The Early 1960s "King Leonardo" (King Of Bongo Congo) American Cartoon Series (information & three YouTube videos)

Total TeleVision Cartoons, April 13, 2021

6,542 views • Apr 13, 2021

originally aired 10/22/60 ft. Jackson Beck & Allen Swift

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Edition - October 31, 2024

This pancocojams post presents information about the early 1960s King Leonardo* cartoon series.

This post also showcases three examples of those cartoons as well as some comments from those cartoon's YouTube discussion threads.

The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who were associated with these cartoons. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
The words "King of Bongo Congo" words are given in parenthesis as they weren't part of the title of these cartoons. Instead, that's how I remember referring to these cartoons. 

The only words that I (probably incorrectly) remember for those cartoon's theme song are:

"Here comes Leonardo, Leonardo lion
The king of Bongo Congo
A hero brave and strong" 

The words "the King of Bongo Congo" may also be one way that other people around my age (76 years old) such as former United States President Donald Trump, who is 78 years old, remember those cartoons.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/10/donald-trumps-inclusion-of-congo-among.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Donald Trump's Inclusion Of "The Congo" Among The Places He Alleges Are Sending Prisoners To Illegally Enter The United States."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "KING LEONARDO" CARTOON SERIES

https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/King_Leonardo_and_His_Short_Subjects

"King Leonardo and his Short Subjects was an animated cartoon series released in 1960 by Total Television (which would later rename itself Leonardo Productions after the main character of this show).

The show focused on Leonardo, a lion, who was the inept yet well-meaning king of the fictional African nation of Bongo Congo, and his incompetent brother Itchy's attempts to overthrow Leonardo and rule the kingdom himself along with his friend (and leader) Biggie Rat, a gangster with an Edward G. Robinson-type accent. They were later both employed by Mr. Mad, a mad scientist with a domineering personality (easily cowing even the strong-willed Biggie) and his own nefarious plans for Bongo Congo, not to mention a creepy echoing voice.

Leonardo was assisted by Odie Cologne, a mild-mannered skunk (on the theme song he was referred to as "Odio Cologne").

Each half-hour episode of King Leonardo consisted of three segments, the King Leonardo segment, Tooter Turtle, about the adventures of a turtle who has a wizard lizard transport him to various settings only to realize he was better off at home, and Twinkles the Elephant. The main purpose of this segment was to advertise Twinkles Cereal, a product of the show's chief sponsor General Mills. This segment would be removed when the show was syndicated during the 1980s.

Leonardo cartoons were also sometimes paired up with The Hunter, a cartoon about a Southern-accented crime-fighting bloodhound who (while also behaving like Foghorn Leghorn including the Senator Claghorn jokes) often chased after an evil fox, on Total TV's more popular series Underdog. In addition,non-Total Television animated shorts were aired on the program which included The Fox and the Crow and Li'l Abner produced by Frank Tashlin for Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems.

King Leonardo and his Short Subjects was part of NBC's Saturday Morning lineup until 1963.

The animation for this show was produced by Gamma Productions, the same Mexican studio that did much of the work for Jay Ward.

The similar animation style and the fact that King Leonardo shorts have often been packaged with Jay Ward shows such as Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle in syndication have led many viewers to believe that it is a Ward show.

King Leonardo never attained the popularity of Total Television's other series, Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo, and is hardly ever aired on television today. As of July 30, 2006, the Black Family Channel is airing this show on it's "BFC Kids TV" block.

The characters of this show were also featured in an eight-issue comic book produced by Dell Comics and Gold Key.

Cast

Jackson Beck - Leonardo, Biggie Rat, Professor Messer

Allen Swift - Odie, Itchy, Duke, Earl, Tooter Turtle, Narrator

Sandy Becker - Mr. Wizard

Kenny Delmar - Mr. Mad, The Hunter, Narrator".

[...]

Some of this page is derived from Wikipedia. The original article was at King Leonardo and His Short Subjects. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WikiFur, the text of Wikipedia is available under CC-BY-SA and the GFDL."

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SHOWCASE CARTOON #1

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_baSZ8TCOSY

1. @richardranke3158, 2022
"Thanks a lot for the second story of King Leonardo. This first came on when I was in first grade.:-)"

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Reply
2. @raymondyorysh7401, 2024
"5:18 The Hunter introduction with King Leonardo and Odie Cologne."
-snip-
These are two of the three comments that are found in this discussion thread (as of Oct. 30, 2024 at 9:57 AM EDT). 

