Paw Paws - The 1985 animated series

Paw Paws (also known as Paw Paw Bears) is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that first aired in 1985 and 1986. It debuted as part of the weekday and weekend morning programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.

The name of the series is a game with the paw, a fruit grown by Native Americans and indigenous to North America, and a pun with a bear's paw. Reruns of the show were previously broadcast on Cartoon Network and later on Boomerang.

History

A group of Native American bear cubs defending themselves against their enemies, the Meanos, led by the evil wizard Dark Paw. Dark Paw and his henchmen were looking for the three large wooden Paw Paws totems, Totem Bear, Totem Tortoise and Totem Eagle. The totem poles also served as protectors of the tribe, coming to life when needed thanks to Princess Paw Paw's Mystic Moonstone, which she wore around her neck, to defend the village.

Just like other Hanna-Barbera shows from The Smurfs, The Biskitts, Shirt Tales, Snorks or Pound Puppies, the bears had names that denoted their personalities: Laughing Paw, Medicine Paw, Bumble Paw, etc. Brave Paw and Princess Paw Paw tended to be the protagonists, riding adventures on their magical flying ponies, while the elder Wise Paw served as the tribal advisor. The group's mascot was a little dog named PaPooch.

Characters

Paw Paws

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

Princess Paw Paw (voiced by Susan Blu) - She is the daughter of Wise Paw. Princess Paw Paw is beautiful and takes care of everyone and the village. Carry around the Mystic Moonstone which has the power to bring Totem Bear, Tortoise and Eagle to life. When he blows his whistle, he can summon his flying horse Flying Cloud. Paw Paws introduced the cartoon world to Susan Blu, who went on to play the original voice of Arcee in Hasbro's The Transformers cartoon series and many other animated characters.

Flying Cloud - Princess Paw Paw's flying horse. She is beautiful just like Princess Paw. Later in the series, she fell in love with the black stallion and they started a family with two flying horses.

Well done Paws (voiced by Thom Pinto) - Brave Paw is the princess's closest friend and presumably her boyfriend. He is brave and willing to rescue his fellow Paw Paws from harm and fight the forces of evil. Aside from the princess, he is the only other Paw Paw who rides a flying horse.

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

Mighty Paws (voiced by Robert Ridgely) - He is the biggest and loudest of the Paw Paws, albeit a little slow.

Laughing paw (voiced by Alexandra Stoddart) - She is younger than the princess and is known for her sense of humor.

PaPooch (voiced by Don Messick) - The Laughing Paw puppy. He is loyal and courageous, but he always gets into trouble. A play on Narragansett's term papoose.

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

Medicine Paw (voiced by Jerry Dexter impersonating WC Fields) - He's the shaman of the tribe, but he's a bit of a charlatan. He only appeared in a few episodes.

Totem animals - They are the main protectors of the village. The Totem Animals can be awakened by the Mystic Moonstone wielded by the Princess Paw Paw to fight the Meanos.

Totem eagle - The best totem animal. It serves as air transport.

Totem Bear (Frank Welker) - The totem animals out of the way. He is usually the one who attacks first after Totem Eagle flies off his head and often sends the Meanos flying.

Tortoise totems - The totem animal below. The main function of Totem Tortoise is the transport of water.

Bad

meanos - The Meanos are the main antagonists of the series. They often attack the Paw Paws until they are defeated by them and the Totem Animals.

Dark Paws (voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross) - Chief of the Meanos. He carries around a magical staff that he usually uses to electrocute his enemies… and, when they get on the bad side of Dark Paw, his own cohorts. Dark Paw isn't as bright as it thinks it is. Her personality echoes that of Moe Howard from The Three Stooges.

Slippery paw - He is best known for his long greasy hair than his intelligence. But it's even smarter than Bumble Paw.

Bumble paw (voiced by Frank Welker) - He is the shortest and dumbest of the bunch.

