Laff-A-Lympics


Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series premiered as part of the Saturday morning cartoon program block, Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Television Distribution currently owns the series thru its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.
The "all-star" cast was mostly made up of characters from other Hanna-Barbera series. The "Scooby Doobies" included characters from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder; the "Yogi Yahooeys" had characters from The Yogi Bear Show, The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Quick Draw McGraw Show. The only original characters were some members of the Really Rottens.
In 1978, Hanna-Barbera produced another "all-star" show with a similar theme: the out-of-this-world competition Yogi's Space Race.

Format

The sporting competitions in which the characters are called upon to compete is often a comical or offbeat version of Olympic sports, races, or scavenger hunts. Each segment is set in a different location around the world.
Episodes are presented in a format similar to an Olympic television broadcast, with an unseen announcer. Hosting duties and commentary are provided by Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf. Snagglepuss and Mildew wear animated versions of the contemporary yellow jackets of ABC Sports announcers. Other Hanna-Barbera characters such as Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Jabberjaw and Peter Potamus made appearances as guest announcers and judges. Other non-competing characters include parents of contestants and various monsters and creatures that serve as antagonists during the events.
The "good guy" teams, consisting of the Yogi Yahooeys and the Scooby Doobies, are cooperative and loyal. The Really Rottens, however, always cheat. Typically, the Really Rottens would be poised to win before making a fatal error at the last moment, allowing one of the other two teams to end up on top. Occasionally, though, the Rottens' cheating was not actually against the rules, resulting in their winning.
Only one complete season of Laff-A-Lympics episodes was produced, with eight new episodes combined with reruns for the second season of Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics. When it premiered in the fall of 1977, the series consisted of several segments, including "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels", "The Scooby-Doo Show" and "Dynomutt, Dog Wonder" and the "Laff-A-Lympics" segments themselves. The show resurfaced in 1980 as a half-hour series on its own simply titled Laff-A-Lympics and was later rerun on ABC in 1986. In later years, it has been frequently rerun on USA Cartoon Express, Cartoon Network and Boomerang, often during the time periods when the Summer and Winter Olympics were held.

Teams

The Scooby Doobies

This team drew mainly from the 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoons, particularly the "mystery-solving" series derived from Scooby-Doo, whose titular character served as team captain. The early production art for the series showed Jeannie from the Jeannie series and Melody, Alexander, Alexandra, and Sebastian the Cat from Josie and the Pussycats as members of the "Scooby Doobies" team. However, legal problems with Columbia Pictures Television, Screen Gems' successor, prevented this. Hanna-Barbera owned Babu, but Columbia controlled all rights to Jeannie's image. As a result, Babu appeared alone as a member of the "Scooby Doobies". Similarly, Archie Comics held the rights to the Josie characters. In the actual series, Jeannie is replaced by Hong Kong Phooey and the Josie characters were replaced by characters from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
Among the members of the Scooby Doobies are:
NameNote
Team captain;
Character from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Scooby-Doo Show
Character from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Scooby-Doo Show
Character from The Scooby-Doo Show
Character from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
The Character from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
Character from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Character from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Character from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Character from Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels
Character from Speed Buggy
Character from Speed Buggy
Character from Jeannie
Character from Hong Kong Phooey

The Yogi Yahooeys

This team drew mainly from the 1950s and 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoons and is the only team of characters made up completely of anthropomorphic animals. Grape Ape is the only post-1962 character in the line-up.
Among the members of the Yogi Yahooeys are:
NameNote
Team captain;
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Yogi Bear Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Yogi Bear Show
Character from The Yogi Bear Show
Character from The Yogi Bear Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show
Character from The Huckleberry Hound Show
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show
Character from The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series
Character from The Great Grape Ape Show

The Really Rottens

This team is composed of villainous characters that frequently cheated by either giving themselves an unfair advantage in a contest or sabotaging the other teams. With the exception of Mumbly and the Dalton Brothers, all of the members are original characters. Originally, Muttley and Dick Dastardly were planned as the leaders of the Really Rottens; however, they could not appear as those characters were co-owned by Heatter-Quigley Productions. In their place, Hanna-Barbera used the existing character Mumbly and created the new character Dread Baron. Prior to Laff-A-Lympics, on his original show, Mumbly was a heroic detective rather than a villain. Following the character's revision as the villainous team leader, he remained a villain in Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, which is also Dread Baron's only other role. The Dalton Brothers appeared in 1950s and 1960s shorts. However, they were given new character designs for the Laff-A-Lympics series. After Laff-A-Lympics, Dinky reappears in The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound with brothers Stinky, Finky, and Pinky.
Among the members of the Really Rottens are:
NameNote
Team captain;
Character from The Mumbly Cartoon Show;
Bears a strong resemblance to the Wacky Races character Muttley. Mumbly's retcon from good detective to villain is never addressed in Laff-a-Lympics.
Original character;
Bears a strong resemblance to Dick Dastardly and the Red Max, both from Wacky Races
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show;
Towering villainous cowboy brother whose Stetson obscures his eyes
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show;
Short villainous cowboy brother with mustache
Character from The Quick Draw McGraw Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show;
Short villainous cowboy brother with blond hair
Original character;
Patriarch of villainous monster family based on The Gruesomes and Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist His voice resembles that of Peter Lorre.
Original character;
Matriarch of villainous monster family based on The Gruesomes and Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist
Original character;
Child of villainous monster family based on The Gruesomes and Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist
Original character;
Pet of the Creepleys;
Villainous hybrid version of Squiddly Diddly and Occy the Octopus
Original character;
Evil magician whose tricks and spells never worked as intended and always backfired;
Similar to Abner K. Dabra from the 1963 book Yogi Bear and the Cranky Magician
Original character;
Pet of the Great Fondoo who mostly quotes "Brak";
Bears a resemblance to the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
Original character;
Mean-spirited hillbilly with split ends in her hair.
Bears a strong resemblance to the Li'l Abner character Moonbeam McSwine
Original character;
Daisy Mayhem's eyepatch-wearing pet pig

