King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (also known as The King and Odie Show) is a 1960–1963 American Saturday-morning animated television series that aired on NBC, sponsored by General Mills. It was created by Total Television (which would later rename itself Leonardo Productions after the main character) and is among the first Saturday-morning cartoon programs.[1]
The show focuses on Leonardo the lion (voiced by Jackson Beck), the well-meaning but often inept king of Bongo Congo, a fictional African nation notable for its bongos.[2] King Leonardo is assisted in all things by a calm, competent skunk named Odie Cologne or "Odie O. Cologne" (voiced by Allen Swift impersonating Ronald Colman).[3] Odie, the one who really keeps the kingdom on an even keel, has been by the king's side since they were children.[4]
King Leonardo's main archenemy is the gangster-type character Biggie Rat (voiced by Jackson Beck impersonating Edward G. Robinson), who routinely attempts to overthrow Leonardo and take over Bongo Congo for himself, with Leonardo's dimwitted sibling Itchy Brother (voiced by Allen Swift) being his puppet king. Biggie is often also assisted by an evil German inventor named Professor Messer (voiced by Jackson Beck) or Odie's flirtatious sister Carlotta. Biggie and Itchy's schemes always end with them either landing in the dungeon or escaping.
Episodes of The King and Odie that were exclusive to Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales feature Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother employed by Mr. Mad (voiced by Norman Rose), a mad scientist with a domineering personality. Mr. Mad has his own plans for Bongo Congo and indulges in his diabolical studies of behavior where he collected different types of people while lacking a King for his studies. Mr. Mad also threatened to throw Biggie and Itchy in "The Room" which contains unseen stuff that frightens both of them should they fail him. When his schemes fail, Mr. Mad disappears "as if by magic" before he can be apprehended.
Other segmentsedit
Each half-hour episode of King Leonardo consisted of five animated segments. Each half-hour included a two-part King and Odie episode, with other characters featured in between:
Tooter Turtle: The adventures of a turtle (voiced by Allen Swift) who has Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voiced by Sandy Becker) transport him to various settings, only to realize he was better off at home after all. When Tooter was trapped in a situation he couldn't get out of, he would call to the wizard, who sent him home with this incantation: "Drizzle drazzle druzzle drome, time for this one to come home."[5]
Another segment of the original King Leonardo show was Twinkles, an orange elephant who served as the mascot of Twinkles Cereal, a product of the show's chief sponsor, General Mills.[6] The 90-second Twinkles segments continued to air in syndication during the 1960s, and were presented in a 15-minute format under the title The King and Odie with George S. Irving narrating each segment. It later phased out after a firefighter character replaced the elephant as the cereal's mascot. The segments also appeared during some NBC network rebroadcasts of Underdog. The Twinkles segments were not included when King Leonardo And His Short Subjects was syndicated in a half-hour format during the 1980s.
These shorts were added to fill time when production of the early shows was delayed. The Columbia cartoons were featured during NBC showings of Hanna-Barbera's Ruff and Reddy, but not included in subsequent syndicated versions of the series.
The animation for the show's early segments was produced by TV Spots, with later episodes by Gamma Productions, the same Mexico-based studio that did much of the work for Jay Ward Productions. For this reason, and due to shared sponsorship by General Mills, Gamma has often been associated with both Total Television Productions and Jay Ward Productions. TV Spots was primarily a producer of animated commercials, but also was contracted for some segments of Rocky and His Friends for Jay Ward Productions.
Later appearancesedit
After King Leonardo and his Short Subjects ended, one season of new segments of "The King and Odie" and "The Hunter" continued to be produced and aired on Total TV's Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, which premiered in 1963. The following year, Total TV launched its most popular series, Underdog. When Underdog premiered in 1964, it featured repeats of The Hunter, while The Hunter's former spot on the Tennessee Tuxedo program was filled by repeats of Tooter Turtle.
In reruns, Total Television shorts often have been packaged alongside Jay Ward cartoons. Despite similar limited-animation styles, they were two separate studios. The animation for both studios was done by a small startup company called Gamma Productions; hence, the similar "look."
