Yogi the Easter Bear (1994)

April 3, 1994

Yogi the Easter Bear is an American animated television special starring Yogi Bear, produced by Hanna-Barbera and animated by Filipino animation studio Fil-Cartoons. It was broadcast in syndication on April 3, 1994. This is one of Don Messick's last voice-over roles; he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1996 and died in 1997. It would also be the last official Yogi Bear media for 16 years until the release of the live-action Yogi Bear film.

Storyline

Ranger Smith's boss, the Supreme Commissioner, is attending Jellystone Park's Easter Jamboree with his grandchildren. Concerned about making sure the event goes off perfectly, Smith picks out an Easter Bunny suit and orders a truckload of candy for the celebration, ordering his nearsighted guard, Mortimer, to watch over the candy truck and keep Yogi Bear away from eating any of the candy. Yogi steals the Easter Bunny outfit, dupes Mortimer into thinking he is the real Easter Bunny, and eats all the candy in the truck.

Smith is furious and threatens to deport Yogi to the Siberian Circus (just as he had threatened in the previous film), but Boo Boo offers to find the real Easter Bunny and bring him to the jamboree. Smith states that he stopped believing in the Easter Bunny after he didn't get a double-decker raspberry-filled dark chocolate egg from him, but happily appreciates Boo Boo's offer, but tells Yogi to pack his bags. Ranger Smith fears that he too will end up being transferred to Siberia by the commissioner if the jamboree fails. Yogi and Boo Boo seek out the Grand Grizzly in the mountains to see if he knows anything about the Easter Bunny's whereabouts. The cantankerous Grand Grizzly instructs Yogi and Boo Boo to seek the big ears in the sky (a hilltop resembling rabbit ears). They reach the mountain, using the park's hot air balloon, only to find that the Easter Bunny has been kidnapped.

Behind the kidnapping is a short and deranged businessman named Paulie, whose goal is to replace all of the world's Easter eggs so people will have to buy these plastic ones, and his massive but dim-witted sidekick named Ernest. Yogi and Boo Boo follow a trail of jelly beans to the factory, where the Easter Bunny is being held captive above a vat of molten plastic. Posing as health inspectors, Yogi and Boo Boo successfully free the Easter Bunny, only to find that Mildred the Magical Easter Chicken is the one responsible for laying the Easter eggs. Yogi and Boo Boo go to the Easter Henhouse to meet her but are accosted by her guard dog, who refuses entry to anyone except Ernest, whom the dog mistakes for the real Easter Bunny. Yogi and Boo Boo, after using a giant slingshot to crash through the henhouse's roof, escape with the chicken before Paulie and Ernest can get to her and head for Jellystone Park. A madcap chase after the chicken begins, with the Easter Bunny falling off a cliff and getting seriously injured three times.

Meanwhile, back at Jellystone Park, Smith is trying in vain to impress the children and the Commissioner at the Easter Jamboree. The stunts he tries either are ridiculously lame or fail spectacularly, and the Commissioner's grandchildren show no response except a few sarcastic claps and a stern look. The boss is on the verge of firing Ranger Smith when the Easter Bunny, Mildred, Yogi, and Boo Boo crash-land on stage, saving the day. The Commissioner changes his mind and instead promotes Ranger Smith, who decides to let Yogi stay at Jellystone; to thank Ranger Smith for believing, the miraculously healed Easter Bunny gives him what he asked for all these years: a double-decker raspberry-filled dark chocolate egg.

Sound Effects Used

• H-B HIT, CARTOON - QUICK WHISTLE ZIP AND BIG HIT
• H-B RISE, CARTOON - SHELL SCREAMING RISE UP
• H-B SPIN, CARTOON - CUCKOO SPINNING SOUNDS
• H-B SPIN, CARTOON - WACKY SPIN WITH DRUM
• H-B TEETH, CARTOON - TEETH CHATTER
• H-B WINCH - WINCH PULLEY CRANKING
• Hollywoodedge, Boings For Impacts CRT016702
• Hollywoodedge, Elephant Trumpeting PE024801 (4th trumpet)
• Hollywoodedge, Funny Engine Steady CRT035401
• Hollywoodedge, Funny Multi Swishes CRT054102/Sound Ideas, SWISH, CARTOON - TWIRLING SWISH, MEDIUM
• Hollywoodedge, Head Bonk Whorn 3 Typ CRT032401
• Hollywoodedge, Old Car Horns Single CRT021302
• Hollywoodedge, Quick Whistle Zip By CRT057505
• Hollywoodedge, Short Swish Sharp Sl CRT030701/WB CARTOON, WHOOSH - WHIPPY WHOOSH
• Hollywoodedge, Stretch Whiz Bonkie CRT017901
• Horta-Hacienda Post Head Shake
• Horta-Hacienda Post Splats
• Sound Ideas, BELL, FIGHT - ONE RING, BOXING, SPORTS 01
• Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - TIMP RISE AND BOING
• Sound Ideas, BUBBLES, MUD - THICK, GLOPPY MUD BUBBLES, BOIL
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, BOING - VIBRATING WOODEN SPRONG
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, DIVING BOARD - WOODEN DIVING BOARD RATTLE
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, EXPLOSION - POWERFUL EXPLOSIVE BLAST
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, SQUEAK - CONTINUOUS LITTLE SQUEAKS
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, SQUEAK - SEVERAL RUBBER SQUEAKS, STRETCH
• Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WHISTLE - SLIDE WHISTLE: FAST SLIDE UP, ZIP 01
• Sound Ideas, CRASH, AUTO - AUTO APPROACH, SKID AND CRASH, CARTOON
• Sound Ideas, CRASH, CARTOON - CRAZY BASS DRUM AND CYMBAL CRASH, MUSIC, PERCUSSION 02
• Sound Ideas, CRASH, WOOD - LARGE WOOD CRUNCH 02
• Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - LARGE EXPLOSION 07
• Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - TRENCH MORTAR EXPLOSION
• Sound Ideas, GRINDER - GRINDING BUZZ
• Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - KABLAM
• Sound Ideas, POP, CARTOON - PAPER BAG BURST
• Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 07
• Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - SLICK RICCO 02
• Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - WAFFLE RICCO
• Sound Ideas, RUN, CARTOON - FAST RUN, LONG/SHORT
• Sound Ideas, SKID, CARTOON - BENT SKID
• Sound Ideas, SLAP, CARTOON - RAPID SLAPS, VERY LONG
• Sound Ideas, SPIN, CARTOON - SPIN COMMOTION
• Sound Ideas, SQUIRT, CARTOON - WATER SQUIRT 01
• Sound Ideas, SQUIRT, CARTOON - WATER SQUIRT 02
• Sound Ideas, SWOOSH, CARTOON - BIG SWOOSH 02
• Sound Ideas, TAKE, CARTOON - FUNNY RUN UP TAKE
• Sound Ideas, TAKE, CARTOON - WHISTLE TAKE
• Sound Ideas, TWIRL, CARTOON - FRISBEE TWIRL, CONSTANT
• Sound Ideas, WATER, SPLASH - BIG SPLASH, CARTOON
• Sound Ideas, ZIP, CARTOON - HOYT'S ZIP
• Sound Ideas, ZIP, CARTOON - SHORT BABOO ZIP
• WB CARTOON, HEAD SHAKE - TROMBONE GOBBLE