Laff-A-Lympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Laff-A-Lympics
Genre	Comedy, sports
Created by	Joe Ruby Ken Spears
Written by	Neal Barbera Haskell Barkin
Directed by	Charles August Nichols Ray Patterson (1978) Carl Urbano (1978)
Voices of	Julie Bennett Joe Besser Mel Blanc Daws Butler Henry Corden Scatman Crothers Bob Holt Casey Kasem Don Messick Gary Owens Laurel Page Alan Reed Marilyn Schreffler John Stephenson Vernee Watson Frank Welker
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Opening theme	"Laff-A-Lympics" (Main Title 1978) by Hoyt Curtin
Composer(s)	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24
Production
Executive producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Producer(s)	Don Jurwich (1978) Alex Lovy (1978) Art Scott (1978)
Editor(s)	Larry C. Cowan Dick Elliot Gil Iverson
Camera setup	George Epperson Jerry Smith Reba Bement Tom Epperson Chuck Flekal Curt Hall Ron Jackson Larry Smith Terry Smith Brandy Whittington Jerry Whittington
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Taft Broadcasting
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 10, 1977 (1977-09-10) – October 28, 1978 (1978-10-28)

Laff-A-Lympics is a fun American cartoon show created by Hanna-Barbera. It first aired on ABC in 1977 as part of the Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Saturday morning block.

The show is a funny take on the Olympics. It features 45 famous Hanna-Barbera characters. These characters are split into three teams: the Scooby Doobies, the Yogi Yahooeys, and the Really Rottens. Each week, they compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The first season had 16 episodes in 1977–78. Then, eight new episodes were made for the 1978–79 season, combined with reruns, under the name Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike many cartoons from the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not use a laugh track.

How the Show Works

The characters compete in funny and unusual sports events, races, or scavenger hunts. Each part of the show takes place in a different country or famous location around the world.

The Laff-A-Lympics cast

The show feels like a real Olympic television broadcast. You hear an announcer who you never see. The main hosts and commentators are Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf. They even wear yellow jackets like real sports announcers! Other Hanna-Barbera characters like Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Jabberjaw, and Peter Potamus sometimes appear as guest announcers or judges.

The "good guy" teams, the Yogi Yahooeys and the Scooby Doobies, always work together and play fair. But the Really Rottens team always tries to cheat! Usually, the Rottens are about to win, but then they make a mistake at the last minute. This lets one of the other two teams win instead. Sometimes, though, the Rottens' cheating isn't against the rules, so they actually win. Overall, the Scooby Doobies won the most, with 14 victories. The Yogi Yahooeys won 7 times, and the Really Rottens won twice. The very last episode ended in a three-way tie!

Laff-A-Lympics was shown again on ABC in 1986. Later, it was often rerun on channels like USA Cartoon Express, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang.

Meet the Teams

There are three main teams in Laff-A-Lympics. Each team has different characters from various Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

The Scooby Doobies

Early model sheet showing Jeannie and Josie and the Pussycats characters as possible "Scooby Doobies" team members.

This team is mostly made up of characters from Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1970s. Many of them are from "mystery-solving" shows like Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo himself is the team captain!

Here are some members of the Scooby Doobies:

The Yogi Yahooeys

This team mainly features characters from Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1950s and 1960s. All the characters on this team are animal characters who act like humans. Grape Ape is the only character from a later show.

Here are some members of the Yogi Yahooeys:

The Really Rottens

This team is made up of bad guy characters. They often cheat to try and win! They usually get points taken away because of their tricks. Most of the members are new characters made just for this show, except for Mumbly and the Dalton Brothers.

Mumbly was actually a good guy detective in his own cartoon before this show. But for Laff-A-Lympics, he became a villain and the team captain.

Here are some members of the Really Rottens:

Voice Actors

Many talented voice actors brought these characters to life:

• Daws Butler as Yogi Bear, Augie Doggie, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, Snagglepuss, Mr. Jinks, Dixie, Hokey Wolf, Super Snooper, Blabber Mouse, Scooby-Dum, Dastardly Dalton
• Don Messick as Boo Boo Bear, Pixie, Ranger Smith, Scooby-Doo, Mumbly, Dirty Dalton, Mr. Creepley, Junior Creepley, Announcer
• Julie Bennett as Cindy Bear
• John Stephenson as Doggie Daddy, Mildew Wolf, Dread Baron, The Great Fondoo
• Frank Welker as Jabberjaw, Yakky Doodle, Tinker, Dynomutt, Magic Rabbit, Sooey
• Mel Blanc as Captain Caveman, Speed Buggy, Barney Rubble
• Bob Holt as Grape Ape, Dinky Dalton, Orful Octopus
• Vernee Watson-Johnson as Dee Dee Skyes
• Marilyn Schreffler as Brenda Chance, Daisy Mayhem
• Laurel Page as Taffy Dare, Mrs. Creepley
• Scatman Crothers as Hong Kong Phooey
• Gary Owens as Blue Falcon
• Alan Reed as Fred Flintstone (earlier episodes)
• Henry Corden as Fred Flintstone (later episodes)
• Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
• Joe Besser as Babu

Episodes Guide

The show had two seasons with a total of 24 episodes. Each episode usually featured two different locations and sets of events.

Season 1 – Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977)

Season 2 – Scooby's All-Stars (1978)

Where to Watch: Home Releases

You can find Laff-A-Lympics on DVD!

DVDs

Warner Home Video released the first four episodes on DVD in 2010 as Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 1. Another DVD, Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics Volume 2, came out around the same time.

In 2012, a two-disc DVD set called Scooby-Doo! Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games was released. This set included a new Scooby-Doo special and 12 episodes of Laff-A-Lympics. It had episodes 9–16, which finished the first season, plus some earlier episodes. This set was later renamed Laff-a-Lympics: The Complete First Collection.

Other Fun Stuff

Comic Books

In 1978, Marvel Comics made a comic book series based on the cartoon. It had 13 issues. A Laff-A-Lympics comic book was also published in Australia.

Later, in 1996, a new version of Laff-A-Lympics called the "Superstar Olympics" appeared in a comic book. It featured many other Hanna-Barbera characters like Atom Ant, Magilla Gorilla, and Top Cat.

Games

A Laff-A-Lympics hand-held pinball game was released in 1978. It featured many characters from the show.

In 1979, Hanna-Barbera also released a Laff-A-Lympics Old Maid card game.

Other Appearances

Some characters from Laff-A-Lympics have appeared in other cartoons:

• Dread Baron and Mumbly appear in Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose.
• Dinky Dalton appears in the Yogi's Treasure Hunt episode "The Return of El Kabong".
• Dinky Dalton also appears in The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound and an episode of Wacky Races.
• The Dread Baron was seen in an episode of Jellystone!.

See also

In Spanish: Las olimpiadas de la risa para niños