| Snooper and Blabber | |
|---|---|
) Super Snooper (left) and Blabber Mouse (right) on the segment's title card. | |
| Genre | Cartoon |
| Created by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of | Daws Butler |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 45 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor | Screen Gems |
| Release | |
| Original release | September 19, 1959 – October 20, 1961 |
Snooper and Blabber is one of the three sequences from The Quick Draw McGraw Show.[1] This show was produced by Hanna-Barbera between September 19, 1959 and October 20, 1962, and consists of 45 episodes.
History
Snooper and Blabber form a pair of cat and mouse detectives, respectively,[2] working for the Super Snooper Detective Agency.[3] Daws Butler voiced both characters although the first four episodes originally featured a different actor, Elliot Field as the voice of Blabber Mouse.[4] Michael Maltese crafted the stories. The characters have appeared in other Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics and Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
Super Snooper is more or less the one in command whenever the pair takes on a case while Blabber Mouse (a play on “blabbermouth”, not to be confused with the Merrie Melodies character Little Blabbermouse) follows whatever orders Snooper gives him. Snooper's voice was patterned after Ed Gardner's Archie on the 1940s radio show Duffy's Tavern. Blabber speaks with a lisp, hence he calls his senior partner "Shnooper." It was one of the rare shows that paired a cat and mouse that were not enemies. Also, Snooper makes frequent contact with his agent Hazel who is never shown, but is revealed to have a Parakeet as a pet.
Some of the pair's cartoons featured early versions of other Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Snagglepuss and Hardy Har Har.[5]
Appearances on Quick Draw McGraw
Snooper and Blabber starred in the following seven-minute cartoons on The Quick Draw McGraw Show:[6]
Season 1 (1959–1960)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Guest character(s) | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Puss n' Booty" | Alowishus, the millionaire cat | September 19, 1959 | |
| Pilot: Snooper and Blabber try to help the penniless heir Alowishus from his disinherited butler and a man impersonating him. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Switch Witch" | -- | September 26, 1959 | |
| In court, Snooper and Blabber testify a witch accused of persecuting Hansel and Gretel. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Real Gone Ghosts" | -- | October 3, 1959 | |
| The Captain of a ship summons Snooper and Blabber to take care of a couple of poltergeists. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Desperate Diamond Dimwits" | -- | October 10, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber attempt to retrieve the King-Size diamond stolen by the thief Lightfingers. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Big Diaper Caper" | Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist | October 17, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go to the Evil Scientist residence to babysit a sinister baby. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Flea and Me" | -- | October 24, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber search for a missing stage star flea called Rudolf, who proves to be slippery for the detectives. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "Disappearing Inc." | -- | October 31, 1959 | |
| A crook gets hold of an invisibility formula. To catch him, Snooper has Blabber take some of that formula. | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "Baby Rattled" | Babypants Bibky | November 7, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber are assigned to guard a safe in a mansion. But when Babypants infiltrates, a cop stands in the detectives' way. | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "Not So Dummy" | Babypants Bibky | November 14, 1959 | |
| In Goony Island, Snooper and Blabber investigate a robbery caused by Babypants disguised as a dummy. | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "Fee Fi Fo Fumble" | -- | November 21, 1959 | |
| With the hope of earning the Pussyfoot award, Snooper explains his case about a vanished bank and a giant. | |||||
| 11 | 11 | "Masquerader Raider" | Quick Change Quintin | November 28, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go to the Grumbles Department store to catch Quick Change Quintin disguising himself as various people. | |||||
| 12 | 12 | "Motor Knows Best" | -- | December 5, 1959 | |
| Snooper volunteers to beat Crash Smithereens in a car race, while avoiding his cheating tricks. | |||||
| 13 | 13 | "Slippery Glass Slipper" | -- | December 12, 1959 | |
| Blabber tells a journalist all about his and Snooper's royal case finding the lady who owns a glass slipper. | |||||
