Yakky Doodle is a fictional character created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Yakky's name is an obvious takeoff of Yankee Doodle.
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History
Yakky Doodle (voiced by Jimmy Weldon to sound similar to Donald Duck) is an anthropomorphic duck who lives with his best friend Chopper the bulldog. Yakky is always one to run into danger when it's most expected. This usually comes in the form of the show's main antagonist Fibber Fox or secondary villain Alfy Gator. Chopper defends his "Little Buddy" fiercely, and is always ready to pound Fibber or any other enemy into oblivion if necessary. Yakky's tendency to put himself in great danger never draws a rebuke from Chopper, who presumably enjoys his protective role. One of Yakky's repeated line is "Are you my mama?" One of Yakky's favorite songs he loved to sing, in a few episodes, was "Ta Ra Ra Boomdiay".
The "template" for Yakky was Quacker, a similar duckling character voiced by Red Coffee, who'd appeared in a number of classic Tom and Jerry cartoons, debuting in 1950's "Little Quacker." Weldon, a former kids' show host and ventriloquist, had based this character on his "partner" Webster Webfoot.
Yakky debuted on the "Gone To The Ducks" episode of the "Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy" segment of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. He later had his own segment on The Yogi Bear Show in 1961.
Main characters
Besides Yakky, the main characters in his cartoons are:
- Chopper (voiced by Vance Colvig impersonating Wallace Beery): A bulldog who always protects Yakky from harm. If he thinks that the only way to do this is to send Yakky away, he's willing to pretend he isn't the duckling's friend anymore; otherwise, he's the best friend Yakky has. Although he acts tough, in some ways he can be just as childlike as Yakky, such as when he wished he could fly like a bird. Chopper's repeated line is "Now, ain't that cute", as well as the way he tells Yakky to close his eyes, so that Yakky does not see the punches that Chopper plans to punish Fibber , or the cat, with his tough and painful punches. Another repeated quote is when Chopper feels guilty of having to turn Yakky away, and hopes that he didn't "hurt his feelings".
- Fibber Fox (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Shelley Berman): A fox who first tried to use Yakky as a "bargaining chip" to get the chickens from a henhouse that Chopper was guarding; since then, he's been fixated on catching and eating Yakky, at one point saying that he now hates chicken and wants duck instead. He shows a great deal of cunning in the plans he employs, most of which are intended to get Chopper out of the way so he can have a clear run at Yakky. For all his predatory behavior, however, he may not actually be able to eat Yakky. In one episode, he finds that he just can't bring himself to cook or otherwise harm the little duckling, or even let another fox eat him.
- The Cat (voiced by Daws Butler and also impersonating Shelley Berman): An unnamed cat who also had a similar objective to eat Yakky, however, he gets punished by Chopper or by the mistress of the house.
- Alfy Gator (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Alfred Hitchcock): A fat blue alligator who tries to capture and eat Yakky simply because his gourmet guidebook recommends roast duck. He tends to be excessively verbose while setting his traps, probably as an imitation of Hitchcock's introductions on the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Also taken from that show is Hitchcock's silhouette & outline routine, which Alfy imitates in most of the cartoons he's in. One time he found himself competing with Fibber to catch Yakky, but the two predators eventually agreed to work together to capture the duck (the cartoon ended during the final chase, but presumably Yakky got away).
Episode list (Yogi Bear Show)
Other Appearances
In 1972, Yakky (voiced by Walker Edmiston) was one of the dozens of characters to appear in the TV-movie Yogi's Ark Lark (which was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie).
Yakky Doodle only had three non-speaking cameo appearances (The Envy Brothers, Captain Swipe, Mr. Sloppy) in the subsequent series Yogi's Gang.
In the late 1970s, Yakky Doodle appeared on Laff-A-Lympics, as a member of Yogi's team. He would often team up with Grape Ape.
In Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper, Yakky Doodle (alongside Magilla Gorilla and Wally Gator) was unable to help Yogi Bear and his friends locate J. Wellington Jones.
In 1986, Yakky & Chopper appeared at the start and end of the episode "Snow White and The 7 Treasure Hunters" on Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
More recently, Yakky Doodle made cameo appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law:
- In the episode "Grape Juiced," testifying in a case involving steroid abuse by Laff-A-Lympics athletes, an extremely muscular Yakky (voiced by Chris Edgerly) claimed that he'd never even seen a steroid.
- In "Gone Efficien... t," in a darkly satirical moment, Yakky (voiced by Steven Blum) wished to have his name changed but instead received a court-ordered "chemical castration," which also became his new name. In "Identity Theft," Yakky, a.k.a. Chemical Castration, wanted to have his old name back.
- In the Harvey Birdman video game, Yakky/Chemical Castration has changed his name to Nailgun, only to be put on trial when he is mistaken for a crook with the exact same name.
Yakky Doodle was going to have a cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but was dropped out later on due to unknown reasons. Besides Tom and Jerry, Yakky appears to be one of the few confirmed Hanna-Barbera characters originally planned to appear in the film.
Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2008) |
- In Germany, he was on The Huckleberry Hound Show to replace Yogi Bear.
- Yakky Doodle made an appearance on the Snagglepuss episode "Live and Lion".
- Notorious Australian criminal turned celebrity Chopper Read (real name Mark Brandon Read) claims to have got his "Chopper" nickname as a result of acting like Chopper the bulldog in defense of weak friends at school.
- What A Cartoon's "Hard Luck Duck" stars a character very similar to Yakky Doodle and the cartoon features a very similar formula, with a kindhearted alligator named Harley Gator in place of Chopper and Fibber Fox replaced by a Cajun fox chef who wants to cook Hard Luck as his main course.
- Yakky Doodle's character was adapted from Quacker, the recurring duckling from Tom & Jerry, as a result of Hanna-Barbera's work with MGM before founding Hanna-Barbera Productions.
External links
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