King Leonardo, despite its earlier episodes repackaged for syndication as The King and Odie during the mid-1960s, never attained the popularity of Total Television's other series, Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo, and is rarely seen on television today. Beginning in 2006, the Black Family Channel aired this show on its BFC Kids TV programming block until the channel's demise a year later. The characters of this show were also featured in an eight-issue comic book produced by Dell Comics and Gold Key.
^Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 343. ISBN978-1538103739.
^Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 165–166. ISBN0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
^Markstein, Don. "King Leonardo and His Short Subjects". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
^Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 146–147. ISBN0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
^Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 250. ISBN978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
^Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 478–479. ISBN978-1476665993.
king, leonardo, short, subjects, also, known, king, odie, show, 1960, 1963, american, saturday, morning, animated, television, series, that, aired, sponsored, general, mills, created, total, television, which, would, later, rename, itself, leonardo, production. King Leonardo and His Short Subjects also known as The King and Odie Show is a 1960 1963 American Saturday morning animated television series that aired on NBC sponsored by General Mills It was created by Total Television which would later rename itself Leonardo Productions after the main character and is among the first Saturday morning cartoon programs 1 King Leonardo and His Short SubjectsGenreAnimationVoices ofJackson Beck Sandy Becker Kenny Delmar Ben Stone Allen SwiftNarrated byAllen Swift The King and Odie Kenny Delmar The Hunter Country of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of episodesThe King and Odie 102 The Hunter 61 Tooter Turtle 40 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producerPeter M PiechProducersJoe Harris Treadwell Covington W Watts Biggers Chet StoverRunning time30 minutesProduction companiesTotal Television Leonardo Television Productions Format Films 1960 1961 Season 1 Halas and Batchelor 1960 1961 Season 1 Gerald Ray Studios 1960 1962 Seasons 1 2 TV Spots Inc 1960 1962 Seasons 1 2 Creston Studios 1961 1962 Season 2 Gamma Productions 1961 1963 Seasons 2 3 Jack Kinney Productions 1962 1963 Season 3 Rembrandt Films 1962 1963 Season 3 Hal Seeger Productions 1962 1963 Season 3 ReleaseOriginal networkNBCOriginal releaseOctober 15 1960 1960 10 15 September 28 1963 1963 09 28 Contents 1 Plot 2 Other segments 3 Later appearances 4 Episodes 5 Cast 6 References 7 External linksPlot editThe show focuses on Leonardo the lion voiced by Jackson Beck the well meaning but often inept king of Bongo Congo a fictional African nation notable for its bongos 2 King Leonardo is assisted in all things by a calm competent skunk named Odie Cologne or Odie O Cologne voiced by Allen Swift impersonating Ronald Colman 3 Odie the one who really keeps the kingdom on an even keel has been by the king s side since they were children 4 King Leonardo s main archenemy is the gangster type character Biggie Rat voiced by Jackson Beck impersonating Edward G Robinson who routinely attempts to overthrow Leonardo and take over Bongo Congo for himself with Leonardo s dimwitted sibling Itchy Brother voiced by Allen Swift being his puppet king Biggie is often also assisted by an evil German inventor named Professor Messer voiced by Jackson Beck or Odie s flirtatious sister Carlotta Biggie and Itchy s schemes always end with them either landing in the dungeon or escaping Episodes of The King and Odie that were exclusive to Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales feature Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother employed by Mr Mad voiced by Norman Rose a mad scientist with a domineering personality Mr Mad has his own plans for Bongo Congo and indulges in his diabolical studies of behavior where he collected different types of people while lacking a King for his studies Mr Mad also threatened to throw Biggie and Itchy in The Room which contains unseen stuff that frightens both of them should they fail him When his schemes fail Mr Mad disappears as if by magic before he can be apprehended Other segments editEach half hour episode of King Leonardo consisted of five animated segments Each half hour included a two part King and Odie episode with other characters featured in between Tooter Turtle The adventures of a turtle voiced by Allen Swift who has Mr Wizard the Lizard voiced by Sandy Becker transport him to various settings only to realize he was better off at home after all When Tooter was trapped in a situation he couldn t get out of he would call to the