Boo-Boo Bear

History

Boo-Boo Bear is a cartoon character from Hanna-Barbera's The Yogi Bear Show. He is a short, anthropomorphic bear who always wears a blue bowtie. Boo-Boo is Yogi Bear's constant companion, not his son, a point that is often misunderstood. He frequently acts as Yogi's conscience, trying, usually without success, to stop Yogi from misbehaving and to keep him out of trouble with Ranger Smith. A common line from Boo-Boo is, "Mr. Ranger isn't gonna like this, Yogi." It remains uncertain whether Boo-Boo is a young bear with unusual intelligence or simply a short adult bear.

Boo-Boo first appeared with Yogi in the "Yogi Bear" segment of The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. When Yogi received his own series in 1961, Boo-Boo came along. He has stayed by Yogi's side in nearly every Hanna-Barbera series, movie, and special featuring Yogi, except for Yogi's Space Race and Galaxy Goof-Ups, where a character named Scare Bear replaced him. Don Messick, who also voiced Ranger Smith, was Boo-Boo's classic voice actor.

During the 1990s, Boo-Boo, voiced by Jeff Bergman and Billy West, often appeared with Yogi in Cartoon Network commercials and bumpers. In the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Chubby Cheese," an animatronic Boo-Boo plays the trumpet on stage with other Hanna-Barbera characters.

He appears in the I Am Weasel episode "I Am My Lifetime," voiced by Tom Kenny. Spümcø created parody cartoons starring Boo-Boo and other Yogi Bear characters, beginning with 1999's Boo Boo Runs Wild. This half-hour story heavily satirizes Boo-Boo's nice-guy persona, showing him as repressed by Ranger Smith's rules and regressing into a primal state with typical bear urges and behaviors, voiced by John Kricfalusi.

Boo-Boo appears with Yogi in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode "Here Thar Be Dwarves!," voiced by Tom Kenny. He later appears in the episode "Irwin Gets a Clue" as one of several Hanna-Barbera characters hit by Hoss Delgado's truck. In the Yogi Bear feature film, he is voiced by Justin Timberlake. In that film, Boo-Boo has a pet frog-mouthed turtle named Turtle and must help Yogi save Jellystone and Turtle from Mayor R. Brown.

He appears with Yogi in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Death by Chocolate," voiced by Tom Kenny, and in other episodes as a cameo. In the Max series Jellystone, Boo-Boo is a nurse voiced by show creator C. H. Greenblatt. In the two-parter "Crisis on Infinite Mirths," he and Yogi are revealed to be married for insurance reasons.

Boo-Boo appears with Yogi in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun," voiced by Victor Yerrid. A segment parodies Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre, where the Really Rottens shoot the Yogi Yahooeys to death as revenge for many losses. Boo-Boo later appears in a movie trailer parody of the Rambo franchise in the episode "President Evil," again voiced by Yerrid. He also appears in the sketch "Power Forest Rangers" in the show's 100th episode "Fight Club Paradise," voiced by series creator Seth Green.

Boo-Boo appears with Yogi in the Animaniacs segment "Suffragette City." On May 10, 2021, Boo-Boo and Yogi appeared in a GEICO commercial stealing food from a family cookout in bear country. Boo-Boo, along with Yogi, appears in the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy, watching from atop Yogi's shoulders among Warner Bros. characters heading to a basketball game. He appears with Yogi in the Teen Titans Go! episode "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary."

Portrayers

From his debut until 1996, Don Messick voiced Boo-Boo. In the Yogi Bear film, Justin Timberlake voiced him. Scott Innes performed Boo-Boo's voice along with Yogi in At Picnic, Forest, and Honey Lesson. Boo-Boo has appeared in numerous television shows, including The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Yogi Bear & Friends, Yogi's Gang, Laff-A-Lympics, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, The New Yogi Bear Show, Wake, Rattle, and Roll, Yo Yogi!, Boo Boo Runs Wild and A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith, Boo Boo and the Man, and Jellystone!

Hanna-Barbera appearances

He has also appeared in films and specials such as Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, Yogi's Ark Lark, Casper's First Christmas, Yogi's First Christmas, Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper, Yogi's Great Escape, Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration, Yogi the Easter Bear, Arabian Nights, the 2010 live-action/animated Yogi Bear film, and Space Jam: A New Legacy. He has also appeared in video games such as Yogi Bear: Great Balloon Blast and Yogi Bear: The Video Game.