The friendly pink mountain lion called Snagglepuss was minor character in several Hanna-Barbera cartoons before he got his own series, although his first appearance is open to debate. A character similar in design, called Snaggletooth, originally appeared in an episode of Quick Draw McGraw in 1959, but despite the name difference he clearly formed the seed of the Snagglepuss character. In addition, Snagglepuss got work as a supporting character on Augie Doggie & Daddy Doggie and with Snooper & Blabber before getting his own segment. Beginning in 1961, seven-minute Snagglepuss segments played alongside with Yogi Bear and Yakky Doodle on The Yogi Bear Show.Despite of having an air of sophistication and fancying himself an actor and poet, Snagglepuss's mountain lion heritage meant he spent much of his time in the gun sights of hunters or having to escape capture. It was an ignoble existence for someone whose natural home was a furnished cave with modern amenities. Snaggle's passion for classic literature came through in his frequent 'misquotes of Shakespearean phrases or passages. Any viewer must surely remember his favorite catchphrase 'Heavens to Murgatroyd!' when he was alarmed, or 'Exit... stage left!' (or right) before running off screen when fleeing danger.Snagglepuss found himself in conflict with a different adversary in nearly every episode. The only recurring supporting character in the series was Major Minor, an otherwise successful big game hunter whose one failure was bagging Snagglepuss. Major Minor's membership with The Adventurer's Club was always in jeopardy because of the embarrassment.When his own series ended, Snagglepuss went on to appear in a variety of made-for-TV specials, as well as becoming a regular cast member of several brand new series, including Yogi's Gang (1973), Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977), Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985) and Yo Yogi! (1991).
Gareth Halfacree
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