Yogi's Gang

When this show first premiered I thought it was great that Hanna-Barbera was bringing all of their major characters from the 1960's together in one show. However, when I saw it, I couldn't help but feel that it was a major disappointment. First of all, the show itself was too long due to the fact that it was an hour in length. I think that it would have worked better if it were just a half an hour in length. But, the big thing that I felt was wrong with the show is the fact that it was part of the long line of shows that came out in the 1970's that felt that it had to be socially relevant as well as entertaining. I don't need Yogi Bear or Magilla Gorilla giving me a weekly lesson on why we should protect the environment or how we should avoid the seven deadly sins. No wonder this show, or a lot of the other show's from this period are not remembered fondly or shown in reruns. This is one show I am sure to avoid at all costs.

I was a tyke when this came out but had already seen plenty of old cartoons and was intrigued with the idea of so many characters from older Hanna-Barbera cartoons gathered into one show, namely taking place on an ark-like helicopter traveling to different places. But this is not a travel show, but a situation where they travel to different places and meet a new villain each time, supposedly a good person but secretly representing an evil (dishonesty, sloppiness, wastefulness, etc.); and Yogi and crew are initially taken in by these people then realize the consequences.

While there is fun in how the villains trick Yogi and crew into misbehaving and rationalizing such behavior, the problem with the show is that you would think Yogi and company would be wise enough not to be tricked so easily in many instances, and even little kids are aware that sometimes the villains win and the good guys fail. And the cartoons Yogi and company originally appeared in were not morality plays themselves.

So how did this cartoon even come about as it did? Another reviewer pointed out that the group Action For Children's Television was formed in 1968 to lobby the television industry to move commercial television from entertainment to educational, and it had some success in the 1970's, though that would change when television would become deregulated. Even those who hate Ronald Reagan should thank him for making cartoons entertaining again.

I remember this being among the Hanna-Barbera 'toons I grew up on watching on Cartoon Network, when repeats used to air on there back in the '90s. I haven't seen this in years, but after reading the negative reviews of this here, as well as reading commentary on this among the "Top 10 Worst Hanna-Barbera Shows Ever Made" on another site, I'm willing to take others' word and believe that this is one of the shows not worth revisiting. I don't believe I even saw the Yogi's Ark Lark pilot, as it was before my time and I don't recall it ever being repeated. I'm not sure, but I don't think so. As I watched this when I was younger, I didn't think much of it either way. Because what would'd most other, naive kids and I known about 'toons of this quality anyway? But once I read about the history of the H-B company and the reasons why the majority of its output isn't all that.

Others here have already explained just what the problems are with this, but I'll try to add my own to this and do it differently. Looking back on this, for one, Yogi and the others may not had been best-suited for this kind of program and they may not had been fit to provide the messages of eco-consciousness and eco-friendliness. They should'd and would'd been better off just sticking to their usual routines instead. Captain Planet and then Planeteers is another environment-themed series that I wouldn't consider great now either, if I ever did . The difference between these two shows is that, although that may not had been the most perfect environmental cartoon ever made, one thing I can say about it is at least it had characters that weren't already established. So when it came to the characters from there, there was no concern with them being out of place. However, with this, it's the complete opposite and it's just odd. Some reviewers of this commented on the villains. They may not had been the best, but I didn't know much about that at the time. Basically, this was one of those series that promoted caring for the environment.

Aside from the aforementioned, this show has all the same, typical aspects of the studio and any, other, low-budget cartoon: Limited animation, reused backgrounds, goofs such as color errors, etc. The other reasons why this serves as an example of the majority of '70s cartoons being associated with what is known as the Dark Age of Animation. The voice acting may be the only thing that's truly good about this and not much else. Thinking back on the '60s and '70s H-B shows I did watch, I think I knew the difference in how well some cartoons were animated and how some others weren't. At the time, that somehow didn't concern me. It's amazing what I ever saw in this back then. I think one reason why I was so into this in the first place was simply due to the crossover of the H-B animals. I forgot that unusually for an H-B show the episodes ran about an hour. But now I know better and see it for what it really is: More about putting together whatever just for more cash grabs. As long as the money was rolling in and kids were drawn in, that's all that mattered. Sacrificing the soul of animation in the name of the bottom line: Profits. I'm sure now the stories or plots weren't all that great either. After adding my piece on what I had to type about it, I say it's a pass and only worthy for kids to watch, if anybody reading this has any. It's a weak and forgettable series that's no longer worthy of my time and recommended to nobody but any kids who may be more appreciative of it.