, the perpetually hungry and ever-foiled alligator
>> who hoped to eat Yakky Doodle; and Bigelow the Mouse, the strong and
>> undeterred by common sense mouse who'll protect someone within an
>> inch of their lives: they each got several cartoons, in rather prominent
>> roles, Alfy even opening and closing some of his appearances, to the
>> point the nominal title characters were put in supporting roles.
>>
>> Were these meant to be tryouts to see if the characters could
>> support their own spinoff cartoons, along the way that Snagglepuss got
>> started as a Quick Draw McGraw villain, and Hardy Har-Har got started
>> in guest appearances on ... uh ... Huckleberry Hound?
>>

>
> The Hardy prototype was in a Snooper & Blabber short "Laughing Guess".
> Not having seen it in many years, I recall that the character was
> designed similar to Hardy (including hang-dog look), but without
> porkpie hat and the gift of speech.
>
> One would say that a Hokey Wolf prototype was in a couple of Yogi Bear
> shorts that were fairy tale parodies. The design was definitely
> different, but the personality was there (verbose, pushy) and Daws
> Butler had already established his 'Phil Silvers' voice that seamlessly
> segued into Hokey a year or so later.
>
> It's true that Yakky and Snagglepuss prototypes made numerous
> appearances in the earlier series before Hanna and Barbera deemed them
> strong enough to strike out on their own. Alfy was in four YAKKY
> episodes- one pitted against Fibber; one against Chopper; two on his
> own. Bigelow guested in four different series: Yakky, Snagglepuss,
> Augie and Loopy DeLoop. For whatever the reason, Hanna and Barbera felt
> the duck and lion would make more viable starring characters than the
> alligator or mouse. More story opportunities, perhaps. After having
> viewed every Yakky episode on the COMPLETE YOGI BEAR DVD, I couldn't
> help notice the variety of storylines. It wasn't ALWAYS Chopper saving
> the little feller from Fibber Fox. Some episodes didn't feature
> Chopper, Fibber or Alfy.
>
> You may recall a 'monster family' that was in three Snooper & Blabber
> and one Snagglepuss episode. The parents looked very similar to Charles
> Addams creations (Dad being voiced by Daws Butler in his standard Peter
> Lorre imitation), with a croaking toddler patterned bascially as a
> mini-Frankenstein monster. After the Addams hit prime time in 1964, the
> Flintstones got next-door neighbors in the Gruesomes for a mere two
> episodes. Weirdly and Creepella bore a strong resemblance not only to
> Gomez and Morticia but the earlier H-B prototypes. Weird continued the
> tradition of speaking like Peter Lorre (in this case, by Howard
> Morris).
>
> The FLINSTONES Season 5 DVD has a very interesting featurette hosted by
> Earl Kress that details the genesis of Hanna-Barbera's ongoing efforts
> throughout the first half of the sixties to make series stars out of
> these monstrous characters. Unknown to me was that between their last
> appearance with Snoop & Blab in 1961 and their heralded arrival on the
> FLINTSTONES, a prime-time series featuring these characters was pitched
> to ABC- which aired the other H-B prime-timers 'STONES, TOP CAT and
> JETSONS. As with most series concepts it didn't make it to the air-
> even as a pilot. Vestiges were the two FLINTSTONE episodes.
>
> (It's funny how while the Rubbles lived next door for years, there was
> constant turnover in the house on the OTHER side. Alvy Brickrock, the
> Gruesomes and Loudrock moved in and quickly disappeared after their
> respective episodes. Must be something about Fred that only Barney and
> Betty can live next door to him-)
>
> H-B's obsessesion with friendly comedic monsters didn't end there. The
> Gruesomes guested in one episode of the 1971 Saturday AM spinoff
> PEBBLES & BAMM-BAMM. Similarly designed characters were presented as
> members of the Really Rottens in 1977-78's LAFF-A-LYMPICS, albeit
> renamed the Creepleys. Dad's Peter Lorre voice remained, for some
> reason shared in various episodes by Casey Kasem, Don Messick and Frank
> Welker.
>
> In 1980, NBC tried a prime-time revival of the FLINTSTONES, with an
> hourlong special concerning the Frankenstones, yet another set of
> next-door neighbors. Frank was drawn much like the Frankenstein monster
> and had a suitable Bela Lugosi voice courtesy of John Stephenson. The
> prime-time revival lasted only for a few more original half-hours, but
> NBC retained the Bedrock universe in all-new material on Saturday AM.
> The Frankenstones had their own component of the FLINTSTONES COMEDY
> SHOW, and often appeared on others. Curiously, Frank was now voiced by
> the legendarily prissy Charles Nelson Reilly to humorously incongruous
> effect. (Maybe Stephenson wore out his welcome after so many years at
> the studio?) An interesting sidenote is that son Freaky was voiced by
> Paul Reubens right about the time he was establishing his notorious
> Pee-Wee Herman personna. Aside from a lack of his trademark chortle,
> Reubens' voice is immediately recognizable.
>
> Even the NAME of a character can endure from one-shot to series, even
> if the character is different. One Touche Turtle episode has them
> pursing 'Ricochet Rabbit' (whose name sounds very bizarre uttered by
> Bill Thompson), who bears no resemblance to the later sheriff
> whatsoever: stark naked, no "Ping-Ping-PINNNG" (or any other speech)-
> just the requisite speed. When the MAGILLA GORILLA SHOW and its
> supporting segments were being developed, it's easy to imagine Alex
> Lovy, Tony Benedict, Warren Foster or someone else saying "Didn't we
> have a 'Ricochet Rabbit' in some cartoon once? That would make a funny
> name for the sheriff."
>
> In hindsight, one could speculate that 1968's WACKY RACES may have been
> viewed as a springboard for spinoffs. With ten race cars and two
> villians, it must've been hard for the writers to really 'flesh out'
> the many characters. If one views the episodes even while blocking out
> thoughts of the two spinoffs that did ensue, it's easy to notice that
> the Anthill Mob (usually having to disguise themselves to escape
> pursing authorities or to thwart Dastardly) and Penelope (an
> ultrafeminine Southern Belle racer provides irresistable gag material)
> get the most attention of any of the 'good guys'- i.e. the racers. By
> virtue of their villiany, Dick and Muttley obviously got far more
> screen time- and subsequently their own series as well. Of the other
> racers, I can't see anyone other than perhaps #9, Peter Perfect,
> getting his own series. Maybe a bumbling, full-of-himself
> turn-of-the-century do-gooder who overcomes many slapstick indignities
> to triumph through dumb luck.