Huckleberry Hound Show, The: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Review)

Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
Review Date: Oct 07, 2025
Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Release Date(s)

1958-1961 (August 26, 2025)

Studio(s)

Hanna-Barbera Productions (Warner Archive Collection)

Film/Program Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Audio Grade: B+
Extras Grade: C

Review

After the success of The Ruff and Ready Show, which is considered one of the first original Saturday morning cartoons presented in color, Hanna-Barbera Productions went on to produce many syndicated television shows in its wake, starting with The Huckleberry Hound Show. The animated program ran for four seasons from 1958 to 1961, and turned out to be the wellspring from which all blessings would flow. It was a sizable hit, spinning off other characters and leading the Hanna-Barbera production team to many other projects on the small screen and beyond.

In the show, the warm and friendly Huckleberry Hound with his thick Southern drawl is the master of ceremonies for three cartoons starring three separate sets of characters: Huckleberry himself; the diminutive “meeces” Pixie and Dixie and their fumbling feline foe Mr. Jinks; and the mischief-making Yogi “smarter than the av-er-age” Bear. By the show’s third season, Yogi became so popular that he starred in his own show, allowing the flimflamming Hokey Wolf to take his place. Dixie, Mr. Jinks, Yogi Bear, and Hokey Wolf were all voiced by the great Daws Butler, while Pixie, Yogi’s lovable sidekick Boo-Boo Bear, their constantly frustrated overseer Ranger Smith, and Hokey’s half-pint sidekick Ding-A-Ling Wolf were all voiced by the (also) great Don Messick.

The Huckleberry Hound Show was produced and directed exclusively by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and after the show’s original distributor Screen Gems released the show from its sponsor Kellogg’s, it was re-cut and re-purposed for various stations all the way through to the 1990s. It wasn’t until 2005 when an attempt was made by Warner Home Video to try and reconstruct the show as it had originally aired, released on DVD as The Huckleberry Hound Show: Volume 1. Unfortunately, the team behind it at the time could only do so much, and not only was there never a Volume 2, but the shows that were available were still largely incomplete. It wasn’t until the Warner Archive Collection did an exhaustive restoration of the show that it could be seen in (mostly) its original form, airing on MeTV Toons before finally coming to Blu-ray.

Like many others than came after it, The Huckleberry Hound Show is simply classic animated programming, with simple, good-natured humor and limited animation that eventually became the Hanna-Barbera house style. These cartoons hold up beautifully, even with some of their culturally insensitive content, which thankfully, is completely intact.

The Huckleberry Hound Show was animated and finished on 35mm film using traditional cel animation techniques, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The Warner Archive Collection debuts all 68 episodes of the show on Blu-ray in their most complete forms for the first time ever, encoded to 11 dual-layered BD-50 discs. While there are some caveats along the way, this is absolutely the best the show has ever looked on home video, perhaps ever. The majority of the show has been newly-scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives while some of the show’s interstitials and closing credit sequences survive in black-and-white 16mm presentations, and in one case, as a video source. All of this material has been cobbled together to present each and every episode of the show as close as possible to its original air length. Right up front, the least-interesting visually are the Yogi Bear segments, which were restored prior to this release by another team, and are nearly scrubbed free of grain. They’re still quite watchable, but the rest of the show’s content is much more organic with every bit of visual information left intact. Bitrates sit somewhere between 25 and 35Mbps the majority of the time, and the color palette offers a bold range of hues with deep blacks and excellent contrast. The images are also stable with all of the flaws inherent to the original animation left intact. While it’s not a perfectly even presentation, it’s a far cry from the days of watching the show in an incomplete form.

Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. Because of the varying sources, there’s an obvious difference in aural quality, but all of these sources are clean with excellent support for the elements at hand. It’s actually one of the better Warner Archive animated releases of recent memory in regards to the audio. It’s not perfect, but very serviceable.

