Beany and Cecil



A classic television cartoon series produced and directed by former Looney Tunes director Bob Clampett, Beany and Cecil covers the escapades of an adventurous boy named Beany, and his friend, a sea-sick serpent named Cecil, as they get into all sorts of trouble across the world with Beany's treasure-hunting Uncle Huffenpuff and their enemy, Dishonest John.

The show was relatively short lived (only 26 episodes on ABC, all broadcast in 1962) but has gained a healthy cult following over the years. The Clampett family has also released the entire series on two DVD collections, packed with plenty of supplementary material, including an ultra-rare short Clampett made for Republic Pictures!

Beany and Cecil also has one other quirk which almost never happens in media. The listed Copyright owner of the cartoons is not some corporate entity or animation company, but Bob Clampett personally. Individuals almost never get to own the rights to their creations because they're employees and thus it's a work for hire or they often incorporate their own company and have it own their work for tax reasons.

A revival of the series was attempted in the late 1980s by Bob's family and John Kricfalusi, but promptly crumbled following creative differences between Kricfalusi and the editors, with ABC accusing Kricfalusi of inserting unapproved material, and promptly fired him. The series was quickly cancelled after only 5 episodes had aired.

Recently, the Clampett family has set up a new website for the series, as well as a Youtube Channel and Facebook page. They are also releasing an updated version of the first DVD collection.

"Captain Huffenpuff: "We've cut through the Sandwich Islands and saw the Thousand Islands dressing. And now we've reached our destination: No Bikini Atoll!" Cecil: "NO BIKINI ATOLL!? WOOOOOW!!""
 * Big Ball of Violence: In "DJ's Disappearing Act" a huge fight breaks out because Dishonest John had stolen a rare diamond, Uncle Captain asks Cecil, "Do you know what this is?" and Cecil responds, "The biggest fight cloud in the history of Saturday morning cartoons?"
 * Big Friendly Sea Serpent: Cecil. Almost every episode has at least one moment of him licking Beany's face.
 * Brains and Brawn: Beany and Cecil, respectively.
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm comin', Beany-boy!"
 * "DJ, you dirty guy!"
 * Creator Breakdown: Why The New Adventures was so short; the executives had screwed around with it so badly that Kricfalusi got pissed and left.
 * The Dark Age of Animation
 * Dastardly Whiplash: Dishonest John
 * Deranged Animation: While not quite up there with Clampett's previous work like Porky in Wackyland and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, this is still a really, really bizarre show at times.
 * Dinner Deformation: Convict Dishonest John gets a birthday cake full of tools - but the guard makes him eat it all up in front of him. Cue wrench, hammer, and saw-shaped lumps in his throat dropping into his gut with appropriate tool sound effects and a jaunty "Happy Birthday To You".
 * Executive Meddling: Both incarnations of the show went through this-- the original show in particular went through lots of editing and censorship due to the execs dislike of Clampett's wordplay and habit of Getting Crap Past the Radar.
 * Evil Laugh: Nya-ah-ahhh!
 * Hurricane of Puns: THE WHOLE SHOW.

"Cecil: I'd say Monroe needs a little doctorin'!"
 * Also, as Cecil gets clobbered looking at the cement footprints of Marilyn Monroe:

"Dishonest John: Cecil's singing is giving me a haddock. I wish I was hard of herring."
 * As Cecil serenades Cecilia (1988 episode; last aired of the new series):


 * Jail Bake: Convict Dishonest John gets a birthday cake full of tools - but the guard makes him eat it all up in front of him.
 * Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A Mickey Mouse-esque doll appears in one episode on Cecil's head. Also in "Beany & Cecil Meet Billy The Squid" (first produced in 1959 and screened in Canadian theatres), Uncle Captain is wearing Mickey Mouse ears.
 * Panty Shot: Mainly by Sisterbelle, sister of Matty (the "King of Toys," mascot for Mattel) in the host segments of Matty's Funnies With Beany & Cecil. Beany's girl friend Baby Ruthie had a couple as well.
 * Rebus Bubble: The little alien Beepin' Tom, whose dialogue consists of rebuses, as shown in standard comic book dialogue balloons ("O", buoy, arrow pointing towards a Joker card and a "s" and some nuts, which reads as "Oh boy, this joker's nuts," referring to Dishonest John).
 * Screwed by the Network: The 1988 revival, replaced after five weeks with Flintstone Kids.
 * Shout-Out: ACDC's title "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is a reference to a phrase used by Dishonest John.
 * After Cecil's face (with a Mickey Mouse doll on it) gets mauled by a cat, he says, "I tawt I taw a putty tat!"
 * Signature Laugh: Dishonest John's "Nya-ha-HAH!".
 * Suspiciously Similar Song: This episode of Time for Beany (the precursor to this show) features a arrangement of the Three Little Pigs song.
 * Take That: Against a certain animation studio and its theme park in the "Beanyland" episode. The second DVD edition has the director's cut of this episode, titled "Park At The Top Of The Stars."
 * Hammered home by Cecil's song, "When you wish upon a moon."
 * Incidentally, Bob almost got a job at Disney's in the early 30's (he wanted to work there, but lacked the patience for the studio to be finished, so he went to Schlesinger's studio instead), but he designed an early Mickey Mouse doll, and he did cite Disney as one of his main influences in animation.
 * A self-parody Take That: in 1988's The Brotherhood of B.L.E.C.H., the DiC Animation studio building is seen going over a waterfall.
 * Thick Line Animation: Part of what makes the show look much newer than it really is--look at some screenshots, and you would think it was made during the 90's or something!