Baby Huey

This article is about the cartoon character. For the soul singer, see Baby Huey (singer).
Baby Huey

Baby Huey
Publication information
Publisher Martin Taras
Created by Martin Taras
In-story information
Species Duck
Abilities strength, clumsiness

Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Although created by Famous for its animated cartoons, Huey first appeared in Quack-a-Doodle-Doo, a Noveltoon theatrical short produced in 1949 and released on 1949.[1]

Famous Studios

Huey first appeared onscreen in the Noveltoons short Quack-a-Doodle-Doo, released in theaters on 1949. The character's voice was provided by Sid Raymond, an actor and comedian who created several other voices for Famous Studios' characters, including Katnip.

Many animated shorts featuring Huey had recurring themes. Most common among them was him trying to be just like any other kid his age. He would see his peers playing, and would immediately get excited. Unfortunately, whenever he tried to involve himself in the activities of his peers (also anthropomorphic ducklings), he would often inadvertently cause problems at their expense, and as a result they would drive him away through trickery (and into tears). A hungry fox (voiced by Jackson Beck) would show up, originally intending to eat Huey's peers, but upon seeing Huey as a bigger meal and overhearing the distraught duck's desires to play with someone, would feign friendship and set traps along the way, all of which would prove ineffective on Huey and/or backfire on the fox. At first Huey was blissfully unaware of the fox's true agenda. But as his peers watched the annoyed fox in action from a safe distance (and fearing for his safety just as they did their own), Huey would come to realize the truth about his predator and dispose of him, usually by saying: "Hey, you! You're the fox! And I think you're trying to kill me!", and would finish the fox. Other times, however, Huey would remain blissfully unaware and the exasperated fox would finally give up, fleeing Baby Huey before any more misfortune befell him.

Baby Huey had a sidekick in later comics. This was his slow-thinking cousin, whom he referred to as Cousin Dimwit. Dimwit was characterized as a fairly skinny duck in an oversized red woolen sweater, with sleeves that ran over his hands and hung down several inches.

Harvey Comics and later animated appearances

Harvey Hits #60[2] was the first Harvey-published comic book to feature the character. Baby Huey, the Baby Giant was the first comic to bear the character's name; spin-offs included Baby Huey in Duckland and Baby Huey and Papa.

Huey's parents, Papa and Mama Duck (Gilbert & Silly), always struggled to manage their overgrown son despite his overbearing weight and strength, which often resulted in damage to his family's house or car, injury to Papa, or a threat from Papa's boss to fire him if Huey harmed the boss or caused damage to his home or office. Papa often disparaged Huey (who remained oblivious to his disapproval). Huey's main sidekicks were small identical triplet ducks (who bore a striking resemblance to Donald Duck's nephews. Huey, Dewey and Louie) who resented or mocked Huey for his stupidity and clumsiness but depended on his superhero strength to get them out of trouble.

Characters who appeared in Baby Huey comic books in separate strips included Herman and Katnip and Buzzy the Funny Crow, who was always outsmarting a blue cat (who resembled Katnip) that tried to catch and eat him.

Harvey purchased the rights to all of Famous' original characters in 1959, and Huey continued to appear regularly in Harvey publications until 1972. Huey was rarely seen for nearly two decades afterwards, returning to comics in 1990.

Film Roman produced a new series of Baby Huey cartoons for television in 1994, which aired as The Baby Huey Show for two seasons. He also starred in a live-action direct-to-video film, Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure, in 1999.

U.S. President Bill Clinton in a 1993 conversation cited his similarities to Baby Huey: "I'm a lot like Baby Huey. I'm fat. I'm ugly. But if you push me down, I keep coming back."[3] In The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper segment entitled "Legend of Duh Bigfoot", Baby Huey makes a cameo at the end of that segment.

The documentary Hype! references Baby Huey; by comparing it to different music revolutions that hit different cities at random times.

As of the present, Baby Huey is the property of DreamWorks Animation owned by Universal Studios a subsidiary of Comcast .

Filmography

Theatrical shorts

Television

Films

References

  1. ↑ Arnold, Mark (2006). The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times!. p. 24. ISBN 978-1847283689. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
  2. ↑ Dowell, Gary; Holman, Greg (2006). Heritage Comics Dallas Signature Auction Catalog #820. Heritage Capital Corporation. ISBN 978-1599670447.
  3. ↑ Gibbs, Nancy; Michael Duffy (16 Nov 1998). "Fall Of The House Of Newt". Time. Retrieved 12 May 2012.

External links

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