Cartoon Characters & the Celebrities they were based upon.

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Art Carney (specifically as "Ed Norton" on The Honeymooners) has been the basis for a couple very famous cartoon characters.



First, Looney Toons made some very direct homages to The Honeymooners with mice cartoon characters (called the Honey-Mousers), but these were only a very limited series with a few sequels running from 1956 to 1960 (as far as I know).



We all know The Flintstones was based on The Honeymooners, with the four main characters virtually copied for the cartoon. Although Barney's voice changed throughout the series, his best known one sounds very similar to that of "Ed Norton".



The other very famous and long-running character that was based on Art Carney's "Ed Norton" was Yogi Bear who had the same mannerisms & inflections as Norton and they even gave him Norton's hat - upturned in the front of course.




The Ant and the Aardvark (for those who remember)...

From DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (which also produced the Pink Panther cartoons), it ran from 1969-1971.
Comedian and impressionist John Byner provided both voices - for the Aardvark he impersonated comedian Jackie Mason and for the Ant he imitated the voice of singer Dean Martin.




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Art Carney (specifically as "Ed Norton" on The Honeymooners) has been the basis for a couple very famous cartoon characters.



First, Looney Toons made some very direct homages to The Honeymooners with mice cartoon characters (called the Honey-Mousers), but these were only a very limited series with a few sequels running from 1956 to 1960 (as far as I know).

I haven't seen the Honeymooners Looney Tunes cartoons in years, but I remember them. Ed Norton was my favorite character on "The Honeymooners".


The other very famous and long-running character that was based on Art Carney's "Ed Norton" was Yogi Bear who had the same mannerisms & inflections as Norton and they even gave him Norton's hat - upturned in the front of course.

I never realized that Yogi Bear was based on Ed Norton, but now that you mentioned it, it makes sense.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The Ant and the Aardvark (for those who remember)...

From DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (which also produced the Pink Panther cartoons), it ran from 1969-1971.
Comedian and impressionist John Byner provided both voices - for the Aardvark he impersonated comedian Jackie Mason and for the Ant he imitated the voice of singer Dean Martin.


I haven't seen "The Ant and the Aardvark" since I was a little kid, so I don't remember it well. I may have to watch it again to see the similarities between the cartoons and the real people.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
The Mouse That Jack Built is a Merrie Melodies cartoon that's based on Jack Benny. It has Jack Benny as a mouse, and it also has cast members from "The Jack Benny Show" as mice.




The Mouse That Jack Built is a Merrie Melodies cartoon that's based on Jack Benny. It has Jack Benny as a mouse, and it also has cast members from "The Jack Benny Show" as mice.

Wonderful!

Ha! I could tell who it was just by the mouse's expression and his hands position! They captured Jack Benny perfectly! Not sure if I remember that specific cartoon though, but it seems familiar!

I'm glad at least one other person is enjoying this thread!



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Not sure if these count.

Venture Bros. -----> Jonny Quest
Morel Orel -------> Davey & Goliath

I'm not familiar with Venture Bros. or Morel Orel, but based on a quick Google search, I think these are cartoons that were inspired by other cartoons, (or claymation for Davey & Goliath), not cartoons that were inspired by real people.



A preliminary run down of 60's era, Hanna-Barbera animal characters based on celebrities or famous characters played by celebrities...

Auggie Doggy's Daddy: Jimmy Durante
Droop-a-Long (deputy to Ricochet Rabbit): Ken Curtis (as "Festus" from Gunsmoke)
Hokey Wolf & Ding-A-Ling: Phil Silvers & Buddy Hackett
Mr. Jinks: Marlon Brando
Morocco Mole (partner of Secret Squirrel): Peter Lorre
Lippy the Lion: Joe E. Brown
Peter Potamus: Joe E. Brown
Snagglepuss: Bert Lahr
Top Cat: Phil Silvers (Top Cat's gang were roughly based on the East Side Kids & the players in The Phil Silver's Show)
Yakky Doodle characters: (Chopper = Wallace Beery, Fibber Fox & The Cat = Shelley Berman, Alfy Gator = Alfred Hitchcock).
Wally Gator: Ed Wynn
Yogi Bear: Art Carney (as Ed Norton)

There were tons more secondary characters & quest stars from this era also based on celebrities.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
A preliminary run down of 60's era, Hanna-Barbera animal characters based on celebrities or famous characters played by celebrities...

Auggie Doggy's Daddy: Jimmy Durante
Morocco Mole (partner of Secret Squirrel): Peter Lorre
I should have remembered these two.


