Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har, along with Wally Gator and Touché Turtle and Dum Dum, was a part of The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, an animated anthology that debuted in syndication on September 3, 1962, and ended on August 26, 1963. Now available on two Blu-ray discs, The Complete Series collects all 52 episodes.
Buy Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har: The Complete SeriesAs his name indicates, Lippy is a lion, voiced by Daws Butler doing an impression of comic actor Joe E. Brown, which he would also do for Peter Potamus. Hardy Har Har is a hyena, voiced by Mel Blanc using the same voice he used on radio for his role as the Postman on The Burns and Allen Show. They are a pair of vagabonds. Lippy is an optimist, who expects his schemes to find food or make money are going to work. Hardy is a pessimist, always fretting with a constant refrain of “Oh dear. Oh my.” He is unable to laugh, something his species is known for.
Their adventures take them all over the world and find them in a wide variety of situations. The debut episode, “See-Saw,” opens with them lost at sea where they get shanghaied on a pirate ship. As the title indicates, “Water-Melon Felon” finds them thrown off a boxcar they snuck onto. They stumble upon a watermelon field only to have the farm’s dog dissuade them. In a nod to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, they visit Lilliput in “Tiny Troubles.”
They are too trusting of treasure maps. Back out to sea in “Map Happy,” they search for a treasure, which is they discover is protected by a shark. In “Map Sap,” they try to get arrested believing treasure is buried underneath the jail. In “Me-My-Mine,”a Native American sells them a map to the Lost Dutchman mine but it already belongs to someone else.
Like other comedy teams, they expand their filmography by appearing in different genres. In “Scare to Spare,” they end up in the castle of a mad scientist where they are chased by a monster he created and get shrunk by a potion. While on a picnic during “Gulp and Saucer,” they encounter a tiny Martian who claims Earth. Speaking of tiny, they head to Ireland in “Sham-Rocked” seeking a leprechaun for his pot of gold.
As the idea man, Lippy makes Hardy take on different guises. In “Smile the Wild,” Hardy poses as a circus wild man to obtain an reward, which works until the wild man returns. In “Gunflighter” Lippy convinces an Old West town that Half-a-second Hardy is a notorious gunfighter and can only be pacified with food. Hardy eats well but then Lippy has him challenge the quick-drawing Six Gun Dunn. In “Genie Is a Meany,” they try to trick a prince into thinking Hardy is a genie.
Lippy finds himself on the receiving end of trouble. The fellas enter a Hollywood studio during “Film Flam,” and Lippy, who is presumed to be a man in a lion suit, fills in for another actor, unaware the abuse the scene calls for. In “Double Trouble,” Lippy is mistaken for a bank robber and runs from the cops. In “Drop Me a Lion,” they both get roughed up while trying to serve a subpoena.
“Newly remastered from, the best available elements,” the video has been given a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Film grain is light. Colors appear in strong hues, from the red of Hardy’s fur to the light blue skies. Blacks are inky and whites are bright. The image looks clean, free from dirt and defect. The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The dialogue, effects, and music come through clear. There are no extras.
Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har is a fun collection of slapstick cartoons. Unlike some series that frequently repeat the same premise, the diversity in the plots make the show easier to binge. The Blu-ray high-def presentation delivers good video.