As for the content of these shows, Warner Archive has spent years culling through archives and private collections to find as many segments and interstitials from the show on film as possible. Unfortunately, two of the interstitials that were included in recent MeTV Toons presentations were overlooked. There’s also a massive archive of interstitials that haven’t been included, nearly an hour’s worth, likely due to a lack of film-based elements. Though their absence is felt, they can be viewed separately via Youtube. It’s also worth noting that the Yogi Bear cartoon Bear on a Picnic is sourced from video, likely due to a lack of surviving elements, and both Bear on a Picnic and The Runaway Bear are missing their opening crew credits. It’s a shame that not everything could be found and included, but based upon what you do get with this release, there’s very little to complain about.

The 11-Disc Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release on The Huckleberry Hound Show: The Complete Series is presented in three blue Amaray cases with separate spindles dedicated to holding each disc. All three cases are packed into a thin, but sturdy, slipcase. The following episodes and extras are included on each disc:

DISC ONE (SEASON 1 – EPISODES 1-6)

Yogi Bear’s Big Break / Cousin Tex / Huckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie (29:47)
Judo Jack / Lion-Hearted Huck / Slumber Party Smarty (30:48)
Tricky Trapper / Pie-Pirates / Kit Kat Kit (29:48)
Big Bad Bully / Jinks’ Mice Device / Sir Huckleberry Hound (30:37)
Pistol Packin’ Pirate / Sheriff Huckleberry / Foxy Hound-Dog (29:48)
Rustler Hustler Huck / Big Brave Bear / Scaredycat Dog (30:38)

DISC TWO (SEASON 1 – EPISODES 7-12)

Tally Ho Ho Ho / Little Bird-Mouse / Freeway Patrol (29:37)
Jiggers ..It’s Jinks! / Cock-a Doodle Huck / High Fly Guy (30:36)
Two Corny Crows / Baffled Bear / The Ghost with the Most (29:48)
The Brave Little Brave / The Ace of Space / Huckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie (30:37)
Jinks Junior / Fireman Huck / Yogi Bear’s Big Break (29:48)
Dragon-Slayer Huck / The Stout Trout / Cousin Tex (30:47)

DISC THREE (SEASON 1 – EPISODES 13- 19)

The Buzzin’ Bear / Jinks the Butler / Lion-Hearted Huck (29:36)
Jinks’ Flying Carpet / Hookey Daze / Slumber Party Smarty (30:48)
Skeeter Trouble / The Runaway Bear / Judo Jack (29:37)
Be My Guest Pest / Puppet Pals / Tricky Trapper (30:37)
Mark of the Mouse / Sheep-Shape Sheepherder / Pie-Pirates (29:49)
Barbecue Hound / Duck in Luck / Kit Kat Kit (30:36)
Bear on a Picnic / Dinky Jinks / Sir Huckleberry Hound (29:37)

DISC FOUR (SEASON 1 – EPISODES 20-26)

Hypnotize Surprise / Hokum Smokum / Big Bad Bully (30:37)
Bird House Blues / Prize Fight Fright / Jinks’ Mice Device (29:37)
Brainy Bear / Nice Mice / Postman Panic (30:37)
King-Size Surprise / Ski Champ Chump / Robin Hood Yogi (29:37)
Lion Tamer Huck / Daffy Daddy / Cat-Nap Cat (30:37)
Scooter Looter / Mouse-Nappers / Little Red Riding Huck (29:37)
Boxing Buddy / The Tough Little Termite / Hide and Go Peek (30:37)

DISC FIVE (SEASON 2 – EPISODES 1-6)

Ten Pin Alley / Show Biz Bear / Hi-Fido (29:49)
Rapid Robot / Grim Pilgrim / Lullabye-Bye Bear (30:49)
Bare Face Bear / Sour Puss / Jolly Roger and Out (29:49)
Somebody’s Lion / Papa Yogi / King Size Poodle (30:48)
Mighty Mite / A Bully Dog / Stranger Ranger (29:49)
Rah Rah Bear / Bird Brained Cat / Nottingham and Yeggs (30:49)

DISC SIX (SEASON 2 – EPISODES 7-13)

Huck the Giant Killer / Bear for Punishment / Batty Bat (29:49)
Lend-Lease Meece / Cop and Saucer / Nowhere Bear (30:48)
Wound-Up Bear / A Good Good Fairy / Pony Boy Huck (29:49)
Pet Vet / Bewitched Bear / Heavens to Jinksy (30:50)
Goldfish Fever / Piccadilly Dilly / Hoodwinked Bear (29:49)
Snow White Bear / Pushy Cat / Wiki Waki Huck (30:49)
Huck’s Hack / Space Bear / Puss in Boats (29:49)