Voice cast

Season 1 – ''Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'' (1977)

Season 2 – ''Scooby's All-Stars'' (1978)

Home media

VHS

In 1996, four VHS editions of the show were released in the US on the NTSC format, each containing two episodes for a running time of approximately 50 minutes:
At the same time a "bumper special" VHS tape was released in the UK on the PAL format containing the following episodes :
released episodes 1–4 on Region 1 DVD on January 19, 2010, as Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 1. Episodes 5–9 were on a second DVD titled Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 2, released the same day by Target and by other stores on October 19, 2010. A two-disc DVD set entitled Scooby-Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games was released on July 17, 2012. The set contains an all-new Scooby Doo special, "Spooky Games", plus 12 episodes of Laff-a-Lympics – including episodes 9–16, which complete the first season, plus four earlier first-season episodes which appear on Volume 1 and 2. The set also includes an UltraViolet digital copy of the 12 contained episodes. Later in the year, the Warner Brothers shop renamed this release Laff-a-Lympics: The Complete First Collection.
On July 4, 2016, Volume 1 and Volume 2 were released separately in Region 2, as was a 'Gold Edition' with the previously released Spooky Games DVD; this Region 2 version of the Scooby-Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games DVD is only a separate version of the first disc from the R1 set, containing "Spooky Games" and four further episodes; therefore, only 12 episodes are currently available in R2, as of July 2016.
Region 4 received Volume 1 and 2 in July 2010.
DVD nameRelease dateEpisodes includedNotes of discs
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 1January 19, 2010
  • "The Swiss Alps" and "Tokyo, Japan"
  • "Acapulco" and "England"
  • "The Sahara Desert" and "Scotland"
  • "Florida" and "China"
  • Bonus: "Smart House" from Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, season 1, episode 5.
    		• 1
    Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 2January 19, 2010 October 19, 2010
    • "France" and "Australia "
    • "Athens, Greece" and "the Ozarks"
    • "Egypt" and "Sherwood Forest"
  • Bonus: "Mystery of the Missing Mystery Solvers" from Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, season 1, episode 8.
    		• 1
    Scooby-Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky GamesJuly 17, 2012
  • "Spain" and "Himalayas"
  • "India" and "Israel"
  • "Africa" and "San Francisco"
  • "Grand Canyon" and "Ireland"
  • "Hawaii" and "Norway"
  • "North Pole" and "Tahiti"
  • "Arizona" and "Holland"
  • "Quebec" and "Baghdad"
  • "Swiss Alps" and "Tokyo, Japan"
  • "Sahara" and "Scotland"
  • "France" and "Australia"
  • "Egypt" and "Sherwood Forest"
  • A bonus never-before-released episode called "Spooky Games" was included as part of the collaboration.
    		• 2

    Other media

    Comic books

    In March 1978, Marvel Comics produced a comic book series based on the cartoon. Creative staff for the comic book included Mark Evanier, Carl Gafford, Scott Shaw!, Jack Manning, Owen Fitzgerald and others. The series lasted 13 issues. A Laff-A-Lympics comic book was also published in Australia in 1978 by Sydney-based K.G. Murray Publishing Company. From 1980 to 1982, various Laff-A-Lympics stories were reprinted in Laff-A-Lympics Annual hardback books in the United Kingdom by Fleetway.
    An updated Laff-A-Lympics called the "Superstar Olympics" appeared in Hanna-Barbera Presents #6 in 1996. The Superstar Olympics featured Atom Ant, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Boo Boo Bear, Chopper, Cindy Bear, Dick Dastardly, Fred Flintstone, the Grape Ape, Hokey Wolf, Huckleberry Hound, Jabberjaw, Magilla Gorilla, Muttley, Peter Potamus, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Quick Draw McGraw, Ranger Smith, Secret Squirrel, Snagglepuss, Snooper and Blabber, Squiddly Diddly, Top Cat, Touché Turtle, Wally Gator, Wilma Flintstone, and Yogi Bear.

    Games

    A Laff-A-Lympics hand-held pinball game was released in 1978. The game featured Scooby-Doo, Captain Caveman, Dee Dee, Taffy, Blue Falcon, Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Grape Ape, Mumbly, Dread Baron, Mr. Creepley, Dalton Brothers, Snagglepuss, and Mildew Wolf.
    In 1979, Hanna-Barbera released a Laff-A-Lympics Old Maid card game that included Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Dynomutt, Blue Falcon, Hong Kong Phooey, Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Grape Ape, Quick Draw McGraw, Pixie and Dixie, Yakky Doodle, Mumbly, Dread Baron, Snagglepuss, and Mildew Wolf.

    Cultural references