This rare audio is from the 1987 show tape titled "Introducing - Yogi Bear!" and was test-marketed at only three ShowBiz Pizza Place locations (Augusta, GA, Colorado Springs, CO, and Omaha, NE).
One of the concepts from the 1986 Attractions Development Program was the idea of adding licensed characters to perform alongside the Rock-afire Explosion. While characters such as Superman, Garfield, and Spider-man were in contention, Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo were chosen for their generational appeal to both children and parents. After a 5 month negotiation with Hanna-Barbera, a licensing deal was struck to use the characters in a test period with the option to roll-out the characters system-wide in all ShowBiz and Pizza Time Theatre locations.
The entire production as spearheaded by Paul Linden, ShowBiz Pizza Time Director of Entertainment, with cosmetic design by Jul Kamen, and final retrofit prototypes designed by Creative Presentations, Inc. Yogi utilized the animatronic mech of Rolfe DeWolfe, and Boo-Boo was a retrofitted Looney Bird.
The audio for the tape was produced by Cry Wolf Music in Dallas, TX using the Rock-afire Explosion voice talent which was being utilized at the time by corporate (not the original Creative Engineering cast) and the script was written and later mixed by co-producer Steve White. In order to get as much authenticity as possible, the original voices of Yogi and Boo-Boo were used in this recording. Legendary voice actors Daws Butler (Yogi) and Don Messick (Boo-Boo) recorded their parts in Los Angeles on September 11, 1987. Daws Butler would ultimate pass less than a year later on May 18, 1988. Although this wasn't his final recording as Yogi Bear, it was one of his last performances as the beloved character.
Ultimately this concept was never rolled out beyond the three test locations. Because of it's very limited usage, no existing copies have surfaced since the initial test phase which happened 33 years ago. It was long thought to be a "lost" recording. However thanks to the forethought of co-producer Steve White, a copy of this tape was preserved on an archival cassette. It is complete, with the exception of a few seconds missing from the track "Every Breath You Take" in Segment 2.
For more information about this unique show, including PDF copies of the show script, contract negotiations, etc. please visit the ShowBizPizza.com University section:
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