Beany and Cecil was an animated cartoon series created by Bob Clampett for the
ABC Television Network. The cartoon was based on the television puppet show Time
for Beany, which Clampett produced for Paramount Pictures beginning in 1949.
The animated series first appeared in Matty's Funday Funnies in 1959, later
renamed Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil and finally Beany and Cecil in the
USA. Another season was produced in 1988. In its original form with hand
puppets, the show conveyed a greater sense of personal communication than did
the animated series that followed. The hand puppets were extensively marketed
and sold well. Although a children's show, it
incorporated satirical references to current events and personalities which
adults found entertaining, and the show also attracted adult viewers. Some of
the plots were easily recognisable as thinly veiled lampoons of current
political issues. Snarky side remarks by Beany, Cecil and the rest of the cast
often alluded to embarrassing public fiascos or personages, on which the
adult audience immediately picked up. Along with The Jetsons and The
Flintstones it was one of the first three color television series on the ABC
television network. History
Beany and Cecil was created by animator Bob Clampett after he left Warner Bros.,
where he had been directing theatrical cartoon shorts. Clampett originated the
idea for Cecil when he was a boy after seeing the top half of the dinosaur
swimming from the water at the end of the 1925 film The Lost World.
Clampett originally created the series as a puppet show called Time for Beany,
which ran from February 28, 1949 to 1954. Time for Beany featured the
talents of veteran voice actors Stan Freberg as Cecil and Dishonest John, and
Daws Butler as Beany and Uncle Captain. Clampett revived the series in animated
form, though Freberg and Butler did not reprise their roles. On 11 October 1959,
the animated show was introduced as Matty's Funday Funnies. named for "Matty
Mattel" the animated spokesperson for its primary sponsor Mattel Toys. The
program was later retitled The Beany and Cecil Show, airing prime time on
Saturdays during the 1962 TV season, on ABC Television. The newer cartoons
replaced the Famous Studios cartoons of Casper the Friendly Ghost and Little
Audrey among others packaged under the previous said title of Matty's Funday
Funnies. After 1962, the 26 shows were repeated
on Saturday mornings for the next five years. The cartoon featured Beany, a
boy, and Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent embarking on a series of adventures,
often to discover ancient civilizations and artifacts. These escapades were rife
with cartoon slapstick and puns. Prior to the animated series, but
concurrent with the puppet show, Clampett created a comic-book series of
Beany and Cecil adventures for Dell Comics. The artwork for this series of
comics, running from 1951–54, was drawn by Jack Bradbury.
In 1988, the show was revived as The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil by DiC
Entertainment. Only eight episodes were ever made, and only five episodes ever
aired. This incarnation of the show was produced and directed by John
Kricfalusi, who would later create The Ren and Stimpy Show, and made use of
voices from Billy West, who also did voices for Ren and Stimpy.
Characters = Main characters =
Beany Boy - A young, cupid-faced boy with a propeller beanie that allows him
to fly. Beany is a good-hearted, upbeat lad. In most episodes, Beany would be
kidnapped by the villain or vice versa, crying "Help, Cecil! Help!" to which
Cecil would reply "I'm a-comin', Beany-boy!" as he raced to the rescue.
This has become something of a catchphrase. Beany was originally voiced
by Jim MacGeorge in the 60's series and by Mark Hildreth in the 80's series.
