With the passing of legendary MLB star, Yogi Berra, one may wonder if Yogi Bear was perhaps named after Yogi Berra. Well let's find out together, shall we?
First of all, the name "Yogi" is actually a name that means one who practices yoga. Because of the way Berra would sit, his friends began giving him the nickname, Yogi.
Yogi Bear was a character based off of another celebrity, Art Carney. This is more noticeable in both the clothes Yogi wore and the voice that Daws Butler gave to him. Eventually, Butler took that voice and made it his own to sound longer, bigger, and rounder. So personality wise, Yogi Bear was more of a ripoff to Art Carney.
This is where name association becomes confusing because Berra sounds like Bear and vise versa. This has caused some confusion at times. Yogi Berra himself claimed that Hanna-Barbera stole the name Yogi Berra just to make it their own, so he threatened to sue them. However, the case was dropped as it was claimed that the two names were just fair coincidence.
Was it a coincidence that Yogi Bear and Yogi Berra had similar names? It could potentially be. However, like how Yogi Berra had his "Yogi-isims" here is an "isim" from Bill Hanna, "You don't have to create something if you can STEAL IT.........I'm serious." Hmmm...The Flintstones and The Honeymooners anyone??? How about all those Scooby-Doo rip offs in the 70's? Did they steal the Yogi Berra name? You decide.
At any rate, RIP Yogi Berra, a great legend indeed.
Like many Hanna Barbera series, Yogi Bear was a major part of Boomerang for many years and remained a part of their schedule until the re-brand in 2015.
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