Friday, October 3, 2008

Warner Plans 'Yogi Bear' Feature

According to The Hollywood Reporter Warner Bros. is developing a live action/CGI animated hybrid feature film set in Jellystone Park and starring Hanna Barbera’s classic characters Yogi Bear and his smaller, but smarter, sidekick Boo Boo. Ash Brannon, co-writer and director of Surf’s Up will helm the film, most of which will be done in live action though Yogi and Boo Boo will be CGI animated characters.

Yogi Bear’s insouciant character and vocal stylings were inspired by Ed Norton, the sanitation engineer played by the immortal Art Carney in the classic Honeymooners TV series (just as Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden was “appropriated” by Hanna Barbera as the model for Fred Flintstone). Yogi Bear first appeared as a guest star on the Huckleberry Hound show in 1958. With his overly confident attitude (“Smarter than the average bear!”) and his never-ending search for “pic-a-nic” baskets, Yogi soon got a show of his own in 1961, a series that remains a staple on the Cartoon Network’s vintage-themed Boomerang network.

According to The Reporter Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia (That 70s Show, Tooth Fairy) are writing the screenplay for the as-yet-untitled Yogi Bear feature.

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