Cecil - A large green sea serpent with a slight lisp. He is fiercely loyal to
Beany but not terribly bright. Cecil's trusting good nature invariably winds up
with him being taken advantage of by the bad people, and he often ends up
absorbing a great amount of physical abuse, all within the laws of cartoon
physics. The end of Cecil's tail was never seen in most episodes; it always
extended off-screen, or was hidden behind an obstacle. This is likely a
joking reference to the original Cecil, a hand puppet whose tail was likewise
hidden. Cecil's tail did appear in "Beany and the Jackstalk", when his
entire body got wound into the tension spring of a giant cuckoo clock. Cecil
also has a superhero alter-ego known as Super-Cecil. In this guise, he wears a
modified Superman shirt. It was Cecil who cried "A Bob Clam-pett
car-tooooooo-OOOOOOOOON!" at the opening of each episode. Cecil was originally
voiced by Irv Shoemaker in the 60's cartoon and by Billy West in the 80's
cartoon. Captain Horatio Huffenpuff - Also called
"Uncle Captain", he is Beany's kindly uncle and the Captain of the Leakin'
Lena, which takes the pals from one destination to the other. The Captain is
always willing to instruct Beany and Cecil on their latest assignment, but is
rather cowardly and refuses to put himself in any personal jeopardy,
locking himself below deck or under a box labeled "Capt. Huffenpuff's Hiding
Box" for most of the episodes. Uncle Captain was voiced by Jim MacGeorge in
both series. Mouth-Full-of-Teeth Keith - A cowardly,
toothless and Xenophobic old lion that hid in the first jungle arrived at by
the crew. Trying desperately to maintain his isolation from the interlopers,
Keith would roar threatenly at any passerby or invader of his territory. On
first encounter with Keith the crew was terrified of the unknown and imperious
jungle beast. However, as the story unfolds, Cecil begins to suspect that
Keith is really a "good guy" and fearful of strangers. After a few minor
skirmishes and a lot of trust, they all become good friends. Audience response
to the gentle and maned feline giant was so great that Keith soon became a
regular member of the troupe. On several episodes, he rose to the occasion,
rescuing the crew from peril in spite of his shy and reclusive nature.
Crowy - The navigator of the Leakin' Lena. He is a crow, and unsurprisingly
spends most of his time in the crow's nest. He speaks in a squawky voice and
has a tendency to faint dead away whenever the ship encounters some sort
of hazard. Voiced by Jim MacGeorge. Dishonest John - The villain of the
piece. He is dressed like a Simon Legree character, and he is constantly scheming
to foil Beany and Cecil's adventures. His catch phrase is a sinister
"Nya-ah-ãhh!", and he occasionally refers to Cecil as a "tall toad", "worm"
or "big salami". Whenever Dishonest John's schemes are revealed to the
heroes, Cecil tends to respond with an aghast "What the heck! D.J., you dirty
guy!". When Dishonest John receives his inevitable come-uppance, it is usually
just as painful as the abuse Cecil has endured in the rest of the episode.
Dishonest John also has a supervillain alter-ego known as The Bilious Beetle.
In this guise, he can fly under his own power and sports a painful stinger.
"D.J." also appeared disguised on occasion as the mechanical robotic
octopus "Billy The Squid" usually in haphazard attempts to simulate seastorms
to scare away the crew of the Leakin' Lena when on a treasure hunt. Dishonest
John carried a business card that read: "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Special
rates for Sundays and holidays". He was originally voiced by Irv Shoemaker in
the 60's series and by Maurice LaMarche in the 80's series.
= Minor characters = Davey Cricket - A cricket with a
coonskin cap who lives in the backwoods of Eight-Nine-Tennessee. A parody of
Walt Disney's wildly popular segments on the Disneyland TV show based on the life
of American frontiersman Davey Crockett. In Cricket's self-titled episode,
Dishonest John tries unsuccessfully to sign Davey to a lucrative Hollywood
movie contract. Go Man Van Gogh - A stereotypical
cartoon beatnik/wild man who lives in the jungles of Wildsville on the Hungry
I-Land. He often paints various things with his paintbrush, including
paintings, vines to swing on, and fake backdrops to fool enemies. He also often
plays a set of bongo drums, does scat singing, and speaks with various beatnik
stereotype slang. Though he did not appear in many episodes, he was somewhat
of a recurring character in the bumpers. He was originally voiced by Lord Buckley
in "The Wildman of Wildsville" and then by Scatman Crothers after Buckley's
death in 1960. Harecules - A rabbit version of Hercules
who accessed super mental powers by wearing a helmet called a Thinking Cap
and traveled in the Guided Muscle, a rocket shaped like a muscle man's arm
with a clenched fist. Jack the Knife - A friendly,
jazz-singing sawfish with a heavy French accent; a parody of singer Bobby Darin
and his 1959 recording of the song "Mack the Knife". His sawlike nose is used
like a sword to help Cecil defeat Dishonest John in the episode "Hero by
Trade". He usually sang to the tune of a jazzy rendition of My Darling
Clementine. Little Ace From Outer Space - An
astronaut mouse. In his self-titled episode, he was used by the people at
Cape Banana Peel to see "whither or whether there was any weather." Cecil
and Dishonest John competed to get Little Ace back to the cape for a cash
reward. In "Rat Race From Space," he was sent in a rocket to be the first mouse
on the moon only to end up in the ocean. Voiced by Paul Frees.