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

The Greedy Greenies - They are green slimy monsters seen in some episodes. They are mostly anonymous, with the exception of a pair of eyes, and have voracious appetites. They ate most of PawPaw village including houses, poles, linens and food, with a mixture of sucking and wrapping (similar to phagocytosis, but on a much larger scale). They prefer to come at night and just gurgle. They can dig into the ground at will, and sometimes leave behind "puddles" which are actually tunnels, into which others (such as Dark Paw and PaPooch) have fallen, but these can be closed at will. They live in a hidden underground complex near 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 them, transforming them into another Greenie. Dark Paw is afraid of them too.

Great Greenie - The leader of the Greedy Greenies.

Other characters

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

Nice paw - Nice Paw is a former villain named Nasty Paw. He was abducted by aliens and reprogrammed into a good guy. He has since traveled with aliens and often returns to Earth.

Episodes

1. “The Big Spill“: While the Paw Paw bears take care of an injured duckling, the evil Dark Paw and his Meanos cause a flood to steal the princess's mystical moonstone.
2. "The Wishing Star CrystalWhen Princess Paw Paw is put into an eternal sleep by a magical flower, courtesy of Dark Paw, her friends must embark on a perilous journey to find a magical crystal to awaken her.
3. "The Flying Horse Napper“: Dark Paw steals the princess's magical whistle which allows her to summon the Flying Cloud and plans to use the flying horse to get a potion from her Aunt Pruney at Shriek Peak.
4. "The Creepy Cave Creatures“: After preventing the Paw Paws from calling Totem Bear, Dark Paw puts a large creature under its control to attack their village.
5. "The Greedie Greenies“: When the green blobs descend on the village and eat everything they see, the Paw Paws must come to the rescue of their worst enemy, the Dark Paw.
6. "The rise of evil spirits“: When the ancient evil spirits awaken after 200 years to cause trouble for the Paw Paws, Dark Paw tries to take control of them and eventually takes over the village.
7. "The Genie-athalon“: When Eugene the Genie's lamp is discovered and everyone tries to reclaim it, the Paw Paws compete against the Dark Paw trickster to win his three wishes.
8. "The Golden Falcon“: When the Great Totem disappears and a mysterious statue of a golden hawk appears, Dark Paw takes the opportunity to challenge Brave Paw to a fight.
9. "Honey from a robbery“: It's Wise Paw's XNUMXth birthday and Dark Paw plans to ruin the celebration by stealing the village's entire honey supply.
10. "Tot 'em Termi' Nation“: Dark Paw brings the Black Stallion to lure the Flying Cloud away and keep the princess busy so an army of termites can reduce the Great Totem to sawdust.
11. "Waif Goodbye to the Paw Paws“: Dark Paw's Aunt Pruney helps him conquer Paw Paw village by dressing up as a cute young Paw Paw.
12. "The Dark Totem Pole Monster“: Dark Paw sets his sights on the moonstone around Totem Bear's neck building a giant mechanical version of himself, while Trembly Paw tries to help a young flying horse with a fear of flying.
13. "Dark Paw Under Wraps“: When a flood uncovers the coffin of a Paw Paw mummy, Dark Paw takes advantage of an ancient curse to take on the role of leader.
14. "Genie without a lamp"
15. "Egging Dark Paw On"
16. "Two heads are better than one"
17. "The big twist of the paw of the paw"
18. "The monster of the lost lake"
19. "Time travel totem"
20. "This is not business"
21. "The 4-D Zip Zap trap"

Technical data

Regia Ray Patterson, Art Davis, Oscar Dufau, don Lusk, Carl Urbano, Rudy Zamora, Alan Zaslove
Voices Susan Blu, Ruth Buzzi, Giovanni Ingle, Don Messick, Howard Morris
Thom Pinto, Robert Ridgely, Stanley Ralph Ross, Alexandra Stoddart, Frank Welker
music Hoyt Curtin
country of origin United States
Original language English
Number of episodes 21
Executive producers William Hanna Josef Barbera
The manufacturer Berny Wolf
Production company Hanna Barbera Productions
Distributor World Vision Enterprises
Network original syndicate
Date 1 transmission September 15, 1985 - February 2, 1986

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org