Mr. Magoo
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Mr. Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created by John Hubley in 1949, for UPA. Hubley based the character on his former professor Francis Peabody Magoun, who bore some physical resemblance to the character. Voiced by Jim Backus (also famed in popular culture for his role as Thurston Howell III in the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island), Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem, in which the affected people (or animals) think that he is a lunatic, rather than just being near-sighted. He is notable as one of the few cartoon characters to be an alumnus of a real-life university, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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[edit] History
Mr. Magoo's first appearance was in the theatrical short cartoon The Ragtime Bear (1949). Columbia was reluctant to release the short, but did so, only because it included a bear. However, audiences quickly realized that the real star was Magoo, one of the few "human" cartoon characters ever produced in Hollywood at the time. The short became a box-office success. John Hubley, who created Magoo, handed the series completely over to creative director, Pete Burness. Under Burness, Magoo would obtain two Oscars for the studio with When Magoo Flew (1955) and Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956).
In 1957, the record album Magoo in Hi-Fi was released. Side 1 consisted of a dialog between Magoo and Waldo taking place while Magoo was attempting to set up his new sound system. Music on the album was composed and conducted by Dennis Farnon and his orchestra. Side 2, the Mother Magoo Suite, was a series of musical pieces which included two solos by Marni Nixon.
In 1959, Mr. Magoo starred in 1001 Arabian Nights, directed by Jack Kinney, UPA's first feature-length production.
In the 1960s, UPA transferred its attention to television, and began producing a series for the character. Because of the demands of the television industry, UPA was forced to churn out cartoons at a far greater quantity than the studio had done for theatrical release; this caused the Mr. Magoo series to sink to an embarrassing level of quality.
However, one bright moment in the UPA television era came with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, a shortened but largely faithful retelling of Charles Dickens tale. It is considered to be a holiday classic of the 1960s, ranking alongside A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The special inspired production of an animated TV series entitled The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, which placed Magoo as an actor in other well-known stories. After an introduction in Magoo's backstage dressing room, Magoo was depicted in such roles as The Count of Monte Cristo, Merlin in an upbeat retelling of the story of King Arthur, Friar Tuck in Robin Hood, and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Magoo appeared in a new Saturday morning CBS television series called What's New Mr. Magoo?. This series was made under license by the DePatie-Freleng studio, as UPA had by this time ceased in-house cartoon production.
In 1997, during a fad for live-action films based on cartoon characters, Mr. Magoo was portrayed by Leslie Nielsen in a live-action Mr. Magoo feature film. It failed to find critical or popular success, in part because many support groups for the handicapped protested it on behalf of the blind.
Classic Media/Sony Wonder began issuing the Mr. Magoo cartoon series on DVD in 2001, beginning with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.
In 2005, Mr. Magoo became the spokesman of the optical retail store Sterling Optical.
[edit] Characters
- Mr. Quincy Magoo - An elderly, bald man whose eye-sight is failing, though he either does not know it or is too stubborn to do anything about it (voiced by Jim Backus).
- Waldo - Magoo's nephew (voiced during the original UPA theatrical films era, first by Jerry Hausner, then Daws Butler, then later by Casey Kasem in the 70s series).
- Angesis McBarker - Magoo's dog in the original UPA shorts (voiced by Frank Welker) (appeared only in the 70s cartoon series, What's New, Mr. Magoo?).
- Mother Magoo - Magoo's "momma", Linda.
- Charley - Magoo's Chinese houseboy. Charley's depiction as a Chinese stereotype was controversial. The character was prone to unusual misuses of English, such as referring to himself in the third person as "Cholley", and calling Mr. Magoo "Bloss" instead of "Boss". In the late 1960s, episodes featuring Charley were dropped from the series and his character was never mentioned again.
- Grandma "Granny" Magoo.
- Prezley - Waldo's "partner in crime" in the 1960 cartoon.
- Bowser - Magoo's dog (really a cat).
- Wheeler and Dealer - two children Magoo often babysits.
[edit] Episode list
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[edit] Other Media
- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was parodied in the episode of The Simpsons "Tis The Fifteenth Season," in a show called Mr. McGrew's Christmas Carol.
- The Happy Tree Friends cartoon series includes a similar character called "The Mole."
