STOKEY THE BEAR

Image copyright ABC

One of the most beloved American icons is officially named "Smokey Bear," although he is far more commonly and incorrectly referred to as "Smokey the Bear." Smokey was created in 1944 as the spokesanimal for the U.S. Forest Service after Bambi was removed from that position when Disney did not extend to the Forest Service the rights to continue to use that character. Ever since then and for the past eighty years, Smokey, generally depicted in an upright position while carrying a shovel and clad in trousers and a ranger's hat, has informed the citizenry that "Only YOU can prevent forest fires."

Taking a page from Disney, an act of Congress specifically removed Smokey Bear from the public domain and vested control to the Secretary of Agriculture. The government strictly regulates and monitors the use of the name and image and has strict rules governing their use and licensing--including what can be included in a Smokey Bear costume.

From 1959 to 1964, Jay Ward produced for ABC and subsequently NBC the cartoon show The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Their Friends. For those of you who have lived in a cultural wasteland, Rocky was a flying squirrel and Bullwinkle a moose. Supporting segments of the show included "Peabody's Improbable History (featuring the canine Mr. Peabody and his pet boy Sherman travelling through time), "Aesop and Son," and "Dudley Do-Right."

So what does this have to do with Smokey Bear? Well, Dudley Do-right was an inept but loveable officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police whose arch-enemy was a moustache-twisting villain by the name of Snidely Whiplash. In the second episode of the show, Whiplash hypnotizes a brown ursine named Stokey (who was wearing trousers and a Mountie hat and who had previously been the poster bear for fire prevention) to go on a spree of pyromania. Dudley, following the trail of burning forests, eventually ends up with Stokey in a flaming Chicago, where Dudley advises Mrs. O'Leary that they will "blame it on the cow."

The U.S. Forest Service got very surly with the producers of the show about this unflattering parody of Smokey. The government made various requests/protests/threats and convinced the producers to pull this episode in particular and the character Stokey in general from any future broadcasts. However, after 40 years, the ban was lifted and you can now watch the episode yourself.