Loopy De Loop
DirectorWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
ProducerWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
WriterMichael Maltese
Warren Foster
Tony Benedict
Dalton Sandifer
StarringDaws Butler
MusicHoyt Curtin (musical director)
StudioHanna-Barbera Productions[a]
DistributorColumbia Pictures
ReleasedNovember 5, 1959 – June 17, 1965
(48 shorts)
Runtime7 minutes per short
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Loopy De Loop is an American animated theatrical series produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after leaving MGM and opening their new studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions.[1] 48 cartoons were produced between 1959 and 1965, and released to theatres by Columbia Pictures.[2] It was one of the final theatrical cartoon series to be released by Columbia, as well as the only one to be produced by the studio.

Overview

Loopy (voiced by Daws Butler) is a gentleman wolf from Canada who speaks English with a marked Québecois accent, and always wears a characteristic tuque knit cap and scarf. A self-appointed good Samaritan, he dauntlessly fights to clear the bad name of wolves and opens every short with his trademark introduction "I am Loopy De Loop, the good wolf." Though he is always kind and helpful, his exploits usually get him beaten up or chased out of town by the very people he has helped, all for no other reason than the prejudice of being a wolf.[3] Still, he never loses faith, and considers himself "kind, considerate and charming."[4]

The character's name is a combination of plays on words:

  • "Loop the loop" is a 360-degree back flip performed by airplane stunt pilots.
  • Canis lupus is the Latin-based scientific name for the grey wolf species of the dog family, with the species' name of lupus being the basis for loup, the French word for wolf.
  • "Loopy" is a synonym for "crazy" or "eccentric"

List of theatrical shorts

1959

NºTitleRelease datePN[5]

1960

NºTitleRelease datePN[6][7]

1961

NºTitleRelease datePN[8]

1962

NºTitleRelease date

1963

NºTitleRelease date

1964

NºTitleRelease date

1965

NºTitleRelease date

Television version

In 1969, Loopy's film shorts were gathered together into a syndicated television series, simply titled Loopy de Loop.

Cast

Other appearances

  • A brief scene from "Two Faced Wolf" appears in The Monkees' film Head.[9]
  • Loopy appeared in the 1991 NBC series Yo Yogi!, voiced by Greg Burson. He appears as an employee and owner of The Picnic Basket at Jellystone Mall's food court.
  • Loopy appeared in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Juror in Court". He escapes from the prison along with many Harvey's clients, when his cases are sent to the review. It is unknown why he was there because he never appeared in the show before and was not a client of Harvey. Loopy also appears in a recap of the previous episode in "The Death of Harvey".
  • A genderbend version of Loopy appears in the Max show Jellystone![10] voiced by Ulka Simone Mohanty in a French accent.[11] In contrast to the classic version's optimistic outlook, Loopy here is equipped with a more cynical and deadpan personality. She works with Jabberjaw in Magilla Gorilla's haberdashery.

Home media

On September 9, 2014, Warner Home Video (via Warner Archive) released Loopy De Loop: The Complete Collection on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection.[12]

On February 24, 2026, Warner Archive released the complete series on Blu-ray.[13]

In other languages

Notes

  1. ^ The rights to the individual characters are presently owned by Warner Bros.

References

  1. ^ "The Cartoon Scrapbook". Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Loopy De Loop Profile
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 102. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 158. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ^ Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. pp. 72-73. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  5. ^ "The Vault". www2.boxoffice.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  6. ^ "The Vault". www2.boxoffice.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  7. ^ "The Vault". www2.boxoffice.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  8. ^ "The Vault". www2.boxoffice.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ^ The HEAD page, from The Monkees Film & TV Vault
  10. ^ "Jellystone! I Official Trailer I HBO Max Family". YouTube. June 24, 2021. Archived 2021-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Hemmert, Kylie (June 24, 2021). "Jellystone!: Hanna-Barbera Characters Return in HBO Max Original Animated Series". Comingsoon.net
  12. ^ 'The Complete Collection' of the Theatrical-Shorts-turned-TV-Show! Archived 2014-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=37748