Loopy De Loop

Loopy De Loop was the only theatrical cartoon short series produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after leaving MGM and opening their new studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series, distributed to theatres by Columbia Pictures, ran from November 5, 1959 to June 17, 1965.

Overview
Loopy is a gentleman wolf who mangled the English language in his bid to converse in a bad French-Canadian accent, and always wore a characteristic tuque knit cap. A self-appointed good Samaritan, he dauntlessly fought to clear the bad name of wolves and would open every episode with his trademark introduction “I am Loopy De Loop, the good wolf.” Though he was always kind and helpful, his exploits usually got him beaten up or chased out of town by the very people he had helped, all for no other reason than the prejudice of being a wolf.

The character's name was an inspired combination of a play on words:
 * "Loop the loop" is a 360-degree back flip performed by airplane stunt pilots.
 * Canis lupus is the Latin-based scientific name for the grey wolf species of the dog family, with the species' name of lupus being the basis for "loup", the French word for wolf.
 * "Loopy" is a synonym for "crazy" or "eccentric"

Television
In 1969, Loopy's film shorts were gathered together into a syndicated television series, simply titled Loopy de Loop.

Cast

 * Daws Butler as Loopy De Loop
 * Other voices include Don Messick, Doug Young, Mel Blanc, Red Coffee, Hal Smith, Arnold Stang, June Foray, Jean Vander Pyl, Julie Bennett, Janet Waldo, Nancy Wible, Howard Morris, Paul Frees.

Crew

 * Writers: Michael Maltese, Warren Foster, Tony Benedict, Dalton Sandifer
 * Story Direction: Alex Lovy, Paul Sommer, Lewis Marshall
 * Musical Direction: Hoyt S. Curtin
 * Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
 * Animation Direction: Charles A. Nichols
 * Animation: Ed Aardal, George Goepper, Bill Keil, Jerry Hathcock, George Nicholas, Chuck Harriton, Ed Love, Hugh Fraser, Dick Lundy, Ed Parks, Bob Bentley, Jack Ozark, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Bob Carr, Lewis Marshall, Carlo Vinci, Don Patterson
 * Story Sketches: Dan Gordon
 * Layout: Dick Bickenbach, Walter Clinton, Dan Noonan, Jack Huber, Tony Rivera, Bill Perez, Alex Ignatiev, Lance Nolley
 * Background: Art Lozzi, Fernando Montealegre, Neenah Maxwell, Robert Gentle, Richard H. Thomas, Anthony Rizzo, Bob Abrams, Lee Branscombe
 * Titles: Lawrence "Art" Goble
 * Film Editing: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Don Douglas, Greg Watson, Warner Leighton
 * Eastman Color by: Pathé

Other appearances

 * A brief scene from "Two Faced Wolf" appears in The Monkees' film Head.


 * Loopy appeared in the 1991 NBC series Yo Yogi!, as an employee of The Picnic Basket at Jellystone Mall's food court.


 * Loopy appeared in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Juror in Court." He escapes from the prison along with many Harvey's clients, when his cases are sent to the review. It is unknown why he was there because he never appeared in the show before and was not a client of Harvey. Loopy also appears in a recap of the previous episode in "The Death of Harvey".

Home Media releases
On September 9, 2014, Warner Archive released Loopy De Loop: The Complete Collection on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection.