Produced and Directed by Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna.
Credits: Animation – Carlo Vinci, Layout – Lance Nolley, Backgrounds – Bob Gentle, Written by Tony Benedict, Story Director – Alex Lovy, Titles – Art Goble, Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Narrator, Alfie Gator – Daws Butler; Yakky Doodle – Jimmy Weldon.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Episode: Production R-58 (22nd of 24 Yakky cartoons in the 1961 season).
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Plot: Alfie Gator tries to eat Yakky Doodle.

Tony Benedict was a big fan of the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents, so he decided to parody it in the Yakky Doodle cartoons by creating Alfie Gator, who speaks somewhat in a Hitchcock manner and employs some of the devices used on the noted director’s anthology show—walking into an outline of his body, lighting turning him into a silhouette, using formalised language to go into and out of commercial breaks. It’s all pretty amusing in cartoon form; as a child, I had either seen enough promos or bits of the Hitchcock programme to get all the references.

One thing about Alfie must have really pleased budget-conscious Bill Hanna; it was the same thing that annoyed Frank Tashlin at Warner’s about Porky Pig—it took forever for Alfie to talk. He was slow and breathy (as was Hitchcock). On top of that, Jimmy Weldon enunciated slowly for Yakky so people could understand him (not like that Darn Old Duck at Disney). So the two characters stood there and yapped. It didn’t make for interesting visuals, but it saved money on animation.

Basically, the Alfie Gator cartoons are spot-gag cartoons. Alfie tells the audience what he’s going to. He fails. He comments to the audience on his failure. Fade out to next gag.

Four cartoons were made with Alfie. This was the first one. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it’s the only Yakky cartoon that opens with a narrator.

Narrator: Once upon a time, there was a little duck named Yakky Doodle who had a terrible eating problem.
Yakky (to audience): That’s right. Everybody wants to eat me.
Narrator (happily): Yes, everyone wanted to eat poor Yakky. Well, strangely enough, not far away, was someone else with an eating problem.

The scene fades to Alfie, holding his gourmet’s guide. Hoyt Curtin’s cue based on the Hitchcock theme “Funeral March of a Marionette” is heard in the background. Alfie turns to the camera and wishes us “Good afternoon.” He informs us that roast duck is on his menu, but he hasn’t got “the prime ingredient.” Yakky strolls into the scene. “Woe is me! Woe is me! Why was I born a duck instead of a hippopotamus? Woe is me! Woooooe is me!” Alfie continues: “I hope you will excuse me (breathes), but for those of you who weren’t paying attention (breathes), that was a duck, today’s specialty of the house.”

One of the things I like about Yakky in this cartoon is he sticks up for himself. He’s not naïve (let alone ignorant) or needs protection like he does when Chopper is around. Yakky uses a sling shot to shoot a rock into Alfie’s mouth. “Hmmm (breathes). One of my favourite desserts. (breaths) Rock candy,” puns the gator.

The next scene fades in. “Hello, again,” Alfie says to us, and explains (to “advance the plot”) his trip wire/rock contraption. But Yakky’s smart enough to spot the trap and fly over it. Alfie can’t stop in time. Crash goes the rock.



Fade to next scene. Alfie is in a tree, holding a rope with a loop on the ground. Yakky again sees the trap, grabs the rope and pulls the gator who smashes on the ground. Now comes the most predictable line of the cartoon: “See ya later, alligator,” shouts Yakky, as he rushes out of the picture. Time for a Hitchcock-like break. “I shall return after a brief fade out,” says the accurate alligator, as the scene fades out and fades in again. “Welcome back,” we’re greeted with. Alfie is now wearing a backpack with a rotor over his head to enable him to fly and catch the duck in mid-air. “I shall only pursue you,” he says to Yakky, “until you tire.” “Or,” adds the smarter-than-the-average duck, “if you run out gas.” “A point I overlooked,” Alfie remarks as he again crashes to the ground.



The hunt is over. The alligator concedes defeat. “Relax, little friend, I’m not going to eat you. It’s much too dangerous a task...My gourmet guide suggests I watch the Late, Late Show and enjoy a frozen TV dinner. (breathes) People have been known to live on them for years.

