Peter Potamus

Peter Potamus is a purple animated hippopotamus that first appeared in the 1964-1966 animated television series The Peter Potamus Show, produced by Hanna-Barbera and first broadcast on September 16, 1964.[1]

The Peter Potamus Show
Peter Potamus and So-So in their Magic Flying Balloon.
Also known asPeter Potamus and His Magic Flying Balloon
GenreComedy
Adventure
Written byTony Benedict
Warren Foster
Dalton Sandifer
Directed byWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Voices ofDaws Butler
Don Messick
Howard Morris
Mel Blanc
John Stephenson
Hal Smith
Doug Young
Composer(s)Hoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes27
Production
Producer(s)William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time22–26 minutes
Production company(s)Hanna-Barbera Productions
DistributorScreen Gems
Release
Original networkSyndication
ABC
Picture formatBlack-and-white (syndicated)
Color (ABC) / NTSC (480i)
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseSeptember 16, 1964 –
October 23, 1966

The Peter Potamus Show was divided into three segments: Peter Potamus and So-So, Breezly and Sneezly and Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey.[2] Peter Potamus was a companion series to The Magilla Gorilla Show and both series premiered in first-run syndication before being picked up by ABC in January 1966. At that time, the Breezly and Sneezly segment was swapped with Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long, a segment on The Magilla Gorilla Show. After the ABC run ended in 1967, cartoons from Magilla Gorilla and Peter Potamus shows were syndicated together.

The Ideal toy company was the sponsor of the television series,[3] and during the original run of the cartoon, the closing song ended with the phrase: "And there he goes Peter Potamus, our ideal". A similarly subtle sponsor reference appeared in the Magilla Gorilla theme song lyrics: "He's really ideal".

The original Peter Potamus series used to be seen on the cable TV channel Boomerang, often as part of its anthology series Boomerang Zoo.

Early promotional materials for the series carried the title Peter Potamus and His Magic Flying Balloon, but that title never appeared on screen.

Segments

Peter Potamus and So-So

The main segment featured Peter Potamus (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Joe E. Brown; Butler used an identical voice for Lippy the Lion) and his diminutive sidekick So-So the monkey (voiced by Don Messick).[4] Peter is big, purple, and friendly, dressed in a safari jacket and hat. Episodes generally consisted of Peter and So-So exploring the world in his hot air balloon, which was capable of time travel at the spin of a dial. When faced with a precarious situation, Peter uses his Hippo Hurricane Holler to blow away his opponents.

Breezly and Sneezly
Main article: Breezly and Sneezly

A polar bear named Breezly Bruin (voiced by Howard Morris) and his friend Sneezly the Seal (voiced by Mel Blanc) use various schemes to break into an army camp in the frozen north, while trying to stay one step ahead of the camp's leader Colonel Fuzzby (voiced by John Stephenson).

Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey
Main article: Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey

Three dogs named Yippee (voiced by Doug Young), Yappee (voiced by Hal Smith), and Yahooey (voiced by Daws Butler) aka The Goofy Guards, work for the King (voiced by Hal Smith), a short, complaining ruler who is often on the receiving end of their antics. The trio's plumed hats and swords are reminiscent of The Three Musketeers.