Tear-A-Long the Dotted Lion - A muscle-bound lion obsessed with exercise
and vitamins, a possible parody of fitness guru Jack La Lanne, who had a
popular TV exercise show around the same time as Beany and Cecil. His name is a
pun of the phrase "Tear along the dotted line", but Tear-A-Long himself wasn't
spotted. He spoke with a Southern U.S. accent similar to the Warner Brothers
animated character Foghorn Leghorn. One of the original characters on the Time
for Beany puppet show. Voiced by Daws Butler.
Careless the Mexican Hairless - Cecil's jovial pet Chihuahua, introduced in the
episode "Cecil Gets Careless" and so named because of his tendency to knock
things over when he happily jumps and dances. He sings to the tune of the
Mexican folk song "El Jarabe Tapatio". He is called a Mexican Hairless for
comic effect; the actual breed aka Xoloitzcuintli is much larger.
William Shakespeare Wolf - an actor wolf who was the foil for Little Quacker, a
duckling he desired to eat up, and Rin Tin Can, a robot dog.
Beepin' Tom - A diminutive alien who flew about in an open-top flying saucer.
Named for his habit of making beeping sounds. When he spoke, he would hum the
first line of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and then sing his phrase to the
tune of the next line. A high pitched, sped up voice similar to the Chipmunks
was used for the character and the words he sang/spoke appeared as a rebus in a
word balloon over his head. Shlepalong Catskill - A frog wearing a
cowboy hat who walked with a limp similar to that of Dennis Weaver's
"Chester" on the TV show Gunsmoke and spoke with a Yiddish accent. His
catchphrase was "Hey Shmendrick! Would you like a cup of coffee? The character
was voiced by Yiddish comedy singer Mickey Katz "
Peking Tom - A Siamese alley cat who sang about being a "very hungry guy;
I've got to get some food 'cause I'm too egg-foo-young to die."
Cora the Clinging Vine(AKA Flora)-A vine who literally has a crush on Cecil while
singing "groovy" and Jazz scats to him. Venus the Meanest and Venice the Menace-
Two space robot from Venus who at first were reported to be invading Earth but
came down for a picnic. Venice the Menace's name is a play on Dennis the
Menace both the British and American versions and acts like Linus Van Pelt
from Peanuts right down to his thumb sucking and "dirty old" blanket.
The Robot Ants-A group of ants brought by Venus the Meanest to be part of her
picnic on Earth. They sing a march base on the children's song "This Old Man",
The Boo Birds- A gang of mischievous ghost birds that haunt an abandoned
castle where Cecil stayed. They sing a tune "Filet of Soul" based the song
"When the Saints Come Marching In". Music
One episode featured Tchaikovsky's instantly recognizable celesta piece,
Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, from The Nutcracker. Other famed pieces of the
Nutcracker were used in the series as musical interludes such as the Chinese
Dance and Dance of the Reed-Flutes. Many other well-known classical music pieces
were featured in the show as well, including The William Tell Overture,
Ride of the Valkyries and Flight of the Bumblebee. Some of the background music
was also recycled from Leave it to Beaver and some early Walter Lantz
cartoons and incidental music from The Alvin Show.
Influence The AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt
Cheap" is titled after the business cards of character Dishonest John, which
read "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Holidays, Sundays and special rates."