| 14 | 14 | "Monkey Wrenched" | -- | December 19, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go to a supermarket to catch an escaped monkey while trying to keep quiet about it. | |||||
| 15 | 15 | "Gopher Goofers" | -- | December 26, 1959 | |
| Snooper and Blabber are assigned to remove a pesky gopher from a rich garden. Their every attempt fails. | |||||
| 16 | 16 | "Impossible Imposters" | -- | January 2, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber track a mad scientist who has created robot clones of Snooper to give him a criminal name. | |||||
| 17 | 17 | "Adventure Is My Hobby" | -- | January 9, 1960 | |
| Snooper starring on television explains a case at Lake Wacha Macha Pool where a sea monster dwelled. | |||||
| 18 | 18 | "Cloudy Rowdy" | -- | January 16, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber follow the trail of Nimbo Nimbus in his giant skycloud after he stole a precious sapphire. | |||||
| 19 | 19 | "Snap Happy Saps" | Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist | January 23, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go to the Evil Scientist residence to the baby picture for a photo. | |||||
| 20 | 20 | "The Lion Is Busy" | Snagglepuss | January 30, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber search for the escaped mountain lion Snagglepuss and all three get tangled in the Adventurers' Club. | |||||
| 21 | 21 | "Laughing Guess" | Hardy Har Har | February 6, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber try to make Hardy Har Har laugh in this episode. Only slipping on a banana peel will make the hyena laugh. | |||||
| 22 | 22 | "The Case of the Purloined Parrot" | -- | February 13, 1960 | |
| Snooper tells a story about a case which had Captain Scuttle's parrot snatched, since he knew where to find a lost treasure chest. | |||||
| 23 | 23 | "Poddle Toodle-Oo!" | -- | February 20, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber with the help of flea try to track down a runaway poodle. They abort their mission when they see she has a fiance. | |||||
| 24 | 24 | "Doggone Dog, Gone" | -- | February 27, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber seek a lost diamond ring. The chase it until Blabber accidentally swallows it. | |||||
| 25 | 25 | "Hula Hula Hullabaloo" | -- | March 5, 1960 | |
| Snooper is to deliver a ping pong pearl to San Francisco, but it gets eaten by a flying fish. | |||||
| 26 | 26 | "Wild Man, Wild!" | -- | March 12, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber tail a wild man on the loose. By the time they find him, he's become civilized and adopted. | |||||
Season 2 (1960)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Guest character(s) | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Ala-Kazoop!" | -- | September 10, 1960 | |
| Snooper and an inspector are on the case of a stolen ruby. Blabber possessed by Hypno's powers is after that ruby. | |||||
| 28 | 2 | "Hop to It" | -- | September 17, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber chase after a diamond thief hitching a ride in a kangaroo's pouch, who repeatedly stomps on Snooper. | |||||
| 29 | 3 | "Fleas Be Careful" | -- | September 24, 1960 | |
| Blabber tells all about Snooper's case regarding Toot Sweet trying win the heart of his girlfriend, who was taken by a slick flea. | |||||
| 30 | 4 | "Observant Servants" | -- | October 1, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go undercover to guard a precious tiara, which gets taken by Lightfingers, hiding in a birthday cake. | |||||
| 31 | 5 | "De-Duck-Tives" | Yakky Doodle | October 8, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber are sent to hunt a Tralfazian duck, but a duckling pesters them thinking their duck decoy is his mother. | |||||
| 32 | 6 | "Big Shot Blab" | -- | October 15, 1960 | |
| Blabber eats a peanut which is a high atomic explosive entrusted to Snooper by a scientist. Then he gives Snooper a hard time. | |||||
| 33 | 7 | "Big Cat Caper" | Snagglepuss | October 22, 1960 | |
| Before Snooper can send Snagglepuss to the zoo, he escapes. Snooper and Blabber chase the mountain lion through the city park. | |||||
| 34 | 8 | "Scoop Snoop" | -- | October 29, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber travel to the Himalayas to photograph an Abominable Snowman. Blabber gets successful photo shots. | |||||
| 35 | 9 | "Prince of a Fella" | -- | November 5, 1960 | |
| The Wickedonia Queen sends Snooper and Blabber to find Snow White. Instead, they have her meet Prince Charming and turn into frogs. | |||||
| 36 | 10 | "Flea For All" | -- | November 12, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber follow a diamond theft to Scratchit's flea circus. Snooper then gets Toots Sweet to infiltrate the flea circus. | |||||
