View Full Version : Beany and Cecil


Steve Carras
08-03-2003, 02:10 AM
Let's go sailing real soon...
cause here's this discussion of..

A BOB CLAMPETT CARTOOOOOOOONNNN!!!! (Beany laugh)

I love Clampett's puppet/t/cartoon series.

Full of fun puns, music, characters, stories, and music.Beany and his uncle Capt.Huffenpuff, and the crow, sailing on the good ship Leaking Lena with Cecil the Sea Serpent in tow, were a longtime favorite...from the 1940s-60s on network then thru 80s in reruns.

Cecil was the goofy but able hero with comments as "I'm COMIN', Beany Boy",
What the HECK" and "Makes a SEA SERPENT SORE". Beany woudl yell "
Help Cecil Help" and laugh with his propeller cap.But all was not fun with villianous Dishonest "Nya-Ha-Ha" JOHN-----and he was the reason for the aforementioned expresssions.. Had a typical villians mustache, tall dark hat and equally dark cape.DIC with John Kricfalusi revived it.Animated version started with a series of theatrical cartoons released in foriegn markets then on ABC'S MATTY'S FUNDAY FUNNIES (Mattel) a HUGE haven for Harvey/Famous?Paramount stars like Little Audrey, Baby Heuy, Herman and Katnip, Buzzy and of course Casper the Friendly Ghost, friendliest ghost you know..replaced by Beany and gang. Many musical cartoons were made with the "Ragg Mopp" and "Snoreky" and "Ben Hare" ones being among the most memorable.Background music was also used very imaginatively too.One cheery uptempo "running/out of control theme" was used also on Alvin and the chipmunks's original 1962 "Alvin show" (went like "DADADADADADADADADAAAA---DADADADADAAAA"--can be heard in the Schmoon and Invisible Man has Butterfingers eps of B&C as well as CLYDECRASHCUP LAND of ALVIn)Even the final bars to the first Woody Woodpecker cartoons (NOT the famous "hahahaHAha" theme but the WWII theme) - a half-dozen descending bars that climaxed with a organ played "DAAAA" can be heard--perhaps due to the fact that Darrell Calker, the creator of the pre-1950s Woody (and other Walter Lanrz) scores and Bob Clampett worked at Columbia's near-forgotten animaiton studio? (BTW for info on that stuido go to Jerry Beck's site: www.cartoonresearch.com )

The voices:
Puopet
Beany/Crowy/Captain Huffenpuff/others......Daws Butler/Jimmy MacGeorge

Cecil/DJ/others..........Stan Freberg/Erv Schumaker

Wm.Shakespeare Wolf, a Lord Farquat (as in Shrek) sounding creature, a villianous patchwork-wolf/Thundertbolt the Wondercolt/others..Walker Edmiston

Others...Wil Rogers, Jr., Jerry Lewis, Jerry Colonna, SPike Jones, and Liberace.

The animated version (1962)

Beany/Capt.Huffenpuff/Crowy/others....Jimmy MacGeorge

Cecil/DJ/others...Erv Schumaker

Slopalong Catskill, a frog who limps a la GUNSMOKE'S early character Chester (Dennis Weaver), a Borscht Belt comic...Mickey Katz (NO, NOT named as a pardoy of Mickey Mouse, born in 1909 20 something years BEFORE the mouse!!)

Wm.Shakespeare (aka Alexander Graham Wolf)/Thunderbolt, the Wondercolt/others.....Walker Edmiston

Vincent Van Gogh...Lord Buckley/Scatman Crothers

Homer the baseball playing octopus......Cheri Clampett ( young daughter of Bob's)

Buffalo Billy.....Bob Clampett Jr. (son of guess who?)

Invisble Man/Butterfingers (glove..)...Senor "'Sall Right? S'all right" Wences (Note-I cannot exactly confirm this)

Peking Tom, Chinese cat-no Peking now!...Sammee Tong

Careless the Mexican Hareless..Gonzales Gonzales

Other voices; Bob CLampett, Freddie Morgan, Rob Clary, Arlene Harris, John Carridine (a reported alternate voice for Thunderbolt the colt, see above), and some others.

Original songs; Bob Clampett.

Pub.Merrifield Music, ASCAP

Eastmancolor by Pathe Labs

Eastman Kodak Film



NOTES: Walker Edmiston was so good at making Wm.Shaeskeapre/AG Wolf sound like Hans Conreid or a hammy Shakespere actor imiating him that for many years I thought that it WAS Hans Conreid..ironic they didn't just use him. It's said Bob Clampett himself did Cecil but this isn;t confirmed; Daws Butler and Stan Freberg walked out on the show in its puppet incarnation due to financila argument, Groucho Marx said it was certianyl adult enough, the only one for that disctinction for his daughter Melinda Marx!(and geusted) , the "Snorky" oneshot is a particualr favorite of mine that I downloaded (at http://www.toontracker.com)

cp32
08-03-2003, 10:22 PM
I have 2 volumes of Beanie & Cecil if you would like to trade.

I also have tons of other old & out of print cartoons.