DISC SEVEN (SEASON 3 – EPISODES 1-6)

Spud Dud / High Jinks / Tricks and Treats (30:49)
Legion Bound Hound / Price for Mice / Hokey Dokey (29:48)
Science Friction / Plutocrat Cat / Lamb-Basted Wolf (30:49)
Nuts Over Mutts / Pied Piper Pipe / Which Witch Is Witch (29:49)
Knight School / Woo for Two / Pick a Chick (30:48)
Huck Hound’s Tale / Party Peeper Jinks / Robot Plot (29:49)

DISC EIGHT (SEASON 3 – EPISODES 7-13)

The Unmasked Avenger / A Wise Quack / Bean Pod’ners (30:48)
Hillbilly Huck / Missile Bound Cat / Castle Hassle (29:48)
Fast Gun Huck / Kind to Meeces Week / Booty on the Bounty (30:48)
Astro-nut Huck / Crew Cat / Hokey in the Pokey (29:49)
Huck and Ladder / Jinxed Jinks / Who’s Zoo (30:48)
Lawman Huck / Light Headed Cat / Dogged Sheep Dog (29:49)
Cluck and Dagger / Mouse for Rent / Too Much to Bear (30:49)

DISC NINE (SEASON 4 – EPISODES 1-6)

Caveman Huck / Jinks’ Jinx / Movies Are Bitter Than Ever (30:49)
Huck of the Irish / Fresh Heir / Poached Yeggs (30:48)
Jungle Bungle / Strong Mouse / Rushing Wolf Hound (30:48)
Bullfighter Huck / Bombay Mouse / The Glass Sneaker (30:48)
Ben Huck / Mouse Trapped / Indian Giver (30:48)
Huck’ dé Paree / Magician Jinks / Chock Full Chuck Wagon (30:49)

DISC TEN (SEASON 4 – EPISODES 7-12)

Bars and Stripes / Meece Missiles / Bring ’Em Back a Live One (30:48)
The Scrubby Brush Man / Homeless Jinks / A Star Is Bored (30:51)
Two for Tee Vee / Home Flea / West of the Pesos (30:50)
Bird House Blues / Dinky Jinks / Phony-O and Juliet (30:48)
Hokum Smokum / Hypnotize Surprise / Hokey’s Missing Millions (30:49)
Postman Panic / Nice Mice / Loot to Boot (30:48)

DISC ELEVEN (SEASON 4 – EPISODES 13-16)

Ski Champ Chump / King-Size Surprise / Guesting Games (30:49)
Lion Tamer Huck / Cat-Nap Cat / Sick Sense (30:48)
Little Red Riding Huck / Mouse-Nappers / Aladdin’s Lamb Chops (30:48)
The Tough Little Termite / Boxing Buddy / Bean Pod’ners (30:49)

Huckleberry Hound: A Linguistical Masterpiece (SD – 5:30)
The Legendary Sound of Daws Butler (SD – 12:42)
Quotable Quotes Music Video (SD – 2:21)

In Huckleberry Hound: A Linguistical Masterpiece, linguistics expert Dr. Theodore Rexford McGriffin III humorously examines Huckleberry Hound’s use of language. In The Legendary Sound of Daws Butler, the renowned voice artist is celebrated by those who knew him or worked with him, including voice actors Tom Kenny, Corey Burton, Nancy Cartwright, voice actor and director Charlie Adler, and writers and historians Mark Evanier and Earl Kress. Last is a music video (previously titled Huckleberry Quotes: The Re-Mix on the DVD release) set to various quotes from Huckleberry Hound. The Volume 1 DVD release included trailers for other DVD releases of Hanna-Barbera productions, as well as shorter versions of some of the episodes, and a featurette discussing the reconstruction of the show’s pilot. Obviously, all of those items are now superfluous in light of this Blu-ray release. It’s a painstaking effort that, given Warner Archive’s limited access to still-existing materials, will be a revelation for any classic animation fan. Most highly recommended!

- Tim Salmons

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