Episodes
# Plot Original air date
1
  • Fee Fi Fo Fun:
  • No Place Like Nome:
  • The Volunteers:
 September 16, 1964 (1964-09-16)
2
  • Lion Around:
  • All Riot on the Northern Front:
  • Black Bart:
 September 23, 1964 (1964-09-23)
3
  • Cleo Trio:
  • Missile Fizzle:
  • Double Dragon:
 October 7, 1964 (1964-10-07)
4
  • No Rest for a Pest:
  • Mass Masquerade:
  • Outlaw in-Law:
 October 7, 1964 (1964-10-07)
5
  • Wagon Train Strain:
  • Furry Furlough:
  • Horse Shoo Fly:
 October 14, 1964 (1964-10-14)
6
  • Monotony on the Bounty:
  • Bruin Ruin:
  • Wild Child:
 October 21, 1964 (1964-10-21)
7
  • The Good Hood:
  • Freezing Fleas:
  • Witch is Which:
 October 28, 1964 (1964-10-28)
8
  • Stars on Mars:
  • Stars and Gripes:
  • Wise Quacking:
 November 4, 1964 (1964-11-04)
9
  • Kooky Spook:
  • Armoured Amour:
  • Nautical Nitwits:
 November 11, 1964 (1964-11-11)
10
  • The Island Fling:
  • As the Snow Flies:
  • Job Robbed:
 November 18, 1964 (1964-11-18)
11
  • Courtin Trouble:
  • Snow Biz:
  • Unicorn on the Cob:
 November 25, 1964 (1964-11-25)
12
  • Big Red Riding Hood:
  • Unseen Trouble:
  • Mouse Rout:
 December 2, 1964 (1964-12-02)
13
  • Hurricane Hippo:
  • Nervous in the Service:
  • Handy Dandy Lion:
 December 9, 1964 (1964-12-09)
14
  • What a Knight:
  • Birthday Bonanza:
  • Sappy Birthday:
 December 16, 1964 (1964-12-16)
15
  • Mask Task:
  • Wacky Waikiki:
  • King of the Roadhogs:
 September 11, 1965 (1965-09-11)
16
  • Pre-Hysterical Pete:
  • General Nuisance:
  • Palace Pal Picnic:
 September 18, 1965 (1965-09-18)
17
  • Trite Flite:
  • Rookie Wrecker:
  • Sleepy Time King:
 September 25, 1965 (1965-09-25)
18
  • Marriage Peter Potamus Style:
  • Noodick of the North:
  • Pie Pie Blackbird:
 October 2, 1965 (1965-10-02)
19
  • Calaboose Caboose:
  • The Fastest Bear in the North:
  • What the Hex Going On?:
 October 9, 1965 (1965-10-09)
20
  • Eager Ogre:
  • Snow Time Show Time:
  • Eviction Capers:
 October 16, 1965 (1965-10-16)
21
  • The Reform of Plankenstein:
  • Goat A Go-Go:
  • Hero Sandwiched:
 October 23, 1965 (1965-10-23)
22
  • Debt and Taxes:
  • Spy in the Ointment:
  • Throne for a Loss:
 January 2, 1966 (1966-01-02)
23
  • Wrong Time No See:
  • All Ill Wind:
  • Royal Rhubarb:
 January 9, 1966 (1966-01-09)
24
  • America or Bust:
 January 16, 1966 (1966-01-16)
25
  • Rebel Rumble:
 January 23, 1966 (1966-01-23)
26
  • Pilgrims Regress:
 January 30, 1966 (1966-01-30)
27
  • The Crossbow Incident:
 February 6, 1966 (1966-02-06)

Other appearances
  • Peter Potamus and So-So appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang.
  • Peter Potamus guest starred in the episode "India and Israel" on Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.
  • Peter Potamus guest starred in some episodes of Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
  • Gold Key Comics published one issue of a Peter Potamus comic book in 1965.[5]
  • Peter Potamus made a cameo appearance in The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound as a captain of a boat to Tahiti.
  • Peter Potamus appeared in teenager form in the early 1990s series Yo Yogi!, where he was voiced by Frank Welker. He and So-So were shown to own a plant store at Jellystone Mall called Peter Potamus' Plant Palace. In "Tricky Dickie's Dirty Trickies," he is shown to be allergic to goldenrods.
  • Peter Potamus and So-So were seen as animatronics in the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Chubby Cheese" during Chubby's song sequence.
  • Potamus was also a recurring character on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, where he is voiced in a Brooklyn accent by Joe Alaskey and later voiced by Chris Edgerly. In it, he is a sexually charged hippo and a lazy and sleazy (but inexplicably successful) lawyer who is forever obsessed with strippers and sandwiches. He works at the Sebben & Sebben law firm with Harvey Birdman. Peter has the trademark phrase "Did you get that thing I sent you?" Starting with episode 6 of season 3, "Return of Birdgirl", Peter's hands were changed to hooves.
  • Peter Potamus and So-So will appear in the upcoming series Jellystone![6]

Home media

The episode Fe Fi Fo Fun is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Vol. 1. The episode Wagon Train Strain is available on the Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2 set. The episode Cleo Trio is on the Hanna Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection DVD, part of The Best of Warner Bros. series.

On November 1, 2016, Warner Archive released The Peter Potamus Show- The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[7]

References
  1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 219–220. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 342. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 454. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. Markstein, Don (2008). "Peter Potamus". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on 2015-03-09.
  5. Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/hbo-max-scores-rick-and-morty-library-south-park-deal-kids-slate/
  7. "'The Complete Series' Formally Announced by the Warner Archive". Archived from the original on 2016-10-19.
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