The Hillbilly Bears is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The series aired as a segment on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show from October 2, 1965 to September 7, 1967.

Overview

The Hillbilly Bears, played on a social stereotype of the "hillbilly", with a gun-toting, mumbling father Paw Rugg (voiced by Henry Corden) who was always "feudin'" (the "feudin'" was usually a lethargic operation, in which the protagonists fired the same bullet back and forth from the comfort of their rocking chairs) with their neighbors, the Hoppers. Paw Rugg's voice was a low mumble, splattered with a few understandable words. Particularly in the first episodes, Paw Rugg's voice was incomprehensible; his speech improved with the later segments. His wife Maw (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) was a homemaker who appeared as the more level-headed parent. Their daughter Floral (also voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) had lemon-colored fur (as opposed to the darker-colored fur of Maw, Paw and Shag); she was the Southern belle and most sophisticated member of the family. Shag (the youngest and smallest of the clan, voiced by Don Messick) was a troublemaker who looked up to his father. The voices and personas of Floral and Shag were nearly identical to Judy Jetson and Elroy from The Jetsons respectively.

List of episodes

Season 1 (1965–66)

Season 2 (1966)

Cast

Other appearances

The Rugg Family appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang. The Rugg Family all appeared in Jellystone! with Paw Rugg voiced by Jim Conroy, Ma Rugg voiced by Angelique Perrin, Floral Rugg voiced by Georgie Kidder, and Shag Rugg voiced by Ron Funches. The Rugg Family runs a cafe.