Featuring a talking horse who fights villains in the Wild West, Quick Draw McGraw was a popular kids' cartoon in the 1950s. In the days before the launch of hundreds of digital channels, the Saturday morning cartoons were staple viewing for most youngsters.
Dressed like a cowboy, the anthropomorphic horse went out hunting down the bad guys, in a satire of the western movies and TV series that were popular with the American public at the time. The character was well-meaning, but not very bright.
© Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo
Origins
Michael Maltese (a writer for Warner Bros cartoon studio) created 45 Quick Draw McGraw cartoons between 1959 and 1962.
The series was filmed in colour, which was relatively unusual in those days, although more American households had bought colour television sets by the 1960s. It won an Emmy award in 1960 for Outstanding Children's Programme.
Each episode saw Quick Draw and his sidekicks track down the villains of the Old West, in a stand-alone story. Quick draw's voice was provided by Charles Dawson Butler (better known as Daws Butler), who enjoyed a 53-year career in the entertainment industry.
Specialising in the voices of animated characters, including Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, he worked mainly for the Hanna-Barbera studio, which produced Quick Draw McGraw. He also provided the voice for Quick Draw's ally, Baba Looey.
Main characters
Quick Draw walked upright on two legs and his front legs had hands, rather than hooves. This enabled him to hold objects, such as his gun. Even though he was a horse himself, he would ride around on an authentic-looking horse or would drive a stagecoach pulled by a team of horses.
He wore a bandana and cowboy hat, with a bullet belt slung casually around his hips. Quick Draw McGraw was the sheriff in a rowdy Wild West town, where his character had an alter alter-ego, El Kabong, based on the lead character in the TV series, Zorro.
El Kabong had his own "kabong" sound, which was produced by someone striking the de-tuned strings of an acoustic guitar.
Baba Looey was an anthropomorphic donkey, known as a burro. He was named in honour of the Cuban singer and actor Desi Arnaz and his hit song, Babaloo. Arnaz played a band leader at the Copa Club in the television show, I Love Lucy, when he sang Babaloo many times.
Like Quick Draw, Baba Looey walked on two legs and his front legs were his arms, with fingers and thumbs. Baba was the deputy sheriff, as well as Quick Draw's best buddy.
He was the more level-headed and thoughtful member of the partnership and would encourage Quick Draw to think about a situation, but the sheriff would invariably charge headlong into the fray, without a second thought.
The crime-fighting team was completed by Snuffles the bloodhound dog, who belonged to Quick Draw. He enjoyed eating biscuits and was offered them as a reward for catching outlaws. In fact, when Quick Draw gave Snuffles money instead, the bloodhound would mutter, "Darn cheapskate!"
Spin-offs
After Quick Draw McGraw ended in 1962, the character appeared in several spin-offs, such as Yogi's Gang in 1973, the Laff-a-Lympics in 1977 and 1978 and the Hanna-Barbera All-Star Comedy Ice Revue, also in 1978. Daws Butler continued to voice the character until his death in 1988.
Quick Draw became the mascot for the breakfast cereal, Sugar Smacks, in the early 1960s. He continued to appear on TV in regular commercials for Boomerang, the American cartoon network.
The Canadian voice actor Maurice LaMarche took on Quick Draw after Butler's death. In the 1990s, he featured in a cartoon called Wake, Rattle, and Roll, when he drove a monster truck called the Texas Twister. In 2010, he appeared in a commercial for the insurance company, MetLife.
Plenty of Quick Draw merchandise has been produced over the years, including an action figure created by McFarlane Toys as part of their Hanna-Barbera range. There was even a video game released by Hi-Tec Software in 1991.
Quick Draw McGraw has infiltrated modern culture, having featured in rapper Lil' Wayne's song, What's Wrong With Them, and House of Pain's song, Boom Shalock Lock Boom.
Yeeha!
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