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SHOWCASE CARTOON #2 - 105 - The King and Odie - Theme Song



Bongo Congo, November 22, 2018
-snip-
Here are some comments from this cartoon's YouTube discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only) : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIViBySfOPk

1.@MrVJ1062, 2020
"Notice good King Leonardo hoppin' and boppin' around to the theme song! As he's dodging bullets, it looks like he's dancing in rhythm and when he's climbing down the ladder, it looks like he's wiggling his butt left and right to the song."

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Reply
2. @RoninCatholic, 2022
" "True Blue Odie" was actually colored blue in the clip lined up with that line, even though normally he's supposed to be black. I can't even tell how intentional that is given the budget and schedule these kinds of cartoons were made under - it might've been an animation error, it might've been trying to compensate for visual readability issues (as black-heavy character designs tend to run into, I know from experience), and it might've been coincidence that this clip was chosen to run under that line or it might've just been making the best use of a gaffe that already happened."

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Reply
3. @arqivist2077, 2024
"After the original network run of King Leonardo And His Short Subjects, a syndicated version of the show, The King And Odie, was prepared with the addition of newly produced episodes. Between the old and new episodes they streamlined the design and animation of the characters, and I guess they couldn’t afford to have the painters waste all their black ink on Odie, so they gave him a dark bluish grey color.

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4. @zltoonslc2000rj, 2023
"The theme song’s audio is actually taken from the 1960s syndicated intro."

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SHOWCASE CARTOON #3 -The King and Odie - Left Alone Leonardo



bullwinklecanada, 

Dec 5, 2011

34,538 views • Dec 5, 2011

The king's prime minister sets up Bongo Congo to be put on TV. The producer takes a look at King Leonardo and decides to find a different family member to go on TV-snip-
Here are some comments from this cartoon's YouTube discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox26TW-FmN8

1. @cd637299, 2013
"I went to bcdb[dot]com, The Big Cartoon Database, selected Total TV (under "T" in Studios), and selected both King Leonardo & Tenn. Tuxedo.  *It* says that indeed this episode was during TT, from 1963.  I sure would like to know more on this."
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Reply
2. @cd637299, 2013
"Well from Barry's post, I gather then, that King & Odie were *still* being produced while "Tenn. Tuxedo" was a brand new show.  I had always thought that K&O were 100% reruns after TT debuted.  Was I wrong then?  (If K&O were still being made during TT, then this would actually be Season 4, as King Leonardo was its own show from 1960-63.  Now, where are those Total TV copyright dates?  :)"

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3.@bullwinklecanada, 2013
"I don't know the exact dates either, but I'm pretty sure the King Leonardo episodes that was made during it's own show was made before it was part of Tennessee Tuxedo. The King Leonardo cartoons that was made during it's own show had a more rough animations and designs with the characters being more two dimensional."
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Reply
4. @cd637299, 2013
"It looks like the last season of production, as the drawings look a bit better than earlier ones.  And, since "Duke of Earl" was a big hit in 1962, the names Duke & Earl would certainly date this at '62; any showing of King L in 1963 onward would be a rerun, right?"
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Reply
5. @zltoonslc2000rj, 2023
"The theme song’s audio is actually taken from the 1960s syndicated intro."
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6. @MrVJ1062, 2020
"Notice good King Leonardo hoppin' and boppin' around to the theme song! As he's dodging bullets, it looks like he's dancing in rhythm and when he's climbing down the ladder, it looks like he's wiggling his butt left and right to the song."

Reply
7. @bongocongo4360, 2024
"His Royal Majesty has a solid boogie beat."
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8, @RoninCatholic, 2022
" "True Blue Odie" was actually colored blue in the clip lined up with that line, even though normally he's supposed to be black. I can't even tell how intentional that is given the budget and schedule these kinds of cartoons were made under - it might've been an animation error, it might've been trying to compensate for visual readability issues (as black-heavy character designs tend to run into, I know from experience), and it might've been coincidence that this clip was chosen to run under that line or it might've just been making the best use of a gaffe that already happened."
**
Reply
9. @arqivist2077, 2024
"After the original network run of King Leonardo And His Short Subjects, a syndicated version of the show, The King And Odie, was prepared with the addition of newly produced episodes. Between the old and new episodes they streamlined the design and animation of the characters, and I guess they couldn’t afford to have the painters waste all their black ink on Odie, so they gave him a dark bluish grey color."

