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Yogi's First Christmas is an animated television special first aired on November 21, 1980, and produced by Hanna-Barbera. Throughout the 1980s it was offered to U.S. television networks broken up as a one-week strip syndicated program, generally showing the week of Christmas, one episode per day for four days.

Synopsis[]

Yogi should be asleep during hibernation season, but the Christmas season is keeping him up, and he doesn't want to miss a thing. Because of this, Ranger Smith thinks he'll get Jellystone Lodge shut down sooner, but he may be the only one who can save it.

Plot[]

The movie opens with Ranger Smith bringing Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy to Jellystone Lodge for the lodge's annual Christmas carnival. On the way over, Huck and the gang lament the fact that their friends Yogi and Boo-Boo aren't able to join them, on account of they're bears and therefore are hibernating. However, Ranger Smith is fine with Yogi not being around, since the carnival already had enough problems without him last year. Unbeknownst to the group, the perpetrator in question, a grumpy Christmas-hating hermit named Herman, sees them driving by his mountain cave and vows to drive them away for good this year.

When the group arrives at the lodge, the manager, Mr. Dingwell, tells them the lodge is in danger of being shut down, as it has become unpopular as a result of last year's incidents. However, the lodge's owner, Sophie Throckmorton, has said that she won't sell the lodge if things run smoothly during this year's carnival. The group starts performing "Comin' Up Christmas Time" again, which wakes up Yogi and Boo-Boo, whose cave happens to be right under the lodge. Curious about the noise, Yogi and Boo-Boo head up to investigate and wind up in the lodge's kitchen. The chef, Otto, makes them waiters and orders them to go serve dessert to the guests. While passing out desserts, Yogi runs into the gang and, upon learning that he woke up in time for Christmas, he decides to stay awake so he can experience the holiday for the first time.

However, Smith, upon seeing Yogi and Boo-Boo in the lodge, chases after them so he can take them back to the cave. Yogi and Boo-Boo try to escape on a snowplow, with Smith and Dingwell pursuing them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Throckmorton is driving up to the lodge with her bratty nephew Snively, when they suddenly get stuck on an icy patch on the road. At that point, Herman the Hermit causes an avalanche that almost overtakes Mrs. Throckmorton's car, but Yogi and Boo-Boo, still on the snowplow, push it out of the way. Impressed by their heroics, Mrs. Throckmorton orders Mr. Dingwell to promote them to bellhops, and Ranger Smith vows to keep an eye on Yogi (who, due to his natural instincts, repeatedly drifts off to sleep several times as the movie goes on).

Later, as everyone is getting ready for the carnival's ice-skating competition (during which Yogi and Boo-Boo inadvertently foil Herman's attempt to melt the ice), Snively tricks Yogi into entering the contest and gives his aunt's ice skates to the bear without telling her beforehand. When Ranger Smith sees Yogi wearing Mrs. Throckmorton's skates, he thinks Yogi stole them and prepares to take him back to his cave. Yogi runs away from him, eventually making his way to the frozen lake where the figure-skating contest is going on. Although Snively earns high marks, Mrs. Throckmorton covertly wishes he would lose in order to tame his poor attitude. At that point, Yogi accidentally ends up on the ice and actually manages to get a perfect score, beating out a sore Snively, who sulkingly remarks that he never should've given him the skates, confirming Yogi's innocence to Smith. Later, in the hot-dog skiing competition, Snively tries to cheat his way to victory over Yogi by unbuckling the bear's skis. But again, Yogi manages to impress the judges and get the highest score without even trying, and Mrs. Throckmorton has Mr. Dingwell promote Yogi to ski instructor.

Later, the group practices their caroling for the Christmas Eve party, but their singing sounds terrible, with Mrs. Throckmorton stating that what they need is another female in the chorus. Boo-Boo runs off and wakes Cindy Bear out of her hibernation, requesting her help with the caroling. She initially declines, but when Boo-Boo mentions that Yogi's leading the chorus, Cindy, due to her love and concern for Yogi, immediately changes her mind and joins the chorus.