In Marvel Comics Universe, there is a spacefaring Imperial Guard unit with a
member code named Warstar -who actually consists of two separate aliens, one
smaller being riding on top of the other more massive one, named B'nee and C'cil,
respectively. The puppet origins and the form of Cecil
inspired the famous science fiction author Larry Niven to invent an
important extraterrestrial race called Pierson's Puppeteer within his Known
Space series of novels and short stories. Beany and Cecil was also an
inspiration for Joel Hodgson to create the show Mystery Science Theater 3000
The artists Executive Producer: A.C.R. Stone
Producer: Bob Clampett Animation Directors: Jack Hannah, Dick
Kinney Story Material/Storyboards: Bob
Clampett, Eddie Maxwell, Al Bertino, Jack Bonestell, Dale Hale,Lloyd Turner
Layout: Terrell Stapp, Willie Ito, Tony Sgroi, Homer Jonas
Master Animator: Art Scott Animators: Lou Appet, Harry "Bud"
Hester, Bill Nunes, Al Stetter, Frank Gonzales, Bill Southwood, Carl A. Bell
Backgrounds: Curtiss Perkins, Robert Abrams, Marie Reed
Music Underscore: Bob Clampett, Sody Clampett, Hoyt Curtin, Jack Roberts
Music Published by Merrifield Music Co., Inc.
Production Assistants: Dick Elliott, John Soh, Jeanne Thorpe, Mike Sweeten
Voice Talents of Jim MacGeorge, Irv Shoemaker
A Bob Clampett Production, in association with Television Artists and
Producers Corporation The credits of the show did not show
traditional job titles, but pictorial icons indicating their jobs. Bob
Clampett's writing credit was indicated by a typewriter typing out the words
"...by Bob Clampett", for instance. = Episode list =
Oil's Well That Ends Well / No Such Thing / D.J. The Dee Jay 61962
There Goes A Good Squid / Ben Hare / Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow 61962
Cheery Cheery Beany / Nya-Ha Ha! / Swingin' Singin' Sea Serpent 61962
Mad Isle Of Mad-hatten / Hammy Awards / Hare-cules & The Golden Fleecing 61962
Beany Blows His Top / Beany Flips His Lid / Fleastone Kop Caper 61962
Thumb Fun / Living Doll / Beanyland 51962
Dragon Train / 10-Foot Tall And Wet / Dirty Pool 51962
Cecil's Comical Strip / Beany's Resid-jewels / Wot The Heck 51962
Ain't That A Cork In The Snorkel? / Makes A Sea-Serpent Sore / So What & 7
Whatnots 51962 Ain't I A Little Stinger / Warring 20's
/ B & C Meet Invisible Man 41962 Here Comes The Schmoeboat / T'ain't
Cricket, Crickett / Cecil Always Saves The Day 41962
Rin Tin Can / Vild Vast Vasteland / Invisible Man Has Butterfingers 41962
Dirty Birdy / Man Eater Skeeters / Leading Lady Bug 41962
20,000 Little Leaguers / Malice In Blunderland / Buffalo Billy 31962
Beany's Beany Cap Copter / Indiscreet Squeet / Phantom of the Horse Opera
31962 Sleeping Beauty & The Beast / Quackers
in Bed / D.J. Meets Cowboy Starr 31962 Hero By Trade / Illegal Eagle Egg /
Cecil Gets Careless 31962 Beany & The Jackstalk / Humbug /
Custard's Last Stand 31962 Greatest Schmoe On Earth / B & C Meet
Billy The Squid / Capture of the 3--Headed Threep 21962
Rat Race For Space / Beany & The Boo Birds / B & C Meet Ping Pong 21962
7th Voyage of Singood/Cecil Meets Cecilia/Thunderbolt the Wondercolt 21962
Monstrous Monster / Tommy Hawk/Yo Ho Ho & Bubble Of Gum / 21962
Trip To The Schmoon / Grime Doesn't Pay / Beany's Buffalo Hunt 11962
Davey Crickett / Strange Objects / Tearalong The Dotted Lion 11962
Little Ace From Outer Space / Super Cecil / Wildman From Wildsville 11962
Spots Off A Leopard / Invasion Of Earth By Robots / Singing Dinosaur 11962
Notes External links
Beany and Cecil DVD Website Beany and Cecil at Toon Tracker
Beany and Cecil at Toonopedia Beany and Cecil at TV.com
Beany and Cecil at Big Cartoon Database