Yogi Bear was created by Hanna-Barbera and made his debut in 1958, as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. In January 1961, he became the first breakout character in animated television, when he was given his own show. The Yogi Bear Show was sponsored by Kellogg's and also included the segments Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle.
The plot of most of the Yogi cartoons centered on Yogi’s antics in the fictional Jellystone Park, a variant of the real Yellowstone National Park, where Yogi, accompanied by his constant companion Boo-Boo Bear, would often try to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park, much to the displeasure of Park Ranger Smith. Yogi's girlfriend, Cindy Bear, sometimes appeared and usually disapproved of Yogi's antics.
Other trivia tidbits:
- Yogi was one of several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a collar. This allowed animators to keep his body static, redrawing only his head in each frame when he spoke, reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around only 2,000.
- Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on Art Carney's Ed Norton character from The Honeymooners TV show.
- Yogi's name was similar to that of contemporary baseball star Yogi Berra, who actually sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation of character, but then withdrew his lawsuit.
- Other main characters from the cartoon included Yogi’s constant companion, Boo Boo Bear, Ranger John Smith, and Yogi’s girlfriend, Cindy Bear.
- A musical animated feature film, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, was released in 1964.
- In 1983, a Yogi Bear balloon made its first appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and was the last balloon in the parade that year.
- Through the years, Yogi has been voiced by several voice actors including Daws Butler, Mel Blanc, Greg Burson, Jeff Bergman, Billy West, Keith Scott, Dan Aykroyd, Lewis MacLeod, Dan Milano, Seth Green, and Scott Innes, among others.
- Popular Yogi catch-phrases included, “I’m smarter than the av-er-age bear!,” “Hey, Hey, Hey,” “Pic-a-nic baskets,” “Hello, Mr. Ranger, Sir!,” and “Hey there, Boo Boo!”
* Information extracted from Wikipedia