Cut to the partial outline of the gator, a la Hitchcock. Curtin’s “March” cue returns. “So, if you will kindly excuse me,” Alfie says as he walks into the outline. “I should like to wish you a fervent (breathes) good night.” With that, the cartoon ends.



Carlo Vinci animates this cartoon, and some of his trademarks are here. The diving exits for one.



Carlo also used the same leg angle when he did run cycles or, in this case, a skid/run cycle.



And there’s a position he animated on exits as well; I’ve seen it in Yogi Bear and Jetsons cartoons and a few Terrytoons. One arm is out, the back of the head is stretched, and the wrist on the other arm is at an angle.



Bob Gentle’s backgrounds are reminiscent of Florida, featuring tall grass and moss hanging from tree branches.


We’ve talked about Curtin’s cues. Other than when Yakky is “woeing” when the music’s a little too happy/tinkly, the music pretty much suits the cartoon.

Produced and Directed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Credits: Animation – Don Towsley, Layout – Tony Rivera, Backgrounds – Dick Thomas, Written by Tony Benedict, Story Director – John Freeman, Titles – Art Goble, Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Yakky – Jimmy Weldon, Chopper – Vance Colvig, Alfie Gator – Daws Butler.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Episode: Production R-77 (fifth of eight Yakkys in 1961-62 season).
Copyright 1962 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Plot: Alfie Gator tries to eat Yakky Doodle for dinner but Chopper gets in the way.

“And so ends another happy tale with the villain vanquished. Namely (breathes) me.” So we, the audience, are told at the end of this cartoon by Alfie Gator, modelled by writer Tony Benedict on Alfred Hitchcock.

Back when this cartoon was made, the famed director hosted a TV show called Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Benedict loved it so much, he parodied it in the Yakky Doodle cartoons. Hitchcock alerted his viewers, in elegant language, that he was about to pause for a commercial message, then welcomed them back when the ad break was finished. Alfie does the same thing. Daws Butler doesn’t imitate Hitchcock but borrows some of his vocal mannerisms (including heavy breaths during sentences) and takes the mush out of his mouth, leaving a detectable accent. Hitchcock arrived and departed in a silhouette. Alfie does the same (at least at the end of this cartoon).

Benedict mines humour in this cartoon from the Hitchcock show familiarity because the gags themselves aren’t all that strong. The first half of the cartoon is taken up with the well-worn scenario of a small character being invited for dinner, floating around in a pot of water on a stove and then being told he’s the dinner.

Chopper: How can you eat that poor, little innocent duck?
Alfie: (breathes) I force myself.

One of the things that’s enjoyable about Alfie is his complete disdain for Chopper and the dog’s boorish, rough-housing attitude. It’s completely beneath his dignity, which he doesn’t hesitate to tell the audience. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from being pummelled.

Chopper: Ya know what I’m gonna do?
Alfie: (breathes) I suspect you are going to resort to some crude form (breathes) of physical vi-o-lence.

Yes, that’s exactly what happens.




The next gag involves Alfie leaving a trail of bread crumbs to catch the duck in a pot. But Chopper eats the crumbs instead. Alfie mistakenly clobbers Chopper with the pot. You kind of know what’s going to happen next.

Alfie: I beg your pardon (breathes), but this constant interference is becoming quite annoying. I suppose now you will indulge in a childish temper tantrum. (Chopper clobbers Alfie with the pot). Disgusting trait to find in a fully-grown dog. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Next, Alfie uses a bow with a plunger attached to a rope as an arrow to “snare my duck dinner.” Yakky (if you’ll pardon the pun) ducks. Again, you know what’ll happen.

Alfie: (to Chopper) Good heavens, it’s you. (to audience) He doesn’t seem to understand (breathes) that I find his presence disturbing. (to Chopper) Before you assault me with that plunger (breathes), I should like to grovel at your feet and (breathes) plead for mercy.
Chopper: Aw, I wasn’t gonna hit you with this old plunger.
Alfie: Good. I shall be forever grateful.

