This article is about the animated character. For the soul singer, see Baby Huey (singer). For another animated duckling named Huey, see Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Huey first appeared in Quack-a-Doodle-Doo, a Noveltoon theatrical short produced and released in 1950.[2]
Famous Studios
Baby Huey (right) and a red fox (left) in their first appearance of "Quack-a-Doodle-Doo" (1950).
Huey first appeared onscreen in the Noveltoons short Quack-a-Doodle-Doo, released in theaters on March 3, 1950.[1] The character's voice was provided by Sid Raymond, an actor and comedian who created several other voices for Famous Studios' characters, including Katnip from Herman and Katnip. Eleven Baby Huey cartoons were produced between 1951 and 1959.[3]
Many animated shorts featuring Huey had recurring themes. Most common among them was him trying to be just like any other kid his age. He would see his peers playing, and would immediately get excited. However, whenever he tried to involve himself in the activities of his peers (also anthropomorphic ducklings), he would often inadvertently cause problems at their expense, and as a result they would drive him away through trickery (and into tears). A hungry fox (voiced by Jackson Beck) would show up, originally intending to eat Huey's peers, but upon seeing Huey as a bigger meal and overhearing the distraught duck's desires to play with someone, would feign friendship and set traps along the way, all of which would prove ineffective on Huey and/or backfire on the fox. At first, Huey was blissfully unaware of the fox's true agenda, but as his peers watched the annoyed fox in action from a safe distance (and fearing for his safety just as they did their own), Huey would come to realize the truth about his predator and dispose of him, usually by saying: "Hey, you! You're the fox! And I think you're trying to kill me!", and would finish the fox. Other times, however, Huey would remain blissfully unaware and the exasperated fox would finally give up, fleeing Baby Huey before any more misfortune befell him. In the end, Huey's peers would make amends for their previous attitudes towards him and happily include him in their activities.
Baby Huey had a sidekick in later comics. This was his slow-thinking cousin, whom he referred to as Cousin Dimwit.[4] Dimwit was characterized as a fairly skinny duck in an oversized red woolen sweater, with sleeves that ran over his hands and hung down several inches.
Harvey Comics and later animated appearances
Baby Huey made a comic book debut in Little Audrey #25, 1952, by Harvey Comics. Harvey Comics Hits #60[5] was the second Harvey-published comic book to feature the character.
The 1956 comic Baby Huey, the Baby Giant was the first to bear the character's name; it ran for 99 issues until 1972. The spin-off Baby Huey and Papa lasted for 33 issues (1962–1968), and Baby Huey in Duckland for 15 issues (1962–1966).[6]
Huey's parents, Papa and Mama Duck (Gilbert & Silly), always struggled to manage their overgrown son despite his overbearing weight and strength, which often resulted in damage to his family's house or car, injury to Papa, or a threat from Papa's boss to fire him if Huey harmed the boss or caused damage to his home or office. Papa often disparaged Huey (who remained oblivious to his disapproval). Huey's main sidekicks were small identical triplet ducks (who bore a striking resemblance to Donald Duck's nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie) who resented or mocked Huey for his stupidity and clumsiness but depended on his superhero strength to get them out of trouble.
Characters who appeared in Baby Huey comic books in separate strips included Herman and Katnip and Buzzy the Funny Crow, who was always outsmarting a blue cat (who resembled Katnip) that tried to catch and eat him.
Harvey purchased the rights to all of Famous's original characters in 1959, and Huey continued to appear regularly in Harvey publications until 1972. Huey was rarely seen for nearly two decades afterward, returning to comics in 1990.
Originally, Baby Huey was intended to appear as a cameo in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral".[7]
Carbunkle Cartoons produced a new series of Baby Huey cartoons for television in 1994, which aired as The Baby Huey Show for two seasons. Sid Raymond reprised his role but was later replaced with Joe Alaskey, once the production was taken over by Film Roman.
U.S. President Bill Clinton in a 1993 conversation cited his similarities to Baby Huey: "I'm a lot like Baby Huey. I'm fat. I'm ugly. But if you push me down, I keep coming back".[8]
In The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper segment entitled "Legend of Duh Bigfoot", Baby Huey makes a cameo at the end of that segment. In Harvey Girls Forever, Baby Huey makes cameo appearances in the third and fourth seasons as a Horn-a-Corn costume.
The documentary Hype! references Baby Huey, by comparing it to different music revolutions that hit different cities at random times.
