Paw Paws

Paw Paws, sometimes known as Paw Paw Bears, was an American children's animated television series that first aired in 1985 and 1986. It debuted as part of the weekday/weekend morning programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, and was about a group of bear cubs defending themselves from their enemies, The Meanos, led by the evil sorcerer, Dark Paw.

The antagonist bear and his henchmen were after the Paw Paws' three large wooden totems, Totem Bear, Totem Tortoise, and Totem Eagle. The totems also served as the tribe's protectors, coming to life when needed through means of Princess Paw Paw's Mystic Moonstone, which she wore around her neck, to defend the village.

Much like other Hanna-Barbera programs, The Smurfs, Shirt Tales, The Snorks, Pound Puppies, or The Biskitts, the bears had names that denoted their personalities&mdash;Laughing Paw, Medicine Paw, Bumble Paw, etc. Brave Paw and Princess Paw Paw tended to be the leads, riding into adventures on their magical flying ponies, while aging Wise Paw served as tribal advisor.

The mascot of the group was a tiny dog by the name of PaPooch. The cartoon featured the vocal talents of Don Messick, Frank Welker, Scatman Crothers, Ruth Buzzi and Billie Hayes, and it was the series that introduced the cartoon world to Susan Blu, who went to do the original voice of Arcee in Hasbro's legendary cartoon series The Transformers. Reruns of the show currently air on Boomerang.

Paw Paws

 * Wise Paw (voiced by John Ingle) - He is the chief leader of the Paw Paws. He is the oldest and wisest of the tribe.


 * Princess Paw Paw (voiced by Susan Blu) - She is Wise Paw's daughter. She is beautiful and cares for everyone and the village. She carries around the Mystic Moonstone which has the power to bring Totem Bear, Tortoise and Eagle to life. When she blows on her whistle, she can summon her flying horse, Flying Cloud.


 * Brave Paw (voiced by Thom Pinto) - He is the Princess's closest friend and presumably her boyfriend. He is courageous and willing to rescue his fellow Paw Paws from danger and fight the forces of evil. Aside from the Princess, he is the only other Paw Paw who rides a flying horse, Golden Thunder.


 * Mighty Paw (voiced by Robert Ridgely) - He is the biggest and strongest of the Paw Paws, although a bit slow.


 * Laughing Paw - She is younger than the Princess, and she is known for her sense of humor.


 * PaPooch (voiced by Don Messick) - Laughing Paw's pet puppy. He is loyal and brave, but always gets into trouble.


 * Trembly Paw (voiced by Howard Morris) - He is the coward of the tribe and would rather run from danger, although occasionally he would do heroic deeds.


 * Medicine Paw - He is the shaman of the tribe, but he is a bit of a quack. He appeared in only a few episodes and his voice is based on that of W.C. Fields.


 * Nice Paw - He is a former meano who used to be called Nasty Paw. He was abducted by aliens and was reprogrammed into a good guy.


 * Flying Cloud is Princess Paw Paw's flying horse. She is beautiful just like the Princess Paw, later on the series she fell in love with the Black Stallion and they started a family have two baby flying horses.


 * Golden Thunder is Brave Paw's flying horse. He can summon Golden Thunder from Thunder Mountain simply by calling his name.


 * The Totem Animals - They are the main protectors of the village. Totem Bear (Frank Welker) is usually the one who attacks first (after Totem Eagle flies off his head), and would often send the Meanos flying. Totem Eagle's main function is air transportation while Totem Tortoise's main function is water transportation.

Meanos

 * Dark Paw (voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross) - The main antagonist (villain) of the series and leader of the Meanos. He carries around a magic staff which he uses for all evil purposes, especially to zap his cohorts. Unfortunately he is not all that smart and his personality is similar to Moe Howard of The Three Stooges.
 * Slippery Paw - He is known for his greasy long hair but not his intelligence.
 * Bumble Paw (voiced by Frank Welker) - He is the shortest and dumbest of the group.

Others

 * Aunt Pruney (voiced by Ruth Buzzi) - She is Dark Paw's aunt but she is also a witch who rides a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom. She complains to her nephew that he never calls or writes. She is often disappointed at his constant failures and even helps him out. Aunt Pruney and Wise Paw knew each other personally.


 * The Greedy Greenies - They are green slimy monsters seen in a few episodes. They are mostly featureless, except for a pair of eyes, and have voracious appetites. They ate most of the Paw-paw village, including houses, poles, laundry, and food, with a mixture of sucking and enveloping (similar to phagocytosis, but on a much larger scale) They prefer to come at night, and only make gurgling noises. They can burrow through the ground at will, and sometimes leave behind "puddles" that are actually tunnels, that others (such as Dark Paw and PaPooch) have fallen into, but these can be closed at will. They live in a hidden underground complex near the Paw Paw village, and are led by the Great Greenie. Intruders are lowered into a pool of goo that will cover the victim and eventually assimilate it, turning him or her into another Greenie. Even Dark Paw is afraid of them.


 * Eugene the Genie (voiced by Scatman Crothers) - He is a friend of the Paw Paws. He has magic powers and a sassy attitude, especially towards Dark Paw. He appeared in a few episodes.

Episodes list

 * 1) The Big Spill
 * 2) The Wishing Star Crystal
 * 3) The Flying Horse Napper
 * 4) The Creepy Cave Creature
 * 5) The Greedie Greenies
 * 6) The Rise of the Evil Spirits
 * 7) The Genie-athalon
 * 8) The Golden Falcon
 * 9) Honey of a Robbery
 * 10) Tot 'em Termi' Nation
 * 11) Waif Goodbye to the Paw Paws
 * 12) The Dark Totem Pole Monster
 * 13) Dark Paw Under Wraps
 * 14) Genie Without a Lamp
 * 15) Egging Dark Paw On
 * 16) Two Heads Are Better than One
 * 17) The Great Paw Paw Turnaround
 * 18) The Lost Lake Monster
 * 19) Totem Time Trip
 * 20) S'no Business
 * 21) The Zip Zap 4-D Trap

Merchandising
A line of Paw Paws toys were produced by Applause in 1985. Princess Paw Paw, Brave Paw, Mighty Paw, Pupooch, Medicine Paw, the Meanos and other characters were produced as PVC figurines ranging from 2" to 3" tall. The figurines had accessories, like a canoe or a cart. Pupooch was also produced as a plush toy. These were only produced for a short time and are rare today.

Cast

 * Susan Blu - Princess Paw Paw
 * Ruth Buzzi - Aunt Pruney
 * Scatman Crothers - Eugene the Genie
 * Leo DeLyon -
 * Jerry Dexter -
 * Laurie Faso -
 * Pat Fraley -
 * Billie Hayes -
 * John Ingle - Wise Paw
 * Tom Kratochvil -
 * Mitzi McCall -
 * Don Messick - PaPooch
 * Howard Morris - Trembly Paw
 * Rob Paulsen -
 * Thom Pinto - Brave Paw
 * Robert Ridgely - Mighty Paw
 * Nielson Ross -
 * Stanley Ralph Ross - Dark Paw
 * Marilyn Schreffler -
 * Alexandra Stoddart -
 * Frank Welker - Bumble Paw, Totem Bear

Home Media releases
There's yet to be a DVD of the complete series from Warner Archive.

Reception
In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s cartoons that did not deserve remembrance, io9 noted the series's "kind of racist" premise of a group of very stereotypically Native American cubs.