Magilla Gorilla
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Magilla Gorilla is the main character from The Magilla Gorilla Show, an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera between January 14, 1964, and 1967. The show also had other recurring characters, including Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, and Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long. In syndication, the main and supporting characters from the Peter Potamus Show were also added. Like many of the Hanna-Barbera animal characters, Magilla was dressed in human accessories, sporting a small hat and a bow tie.
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[edit] History
In Magilla Gorilla, the protagonist spent his time languishing in the front display window of Mr. Peebles' pet shop, eating bananas and being a drain on the businessman's finances. Mr. Peebles marked down Magilla's price considerably, but Magilla was invariably only purchased for a short time, typically by some thieves who needed a gorilla to break into a bank or by an advertising agency looking for a mascot for their new product. The customers always ended up returning Magilla, forcing Mr. Peebles to refund their money. Magilla often ended each episode with his catchphrase, "We'll try again next week."
The only customer who was truly interested in obtaining the trouble-prone ape for good was a little girl named Ogee ("Oh Gee!"), who lamentably never had enough money (During the cartoon's theme song, "We've Got a Gorilla for Sale", Ogee would always ask hopefully, "How much is that gorilla in the window?" a twist on the old standard, "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?").
[edit] Cast
- Allan Melvin as Magilla Gorilla
- Howard Morris (and later, Don Messick) as Mr. Peebles
- Jean Vander Pyl as Ogee
[edit] Other Appearances and Media
- Magilla Gorilla appeared on both Yogi's Ark Lark and Yogi's Gang where he would run the treadmill that powers the Ark as long as there is plenty of bananas.
- In Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper, Magilla Gorilla (alongside Wally Gator and Yakky Doodle) was unable to help Yogi and his friends locate J. Wellington Jones.
- In the "Fender Bender 500" segment of Wake, Rattle, and Roll, Magilla Gorilla was partnered with Wally Gator.
- Magilla appeared as a teenage gorilla on Yo Yogi! (as superstar Magilla Ice).
- Magilla Gorilla appeared as Sinbad on Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights (1994).
- In an episode of The Simpsons, Homer looks at a statue of himself created by Marge and exclaims "You made me a statue of Magilla Gorilla!" Also in the episode "When You Dish Upon a Star," Homer is heard singing the theme song in his sleep.
- On the Adult Swim cartoon series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, in the episode "Free Magilla," Magilla Gorilla (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) was "liberated" by a parody of PETA called PAFF (the People's Animal Freedom Front), whom Mr. Peebles (also voiced by Maurice LaMarche) proceeded to sue. Whenever Magilla would use one of his trademark grating one-liners, the characters would slap him in the face or peck out his eyes.
[edit] Trivia
- Mr. Peebles' physical appearance was based on that of an earlier Hanna-Barbera character from The Jetsons, Mr. Spacely (George Jetson's boss). Ogee's mother resembles Wilma Flintstone (also voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) from another Hanna-Barbera cartoon, The Flintstones.
- The great ape's name is a near-homophone to the Hebrew/Yiddish word megillah, which means scroll, and is often used in a joking way to indicate a long, drawn out story; and, by extension, the teller of such a story. There is no apparent connection between that definition and the ape, other than making a suitable rhyme. In The Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten, 1968, p.233, the author observes that megillah "rhymes with guerrilla".
- As pointed out on the Rhino Records' CD liner notes for their collection of Hanna-Barbera theme tunes, part of Magilla's purpose was to sell likenesses of himself. The show was sponsored by Ideal Toys, which produced a Magilla stuffed toy.
- In the X-Men comics, Hank McCoy (Beast), was nicknamed "Magilla Gorilla" in High School.
- Brazilian boxer Adilson "Maguila" Rodrigues got his nickname because of his physical resemblance to Magilla Gorilla.
- Featured in a song on Family Guy, Live in Vegas OST called "All cartoon are f***ng d*ks" where it is alleged that Magilla is responsible for introducing "the Aids".
[edit] Stations
Alphabetized by city.
- WGN-TV / Channel 9• Chicago, Illinois
- WFLD-TV / Channel 32• Chicago, Illinois
- WUAB-TV / Channel 43• Cleveland, Ohio
- WKBF-TV / Channel 61• Cleveland, Ohio
- KXTX-TV / Channel 39• Dallas, Texas
- WNEW-TV / Channel 5• New York, New York
- WPIX-TV / Channel 11• New York, New York
- WSMV-TV / Channel 27• Worcester, Massachusetts
[edit] DVD release
Warner Home Video released the entire Magilla Gorilla series, together with the Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long and Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse shorts in a boxed DVD collection on August 15, 2006.[1] The DVD set doesn't include the 1964 Magilla Gorilla Show main/end title sequences and the cartoons are not yet restored.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series | 23 | August 15, 2006 |
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[edit] Magilla Gorilla in other languages
- Brazilian Portuguese: Maguila, o Gorila
- Spanish: Maguila, el Gorila
- Japanese: ゴリラのゴンちゃん (Gorira no Gon-chan)
- Finnish: The same as in English ("Magilla" sounds good in Finnish and word "gorilla" is written in the similar way in both languages)
- Polish: Goryl Magilla (prenouncing with double "l")