And as you might have guessed, Chopper punches him in the nose instead.

Those are the gags. Alfie ends the cartoon by fading away until next time, just like we might expect from Hitchcock himself.



Hoyt Curtin wrote a cue based on Hitchcock’s theme “Dance of the Marionettes.” For whatever reason, the sound cutter doesn’t use it in this cartoon. But the music that is heard is familiar from The Flintstones and Hanna-Barbera short cartoons of this time period.

There’s nothing distinctive or really very interesting in the artwork in this cartoon. And with that, I shall fade away until next time. Good night.

Produced and Directed by Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna.
Credits: Animation – Clarke Mallery, Layout – Noel Tucker, Backgrounds – Dick Thomas, Written by Tony Benedict, Story Director – Lew Marshall, Titles – Art Goble, Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Yakky Doodle – Jimmy Weldon; Fibber Fox, Alfie Gator – Daws Butler.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Episode: Production R-74, fourth of eight Yakkys in 1961-62 season.

Simple tastes in cartoons, have I. I like settings to be nice and traditional: Fred Flintstone living in the Stone Age, 1960s style, Yogi Bear hanging out with Boo Boo, that sort of thing. I’m afraid I’m not much on the “universe” concept where Hanna-Barbera characters are poured into cartoons together merely because they’re Hanna-Barbera characters. I have no desire or curiosity to see the Herculoids and Scooby Doo in the same cartoon. I realise there are fans who love these kinds of combinations. Good for them. They can have them. I had enough problems with those ‘70s series that shoved together Yogi Bear and all kinds of funny animals and/or humans for the sake of shoving them together. Too many characters who should have been starring got watered down through sheer volume. Again, some fans like those shows, in some cases because of the Saturday Morning Bowl of Cereal Syndrome (nostalgia for an idealised childhood). To each their own.

I don’t mind guest or cameo appearances of characters where they have a real reason to be together. The Flintstones’ mini-cartoon that appeared on the episode of the Jetsons was great. All the characters on the Huckleberry Hound Show appearing in bumpers made sense because they were kind of treated like actors on the same programme who just happened to be around, with Huck decidedly in charge during the segments. And the idea of putting comic villains Fibber Fox and Alfie Gator in the same Yakky Doodle cartoon, Hasty Tasty, worked, too.

There was the danger of Fibber and Alfie cancelling other out, but writer Tony Benedict makes sure each keeps his own well-defined personality and builds a nice little story where the two compete (for a good portion of the cartoon) to capture the duck. There’s the added bonus of Chopper not making an appearance which keeps the plot nice and clean. Instead of the dog battering the stuffing out of the two bad guys, they do themselves in thanks to their own greed and incompetence. And for those of you who dislike or detest the duck, Tony has come to your rescue by not making him win this cartoon; Yakky is still running for his life when seven minutes are up and it’s time for a Kelloggs commercial.

Presumably, the title Hasty Tasty comes from all the run cycles in the cartoon. I didn’t bother to count them. The cycles may have given animator Clarke Mallery extra time for come up with some nice expressions. Mallery was an ex-Disney artist who also was hired to direct part of the Magoo Arabian Nights feature at UPA. The internet says he did a lot of freelance work and as this is his only credit in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon (that I know of), I suspect his work was freelance on this. Up and to the left you see Yakky screeching out the public-domain-so-we-don’t-have-to-pay-to-use-it song Camptown Races. The scene cuts to Fibber’s reaction, first to seeing a potential dinner on a tree branch, and then to the singing. These are consecutive frames.



A couple of exits. First, Alfie drops Fibber out of the frame. The drawing appears on screen for three frames.



Fibber and Alfie zip out of the scene. This one is also on threes.



We had a run cycle of Fibber and Yakky from this cartoon in this post. Here’s a three-drawing run-in-mid-air cycle, one drawing per frame. It seems to me most run cycles are even-numbered.



Random bits of dialogue:

Fibber: Hey, come back little duck! Don’t be chicken. I hate chicken.
Alfie: Good afternoon. As an ardent bird fancier, I have been observing that duck with the abominable voice (breathes). However, my intentions of purely abdominal.
Alfie (chasing Yakky): Consider, for one moment, the contribution you could make to gourmet history.