wizard who sent him home with this incantation Drizzle drazzle druzzle drome time for this one to come home 5 The Hunter A Southern accented crime fighting bloodhound detective voiced by Kenny Delmar reprising his Senator Claghorn voice from The Fred Allen Show chases after a criminal fox named The Fox voiced by Ben Stone The Fox would often commit a scheme which always ends with him being apprehended in the end Another segment of the original King Leonardo show was Twinkles an orange elephant who served as the mascot of Twinkles Cereal a product of the show s chief sponsor General Mills 6 The 90 second Twinkles segments continued to air in syndication during the 1960s and were presented in a 15 minute format under the title The King and Odie with George S Irving narrating each segment It later phased out after a firefighter character replaced the elephant as the cereal s mascot The segments also appeared during some NBC network rebroadcasts of Underdog The Twinkles segments were not included when King Leonardo And His Short Subjects was syndicated in a half hour format during the 1980s Early in the series NBC run selected Columbia Pictures theatrical cartoons were aired on the program some featuring The Fox and the Crow and Li l Abner These shorts were added to fill time when production of the early shows was delayed The Columbia cartoons were featured during NBC showings of Hanna Barbera s Ruff and Reddy but not included in subsequent syndicated versions of the series The animation for the show s early segments was produced by TV Spots with later episodes by Gamma Productions the same Mexico based studio that did much of the work for Jay Ward Productions For this reason and due to shared sponsorship by General Mills Gamma has often been associated with both Total Television Productions and Jay Ward Productions TV Spots was primarily a producer of animated commercials but also was contracted for some segments of Rocky and His Friends for Jay Ward Productions Later appearances editAfter King Leonardo and his Short Subjects ended one season of new segments of The King and Odie and The Hunter continued to be produced and aired on Total TV s Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales which premiered in 1963 The following year Total TV launched its most popular series Underdog When Underdog premiered in 1964 it featured repeats of The Hunter while The Hunter s former spot on the Tennessee Tuxedo program was filled by repeats of Tooter Turtle In reruns Total Television shorts often have been packaged alongside Jay Ward cartoons Despite similar limited animation styles they were two separate studios The animation for both studios was done by a small startup company called Gamma Productions hence the similar look King Leonardo despite its earlier episodes repackaged for syndication as The King and Odie during the mid 1960s never attained the popularity of Total Television s other series Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo and is rarely seen on television today Beginning in 2006 the Black Family Channel aired this show on its BFC Kids TV programming block until the channel s demise a year later The characters of this show were also featured in an eight issue comic book produced by Dell Comics and Gold Key Episodes editMain article List of King Leonardo and His Short Subjects episodesCast editJackson Beck King Leonardo Biggie Rat Professor Messer Allen Swift Odie Cologne Itchy Brother Duke Earl Tooter Turtle Narrator The King and Odie Sandy Becker Mr Wizard Kenny Delmar The Hunter Narrator The Hunter Ben Stone The Fox Officer Flim Flanigan Norman Rose Mr Mad Narrator several 1962 episodes of The King and Odie Delo States various female and children s voices George S Irving Narrator Twinkles various voicesReferences edit Perlmutter David 2018 The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows Rowman amp Littlefield p 343 ISBN 978 1538103739 Woolery George W 1983 Children s Television The First Thirty Five Years 1946 1981 Scarecrow Press pp 165 166 ISBN 0 8108 1557 5 Retrieved 14 March 2020 Markstein Don King Leonardo and His Short Subjects Don Markstein s Toonopedia Retrieved 2 April 2020 Rovin Jeff 1991 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals Prentice Hall Press pp 146 147 ISBN 0 13 275561 0 Retrieved 8 April 2020 Hyatt Wesley 1997 The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television Watson Guptill Publications p 250 ISBN 978 0823083152 Retrieved 19 March 2020 Erickson Hal 2005 Television Cartoon Shows An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1949 Through 2003 2nd ed McFarland amp Co pp 478 479 ISBN 978 1476665993 External links editKing Leonardo at Big Cartoon Database King Leonardo at Don Markstein s Toonopedia King Leonardo and his Short Subjects at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title King Leonardo and His Short Subjects amp oldid 1173769807, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