Hokey Wolf & Ding-A-Ling: Phil Silvers & Buddy Hackett
I don't remember Hokey Wolf and Ding-a-Ling, but I love Buddy Hackett, so I'll have to watch some videos of these characters.



Probably the oldest character on this list... Betty Boop.

Her origins are a little complicated: she was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle!

She was intended to be a generic "flapper" but...
Clara Bow is often given credit as being the inspiration for Boop,[10] though Fleischer told his artists that he wanted a caricature of singer Helen Kane, who performed in a style shared by many performers of the day–Kane was also the one who sued Fleischer over the signature "Boop Oop a Doop" line.[11] Betty Boop appeared as a supporting character in ten cartoons as a flapper girl with more heart than brains. In individual cartoons, she was called "Nancy Lee" or "Nan McGrew"—derived from the Helen Kane film Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930).

More can be found under her origins section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Jabberjaw's voice & personality was based on that of "Curly" Howard of the Three Stooges.

I didn't know this, but I'm not a fan of the Three Stooges, so I wouldn't have noticed the similarities.


Probably the oldest character on this list... Betty Boop.

Her origins are a little complicated: she was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle!

She was intended to be a generic "flapper" but...
Clara Bow is often given credit as being the inspiration for Boop,[10] though Fleischer told his artists that he wanted a caricature of singer Helen Kane, who performed in a style shared by many performers of the day–Kane was also the one who sued Fleischer over the signature "Boop Oop a Doop" line.[11] Betty Boop appeared as a supporting character in ten cartoons as a flapper girl with more heart than brains. In individual cartoons, she was called "Nancy Lee" or "Nan McGrew"—derived from the Helen Kane film Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930).

More can be found under her origins section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Boop

That's interesting. I've read that Betty Boop was inspired by Clara Bow, but I never read anything about Helen Kane.



Underdog... we could rightly say that Underdog's persona (at least that of his bespectacled, secret identity as a shoe shine boy) was that of the comedian who voiced him: Wally Cox.



But what's more interesting is Underdog's villains:
Simon Bar Sinister (a mad scientist) was based on actor Lionel Barrymore.


Riff Raff (an anthropomorphic wolf / gangster) was based on actor George Raft.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Underdog... we could rightly say that Underdog's persona (at least that of his bespectacled, secret identity as a shoe shine boy) was that of the comedian who voiced him: Wally Cox.

I can see Wally Cox inspiring the shoe shine boy, but I wonder who inspired Underdog.



I can see Wally Cox inspiring the shoe shine boy, but I wonder who inspired Underdog.
I would guess that Underdog (like so many others such as Mighty Mouse) was inspired by Superman (albeit an anthropomorphic version... even ol' Bugs donned a Superman suit once)!

Underdog had several things in common with Superman - they had similar superpowers, both used glasses to disguise their secret identity, they both seemed to make a past time out of rescuing female reporters (Polly Purebred / Lois Lane), they both had mad scientists as arch enemies (Simon Bar Sinister / Lex Luthor).

What's funny is as a kid I probably had no idea who Lionel Barrymore or George Raft were, so had no idea the villains were based on real celebrities - for Simon Bar Sinister you can see it as he's pretty much a caricature of Barrymore.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I would guess that Underdog (like so many others such as Mighty Mouse) was inspired by Superman (albeit an anthropomorphic version... even ol' Bugs donned a Superman suit once)!

Underdog had several things in common with Superman - they had similar superpowers, both used glasses to disguise their secret identity, they both seemed to make a past time out of rescuing female reporters (Polly Purebred / Lois Lane), they both had mad scientists as arch enemies (Simon Bar Sinister / Lex Luthor).
That makes sense. I probably knew that, but it's been so many years since I saw an Underdog cartoon that I just forgot.


What's funny is as a kid I probably had no idea who Lionel Barrymore or George Raft were, so had no idea the villains were based on real celebrities - for Simon Bar Sinister you can see it as he's pretty much a caricature of Barrymore.
Looking back, I think I can see the similarities for both of these characters, but I'm sure I didn't know anything about either of those actors when I was a kid watching the show.



This won't come as news to anyone who's ever just heard the voices from the show... but Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) was directly based on Orson Welles.




She's not bad, she's just drawn that way...
Jessica Rabbit (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 1988) was an amalgam of three major celebrities...
She had the allure & vivaciousness of Rita Hayworth, the hairstyle of Veronica Lake and the attitude & look of Lauren Bacall.