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Visitor comments are welcome.

"When Pebbles Was A Baby" Played As A Circle Game With One Girl In The Middle Or Chanted As A Cumulative Life Stages Hand Clap Rhyme

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some information about the fictional character "Pebbles Flintstone" and presents the words and direction to a circle game version of "When Pebbles Was A Baby".

"When Pebbles Was A Baby" appears to most often be performed in the United States and in some other English speaking countries as a cumulative life stages children's rhyme. That cumulative life stages rhyme appears to usually have the title "When Susie Was A Baby".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/when-pebbles-was-baby-hand-game-part-i.html and https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/when-pebbles-was-baby-part-ii.html for a 2015 pancocojams post about that cumulative life stages children's rhyme.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/examples-of-when-susie-was-baby-when.html for the 2024 pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of "When Susie Was A Baby" & "When Pebbles Was A Baby") with their contributors' geographic location."

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the creators of the Flintstone cartoon franchise and thanks to the creators of these children's recreational rhymes and games. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this pancocojams post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT PEBBLES FLINTSTONE

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstones
"The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television.[2]

The show follows the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their pet dinosaur, Dino, and they later on have a baby girl named Pebbles. Barney and Betty Rubble are their neighbors and best friends, and later on adopt a super-strong baby boy named Bamm-Bamm and acquire a pet hopparoo (kangaroo) called Hoppy."...

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"WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY" (played as a circle game)  

Subject: RE: Children's rhyme: When Susie Was A Baby
From: GUEST,?
Date: 10 Nov 10 - 10:05 PM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=109480

"a girl in the middle is pebbles

when pebbles was a baby a baby a baby when pebbles was a baby she used to go like this "wah wah"(rub eyes)

when pebbles was a kid a kid a kid when pebbles was a kid she used to go like this "tie my shoe"(lift shoe)

when pebbles was a teenager a teenager a teenager when pebbles was a teenager she used to go like this "ohhh ahh i left my bra in my boyfriends car he don't care i don't care at least i got his underwear"(cover chest with arms)

when pebbles was a mom a mom a mom she used to go like this"(smack hand)don't touch that"

when pebbles was a grandma a grandma a grandma she used to go like this "ooh my achin back"(hold back like old person)

when pebbles was an angel an angel an angel she used to go like this "o look at my pretty wings"(flap your hands like wings)

when pebbles was a devil a devil a devil she used to go like this(run around and chase group who ever is caught is pebbles next)

(instead of pebbles you could use the name of the girl in the middle)"

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A CUMULATIVE LIFE STAGES RHYME VERSION OF "WHEN PEBBLES WAS A BABY"
"When I went to elementary school in South Jersey, we used to sing a different version of 'Miss Suzie was a baby', except we said 'Pebbles'

When Pebbles was a baby, a baby, a baby, when Pebbles was a baby, she used to go like this: Wah, wah, suck my thumb, gimme a piece of bubblegum.

When Pebbles was a kid, a kid, a kid, when Pebbles was a kid, she used to go like this: Teacher, Teacher, tie my shoe.

When Pebbles was a teenager, a teenager, a teenager, when Pebbles was a teenager, she used to go like this: Ooh, ah, lost my bra, left it in the cafeteri-ah. Over there, on the chair, is where I put my underwear!

When Pebbles was a mom, a mom, a mom, when Pebbles was a mom, she used to go like this: Brush your teeth, comb your hair, and don't forget your underwear!

When Pebbles was a grandma, a grandma, a grandma, when Pebbles was a grandma, she used to go like this: Ooh, ah, my achin back!

And then there was something about Pebble's death that I remember being amusing to a second grader, maybe Pebbles dying, going to heaven, then maybe being sent to hell..? If anyone remembers, I would really love to know."
-bettingonalice; 1/1/2007; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php [This discussion forum is no longer available]

"South Jersey" is a region of "New Jersey". "Atlantic City" is the most well known city in South Jersey. (I was born in that city and lived there until I moved to North Jersey-near New York City- for college.) 

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bettingonalice posted another rhyme on that discussion forum then wrote this:

"Wait I remember now!

When Pebbles was dead, was dead, was dead, when Pebbles was dead, she used to go like this: [say loudly and spin around and flap your arms] WHEEE! I CAN FLY!"
-bettingonalice; 1/1/2007; http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php [This discussion forum is no longer available]

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