Among the gags:

● Alfie stops Fibber from chasing the duck with a well-placed frying pan.
● Fibber gets shot by Alfie after putting his mouth at the end of a metal pipe to swallow Yakky (who escapes through a hole).
● Alfie lays on the ground and swallows Yakky running into him. Fibber swats Alfie on the butt to get the duck out.
● Alfie puts his mouth at a drain-pipe exit on the roof of a house but Fibber grabs the pipe and runs into a cave with it, Alfie still attached.




Finally, the two villains agree to work together but start fighting (egged on by Yakky) when they disagree over who is going to eat the duck. The animation’s a little stiff because drawings are re-used but much of the scene is on ones. Occasionally, Alfie will be held in position for two frames while Fibber has a different position in each frame. Note how Alfie maintains his noble bearing except when he’s punched.



“Guess I should go south. I’ll never get a chance to grow up around here. Help! Heeeeeeelp!” screeches Yakky in close-up, as the cartoon fades out.

It’s nice to know several of the people who worked on this 54-year-old cartoon are around. Yakky’s voice, Jimmy Weldon, is still working in his 90s and writer Benedict is blogging about random cartoon things. Animator Mallery died in Los Angeles on July 12, 1993, age 74.

Produced and Directed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Credits: Animation – Don Williams, Layout – Dan Noonan; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Tony Benedict; Story Director – Lew Marshall; Titles – Art Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Narrator, Alfie Gator – Daws Butler; Yakky Doodle – Jimmy Weldon.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Episode: Production R-67. (second Yakky of 1961-62 season, first aired).
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

The origins of Yakky Doodle can be found in a 1950 Tom and Jerry cartoon called “Little Quacker.” He’s actually a good character in that short. He’s sympathetic. He hatches and Tom tries to turn him into roast duck without deserving any ill fate. But in later shorts he got self-pitying about his orphaned state and bawled constantly to get someone to give him a home.

Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera liked the character, so when they started their own studio, they put the duck in several cartoons. It was the same old thing. He was a user in “Slumber Party Smarty” (1958), playing the sympathy card to have Yogi Bear take him in, then selfishly ignoring a kind request to remain quiet (Yogi ends up leaving while the clueless duck wonders why).

In September 1960, Kellogg’s had announced it would sponsor a half-hour, early-evening, syndicated cartoon series featuring Mr. Magoo, similar to the half-hours it was sponsoring that were fronted by Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw. But UPA, the studio behind Magoo, pulled out of the deal. Kellogg’s needed something fast. Hanna-Barbera was ready. Yogi Bear had pretty much eclipsed Huckleberry Hound as the studio’s No. 1 star—so he got his own show. To fill the rest of the half hour, Hanna and Barbera pulled out two characters that had been used as supporting players—Snagglepuss, and the duck, at the time named Iddy Biddy Buddy.

His name got changed but he still exhibited some of the same traits. He still pulled guilt trips, faking how he’d freeze to death if he wasn’t able to mooch a home. He whined about being an orphan. Fortunately, writer Mike Maltese realised there were very few laughs to be mined with a star that was a pest, so he eliminated a lot of the negativity and put the comedy in the mouths of villains. Maltese came up with Fibber Fox, then Tony Benedict, who spelled off Maltese on the series, spoofed Alfred Hitchcock Presents by creating Alfie Gator, right down to the silhouettes and character outline. Daws Butler doesn’t do a Hitchcock impression, but he evokes Hitch with an English-esque accent punctuated by heavy breaths.

(As an aside, something else that helped Yakky was his voice. The earlier duck had been voiced by nightclub performer Red Coffey/Coffee whose imitation Donald Duck delivery was sometimes stiff and undecipherable. Children’s entertainer Jimmy Weldon won the Yakky role; he had a duck puppet character on his popular local Los Angeles TV show. Weldon was a great choice. Compared to Coffey, his diction was much clearer and his line reading more enthusiastic).

