Monday, September 30, 2019

Huckleberry Hound



 







The following images are from Huckleberry Hound's 1960 Presidential campaign


Huckleberry Hound, October 2, 1958 (Los Angeles, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Independent (1964)

Running mate with nominee: Yogi Bear (b. 1958)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In promoting their new Magilla Gorilla Show, Hanna-Barbera cooked up the idea of having their new title character run against the more senior anthropomorphic Yogi Bear. In fact, Magilla's sole opponent seemed to be Yogi. The publicity included a 45 single record, a comic book, and campaign buttons.

Yogi's running mate and campaign manager was Huckleberry Hound. Although Yogi had started out as a supporting character for Huckleberry in 1958, by 1964 the bear had eclipsed the hound in popularity. In fact in 1960 Huckleberry ran for President (apparently without a Vice-Presidential nominee) and Yogi served as his campaign manager. Now four years later the roles were somewhat reversed.

Huckleberry (aka Huck) was a blue coonhound who had adventures in freestyle stories which were occasionally set in historical times. Huck's North Carolina accent was voiced by the legendary Daws Butler (also the voice of Yogi Bear). The Hound's leitmotif was an off-key and mangled version of Oh My Darling, Clementine.

And yes, now you can start the Blue Dog Democrat jokes.

Election history:
1960 - US President (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: jack of all trades

Buried:

Notes:
Six years old in 1964, Huckleberry would not be of legal age for the VP office until 1993.
Full disclosure: As part his vanguard audience I must say Huckleberry Hound was my favorite
 Hanna-Barbera character and remains so.