After the caroling practice, Huck, Snagglepuss, Augie and Daddy join Yogi for his first ski lesson, while Mrs. Throckmorton decides to take the ski lift to Yogi's class. However, while she's taking the ski lift, Herman distracts Smith with a smoke bomb and then unplugs the ski lift cable, trapping Mrs. Throckmorton on the lifts. In the meantime, it becomes clear to Huck and company that Yogi does not actually know anything about skiing, so they decide to ski free-style down the hill. In the process, Yogi gets himself hanging onto the ski lifts, during which he manages to rescue Mrs. Throckmorton. Ranger Smith, upon seeing this heroic act, takes Yogi (who's fallen asleep again by this point) back to the lodge, quietly admitting that he's now glad he didn't take Yogi back to his cave.

Meanwhile, Boo-Boo tells Cindy about the concept of mistletoe and how one must kiss whoever is standing under it. Thrilled at that concept, Cindy tries to get Yogi to kiss her under the mistletoe after he wakes up from his nap. Upon realizing what she's up to, Yogi attempts to escape in a bob sled, but is unable to steer it. In the process, though, he ends up rescuing Mrs. Throckmorton and the gang from a yeti (actually a disguised Herman). Having been saved by Yogi twice in the same day, Mrs. Throckmorton orders Mr. Dingwell to promote Yogi to the lodge's chief of security.

During the ice-fishing competition, Doggie Daddy manages to catch a longer fish (actually an eel) than Snively, and when Doggie goes inside the fishing hut to warm up, the brat tries to get revenge by pushing the hut away. Yogi catches him in the act and grabs the fishing hut, causing Snively to slip into one of the ice holes. Blaming the bear for this, Snively tattles on him to his aunt, but even she believes that he needed to be taught a lesson. Furious, Snively runs away and, upon getting lost, finds his way to Herman's cave. Upon learning that they both hate Christmas, Herman and Snively team up to ruin the Christmas Eve party.

When Mrs. Throckmorton finds out that Snively ran away, the gang goes looking for him, with Ranger Smith searching by air while Yogi leads the search party on the ground. During this, Herman and Snively, respectively disguised as Santa Claus and an elf, make their way into the lodge and steal the ornaments that are to be used in the tree-trimming party. They make their getaway by stealing Ranger Smith's helicopter, but Yogi ends up grabbing the bottom rails and brings the copter down. With the villains' plans foiled, Yogi is promoted to hotel manager for the duration of the party, resulting in Mr. Dingwell being demoted to bellhop for the time being.

That night, Huck, Snag, Augie, Daddy, and Cindy help Mrs. Throckmorton trim the tree for the party. Mrs. Throckmorton also sends Yogi and Boo-Boo to the city to pick up a group of orphans who have never had a Christmas vacation and invite them to the party. After Yogi and Boo-Boo return with the orphans, Mrs. Throckmorton announces that she's not going to sell the lodge after all, but rather turn it into a year-round vacation home for orphans. She also tells Mr. Dingwell that he'll be the manager again next year, but Yogi is going to be the Christmas carnival director from now on.

Yogi then plays the role of Santa for the party and passes out gifts to everyone, including crowning Cindy as Miss Jellystone Park and giving her that mistletoe kiss she wanted. Herman and Snively are also forgiven and invited to the Christmas celebrations, and they have a profound change of heart at such generosity of spirit. Then in the midst of the festivities, Santa Claus plummets down the chimney and thanks Yogi for passing out gifts for all the orphans. He then gives Yogi a picnic basket full of food, but Yogi falls asleep, due to his natural instincts of hibernation. Santa then says that Yogi and Boo-Boo can have the basket when they wake up in the spring and leaves. With that, the partiers, including the now-reformed Herman and Snively, return Yogi and Boo-Boo to their cave for hibernation.