| 37 | 11 | "Outer Space Case" | -- | November 19, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber are taken to Mars to catch a thieving astronaut monkey. The case ends with Blabber staying behind. | |||||
| 38 | 12 | "Bear-ly Able" | -- | November 26, 1960 | |
| The Bear Family request Snooper and Blabber to find the thief who stole their porridge, who is none other than the Big Bad Wolf. | |||||
| 39 | 13 | "Surprised Party" | Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist | December 3, 1960 | |
| Snooper and Blabber go to the Evil Scientist residence to hold a party for their baby, who puts them into a lot of danger. | |||||
Season 3 (1961)
| Nº | Ep | Title | Guest character(s) | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | "Zoom-Zoom Blabber" | -- | September 15, 1961 | |
| The Captain Zoom-Zoom actor asks Snooper to catch Fly Burglar. Blabber uses Zoom-Zoom's identity to protect a precious sapphire. | |||||
| 41 | 2 | "Eenie, Genie, Minie, Mo!" | -- | September 22, 1961 | |
| Blabber with the role of detective goes with Snooper to recover Aladdin's genie. A long chase eventually gets the genie caught. | |||||
| 42 | 3 | "Bronco Bluster" | -- | September 29, 1961 | |
| Snooper and Blabber try to find a wild runaway horse. Snooper sends him home to Texas instead of Madison Round Garden. | |||||
| 43 | 4 | "Chilly Chiller" | Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist | October 6, 1961 | |
| A ghost requests Snooper and Blabber to remove the Evil Scientist family from his house, but their attempts fail. | |||||
| 44 | 5 | "Gem Jams" | -- | October 13, 1961 | |
| Snooper and Blabber try to find Mr. Richley's stolen gems, the butler as the prime suspect, who used shrinking potion to swipe them. | |||||
| 45 | 6 | "Person to Prison" | Quick Change Quentin | October 20, 1961 | |
| Series finale: Snooper and Blabber go to Sing Song prison disguised as convicts to prevent a jail break. Their attempt only gets them convicted. | |||||
Later appearances
Hanna-Barbera
Snooper and Blabber appeared in the 1972 TV-movie Yogi's Ark Lark, which was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie and also the pilot for Yogi’s Gang. They also appear in the 1982 special Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper.
The duo later appeared in the following Hanna-Barbera cartoon series:
- The Yogi Bear Show, to see Yogi at his birthday party.
- Laff-A-Lympics, as members of Yogi’s team.
- Yogi's Treasure Hunt, as regular characters.
- Yo Yogi!, with Snooper voiced by Rob Paulsen and Blabber voiced by Hal Smith. Snooper was a celebrity detective while Blabber ran the "Crooks 'n' Books Store" at Jellystone Mall.
- The Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment (episode “Agent Penny") of 2 Stupid Dogs. Rob Paulsen reprises Snooper here and also voices Blabber.
- Snooper made a brief cameo appearance (without Blabber) in the 1988 TV-movie The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound.
- Snooper and Blabber appeared in DC Comics Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special #1 as captured animals alongside other Hanna-Barbera characters.
- Snooper and Blabber will both appear in the upcoming series Jellystone!.
Other media
Snooper and Blabber made appearances in a number of comic books, and had their own title from Gold Key Comics, which only ran for three issues (1962–1963).[5]
In the mid-1960s, Snooper and Blabber were the stars of two LP albums from Hanna-Barbera Records:
- James Bomb, in which the duo were involved in a James Bond-type adventure; the record included songs with titles like “Dr. Oh No” and “Gold Pinky.”[7]
- Monster Shindig, in which Snooper and Blabber are called to investigate a loud party, which is being thrown by The Gruesomes. Paul Frees voiced Snooper and June Foray voiced Blabber on this record.[8]
In a 2007 episode of Robot Chicken, "Ban on the Fun", Snooper and Blabber appear in the "Laff-A-Munich" skit, confronting the Great Fondoo who was holding the groceries after the Really Rottens have murdered the majority of the Yogi Yahooeys. Snooper asks Fondoo, "Do you know why we're here?" However, the Great Fondoo questions why HE is there, stating he is a nobody and that Hanna-Barbera should've had plenty of other villains to make up the Really Rottens. Snooper and Blabber then shoot him to death.
See also
References
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 649–650. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part I: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 222–223. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ Blabber Mouse Blabs, YOWP blog
- ^ a b Snooper and Blabber at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016.
- ^ Big Cartoon Database: Snooper and Blabber
- ^ Children's Records & More: Super Snooper In “James Bomb” LP
- ^ Children's Records & More: “Monster Shindig” with Super Snooper & Blabbermouse