This lengthy introduction brings us to the cartoon “Duck Seasoning.” Benedict wrote this one and it’s one of the best in the series. It’s a two-character cartoon, Yakky and Alfie. Yakky isn’t constantly crying for his dog friend, Chopper, to bail him out of trouble. Yakky takes care of Alfie himself. His independence is refreshing.

Alfie keeps up a steady stream of patter to the viewers, just like Hitchcock addressing the audience in his show. He is revealed after entering in silhouette and, again like Hitchcock, wishes us a “good evening.” And he tells us there will be brief pause before fading out, then welcomes us back when the next scene fades in; Hitchcock used the same device for commercial breaks on his show. I didn’t watch Hitchcock when I was 6 but I still got the reference when I saw these cartoons for the first time (thanks to station promos that ran during daytime hours). Best of all, Hoyt Curtin composed a tune reminiscent of the well-known Hitchcock theme Funeral March of a Marionette. It fit perfectly.



Here’s the opening dialogue. Tony had a good ear for the Hitchcock format; Hitch would explain what was about to unfold for viewers.

Alfie: Good evening. (Breathes). Welcome to Roast Duck Season. You are about to witness the decline and fall of a duck (breathes) at the hands of Yours Truly.
Roast duck under glass is a must for any cultured gourmet. (Breathes) I shall attract the main course with this ingenious dinner bell (breathes) known as a “duck call.”
(Alfie blows duck call four times)
Yakky: Quack quack?!?
Alfie: For my next number (breathes), I shall play the ballad “The Duck I Left Behind Me.”
(Alfie blows duck call twice)
Yakky: Sounds like some poor duck left behind me.

“What am I going to do with this rifle?” Alfie says, repeating Yakky’s question when the two finally meet. “Such bland naiveté would melt a heart of lesser stuff,” he tells us. Tony doesn’t give us a gag to end the scene; Yakky simply runs away after being fired on before a fade out.

Now a series of blackout gags follows, with Alfie commenting on each failure. In a way, it’s reminiscent of what Maltese did with Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, in cartoons with Bugs Bunny. Alfie captures Yakky in a pot. “Modesty (breathes) forbids my pointing out the particular brilliance of the foregoing manoeuvre.” Yakky responds by bashing Alfie on the head with the pot. “Action (breaths) seems to speak louder than words. And, I might add, much harder.”

Alfie decides to shoot himself into the sky from a cannon to capture the duck. While he’s explaining his theory of flight to us from inside, Yakky plugs the mouth of the cannon with a rock. Kaboom.



Next, Alfie tries to send himself aloft through the force of a tree he is riding, and is about to cut loose after tying it to the ground. Crash! “I shall return in a moment (breathes) with renewed vigour and courage.” Return he does to use a rocket strapped on his back to “thrust me into the duck’s orbital trajectory.”

Unfortunately, the missile stops in mid-air and crashes back to Earth. “That is what is known in the missile industry as a (breathes) ‘successful failure,’” Alfie opines.



Yakky stops to rest on a tree branch. Alfie climbs it “with the finesse of a telephone lineman” (he even attached hobnails to his feet). Yakky simple chops down the tree. “For the laymen in the audience,” he remarks before the tree smashes to the ground, “timber means ‘look out’.”

“That forces me to accept the subtlest form of victory (breathes)—defeat,” he concludes and there’s a wipe to the next scene showing Alfie ordering a hot dog. “Naturally,” he confides, “the hot dog is somewhat below the dignity of a true gourmet, however (breathes) it’s never been known to retaliate by fighting back. So, if you’d excuse me, I shall say (breathes) goodbye.” And Alfie wanders off, leaving an outline of his head while Curtin’s faux marionette march plays.



Don Williams is the animator; there’s nothing distinctive about his work in this cartoon. Dan Noonan handled layouts while Bob Gentle was the background artist. This setting opens the cartoon over Daws Butler’s narration.


Tony Benedict hit on a good formula for this cartoon, or at least one I like. Yakky standing up for himself, no Chopper, lots of bad guy with self-commentary. With that, we wish you “Good evening.”