Characters[]

Main

Supporting

Villains

Other

  • Jellystone Orphans (only appearance)

Locations[]

Jellystone Park[]

Objects[]

  • Yogi's hibernation alarm clock
  • Picnic baskets
  • Mistletoe
  • Chair
  • Hammer
  • Salt bag (only appearance)
  • Broom
  • Trophy (only appearance)
  • Skis
  • Tire jack (only appearance)
  • Binoculars
  • Santa's toy sack
  • Stockings
  • Assorted Ornaments box (only appearance)
  • Ornaments
  • Ladder

Food

  • Eggs
  • Turkey
  • Ham
  • Cake
  • Apples
  • Cherries
  • Hot Dogs
  • Chicken
  • Dried catfish (only appearance)
  • Turnips (only appearance)
  • Hard-tap biscuits (only appearance)
  • Buffalo berries (only appearance)
  • Salad
  • Grapes
  • Cranberries
  • Huckleberries (mentioned)
  • Candy canes
  • Gingerbread cookies
  • Popcorn strings
  • Raspberry Jam

Animals[]

  • Bears
  • Chipmunks
  • Eagle
  • Rabbit
  • Horse
  • Squirrel
  • Mouse
  • Bats
  • Eel

Vehicles[]

  • Santa's sleigh
  • Snowplow
  • Snowmobile
  • Sophie Throckmorton's car (only appearance)
  • Sleigh

Songs[]

Other[]

  • "Deck the Halls"

Cast[]

Daws Butler Yogi Bear
Huckleberry Hound
Snagglepuss
Augie Doggie
Don Messick Boo-Boo Bear
Ranger Smith
Herman the Hermit
John Stephenson Doggie Daddy
Marty Dingwell
Janet Waldo Cindy Bear
Sophie Throckmorton
Marilyn Schreffler Snively Throckmorton
Hal Smith Otto the Chef
Santa Claus
Sue Allen
Paul DeKorte
Edie Lehmann
Marilyn Powell
Andrea Robinson
John Richard Bolks
Darlene Lawrence
Michael Redman
Ida Sue McCune
Singers

Notes/Trivia[]

  • Two songs from Casper's First Christmas ("Comin' Up Christmas Time" and "Making a Big To-Do") were featured in this movie, in new re-recorded versions. Additionally, Boo-Boo's song, "Hope", was previously heard in the Christmas specials, A Christmas Story (1972) and A Flintstone Christmas (1977).
    • Additionally, four songs from the soundtrack were released by Kid Rhino Records on the album Hanna-Barbera's Christmas Sing-A-Long in 1991, and is currently available on various streaming services.
  • In keeping with Hanna-Barbera's limited animation techniques, the film didn't have the full animation of a theatrical feature like Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, but was more detailed and elaborate than their standard TV work.
  • Yogi and Boo-Boo were shown celebrating Christmas with their friends in Casper's First Christmas, released the previous year, so this movie is likely meant to take place before that special.
  • Much of the background music by Hoyt Curtin in this movie was recycled from A Christmas Story and A Flintstone Christmas.

Errors[]

  • Before the tree-trimming party, Mrs. Throckmorton changes from the suit that she wears throughout most of the movie into a formal evening gown; however, in several scenes during the party she is seen to be wearing her suit again.
  • Cindy Bear is given a sash with the words "Miss. Jellystone" on it, but in some of the subsequent scenes the sash is plain.
  • Throughout the movie, Augie Doggie's winter outfit switches between being colored red and green.
  • At one point during Yogi's ski lesson, Boo-Boo mistakenly appears in place of Augie.
  • One of the character names listed on the fishing contest's scoreboard is Mr. Jinks, Pixie and Dixie's feline adversary, despite the fact that neither he nor Pixie and Dixie actually appear in this movie.
  • At the beginning of the special, the lettering on the entrance's sign was misspelt as "Yellystone Park" instead of "Jellystone Park".
  • After Yogi and Boo-Boo welcomed both the reformed Herman and Snively to the party, Huckleberry Hound's ear color was accidentally turned from black to blue.
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