Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (1964) Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

Hanna Barbera brought us some of the best animated shows in TV history. Including Scooby Doo, Super Friends, Wacky Races, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat and Yogi Bear just to name a few.  

Now the good folks at Warner Archive have been releasing many great cartoons on Blu-ray. Two of my favorites would have to be The Jetson's complete Series and the latest Looney Tunes Vol. 1.

Now as cool as it is to see these I think the latest one is the most surprising to me. Warner Archive has decided to release Yogi Bear's first feature film on Blu-ray. Yes I am talking about 1964's Hey There! It's Yogi Bear.

Spring is in the air, and love is in bloom for Cindy Bear! When Yogi (who's smarter than the average...) Bear plays "Robin Hood", Ranger Smith ships him away from Jellystone Park to the San Diego Zoo. Or so he thinks. Cindy hitches a ride to find Yogi in California and ends up a captive of the Chisling Bros. in Missouri! Yogi and Boo-Boo rush to her rescue and "cannot fail with Yogi on the trail!"

Now I watched Yogi Bear cartoons on reruns. The show was broadcast long before I was born. And I never got the opportunity to see this feature film until this release. And I must say it is all the things that I loved in the Yogi Bear cartoon just in a feature length film. Such an enjoyable film! 

The Warner Archive Collection have scanned the film in 4K from the original camera negative. It has been transferred in 1080p HD in the 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The audio is a new lossless English 2.0 stereo DTS-HD Master Audio mix. There is also English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

This new 4K scan is gorgeous. The colors are bright and vibrant and the audio is clear. There is only the slightest hint of dirt on the print and very little signs of hiss at all! It is so miniscule that it really is not even really worth mentioning! I am so thoroughly impressed with the 4K scan. 

But this new 4K scan of this film is not all that is included on this Blu-ray. Warner Archive has added The Yogi Bear Show series finale, entitled Yogi’s Birthday Party. In this episode Yogi is just about to hibernate for the winter, when the kindhearted Yogi befriends a cute little duck.

Warner Archive has done it again bringing another animation classic to physical media fans. My hope is that this feature length film will be such a huge success that we will eventually see the release of the Yogi Bear cartoons. Now that would be epic.

If you are a fan of classic animation and Hanna Barbera Hey There it's Yogi Bear on Blu-ray is an absolute must own for your animation collection. We at Classic Cinema+ give this animated film our highest recommendation. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today.




Out of 4 Film Reels (4 being the best) Warner Archive's Blu-ray release of Hey There It's Yogi Bear receives....