Bob Clampett Productions

1948

1967

Description

Bob Clampett left Warner Bros. in 1946 to open his own studio, Bob Clampett Productions in 1948. As many writers and fans point out, Clampett was as much fascinated with animation as he was with puppetry. As part of his new studio, Clampett created a live daily puppet show, Time for Beany, featuring a sea serpent named Cecil, his propeller-hat best friend, Beany, Cecil’s uncle, Capt. Huffenpuffa, and a ‘bad character’, Dishonest John. The show debuted in 1949 on KTLA in Los Angeles as one of television’s earliest children’s shows.  It had its big breakthrough in 1950, when it was aired on national television, Paramount Television. The show was extremely popular, winning three Emmy awards for best Children’s program, and running for six years until 1955.   At the same time, Bob Clampett Productions produced other series, such as Thunderbolt The Wondercolt, Buffalo Billy (1950-1951), and Willie The Wolf, as well as TV commercials.   As the popularity of puppet show diminished in the 1950s, due to the emergence of television animation, Clampett started producing an animated version of Beany and Cecil in 1959.  At the beginning, the show was released in theatres by United Artists in Canada and Australia in 1959. In 1962, Beany and Cecil debuted on ABC’s Matty’s Funnies with their own animated show, named Matty’s Funday Funnies with Beany And Cecil. After only three months, the live-action hosts were dropped, and the show was renamed to Beany and Cecil. Initially, the show was aired in prime time but in January of 1963 it was moved to Saturday mornings. The show had a successful five year run until 1967.

Bob Clampett left Warner Bros. in 1946 to open his own studio, Bob Clampett Productions in 1948. As many writers and fans point out, Clampett was as much fascinated with animation as he was with puppetry. As part of his new studio, Clampett created a live daily puppet show, Time for Beany, featuring a sea serpent named Cecil, his propeller-hat best friend, Beany, Cecil’s uncle, Capt. Huffenpuffa, and a ‘bad character’, Dishonest John. The show debuted in 1949 on KTLA in Los Angeles as one of television’s earliest children’s shows.  It had its big breakthrough in 1950, when it was aired on national television, Paramount Television. The show was extremely popular, winning three Emmy awards for best Children’s program, and running for six years until 1955.   At the same time, Bob Clampett Productions produced other series, such as Thunderbolt The Wondercolt, Buffalo Billy (1950-1951), and Willie The Wolf, as well as TV commercials.   As the popularity of puppet show diminished in the 1950s, due to the emergence of television animation, Clampett started producing an animated version of Beany and Cecil in 1959.  At the beginning, the show was released in theatres by United Artists in Canada and Australia in 1959. In 1962, Beany and Cecil debuted on ABC’s Matty’s Funnies with their own animated show, named Matty’s Funday Funnies with Beany And Cecil. After only three months, the live-action hosts were dropped, and the show was renamed to Beany and Cecil. Initially, the show was aired in prime time but in January of 1963 it was moved to Saturday mornings. The show had a successful five year run until 1967.

References:

• http://clampettstudio.com/bios/bob_clampett.htm
• http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Funnyworld/Clampett/interview_bob_clampett.htm

• http://www.awn.com/mag/issue4.06/4.06pages/storyclampett/storyclampett.php3
•  http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/C/Bob_Clampett_Productions/Beany_and_Cecil/index.html
• http://www.toontracker.com/beanytoon/beanytoons.htm
•  http://www.povonline.com/cols/COL281.htm