Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo
Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo were the first and only licensed characters to appear alongside the Rock-afire Explosion on stage at ShowBiz Pizza Place. These classic characters of Hanna-Barbera fame had been chosen over other famous characters such as Garfield, Superman, and Spider-man. The cartoon duo won out based on their appeal to both adults who grew up with the characters, and children who knew of them from syndication.1
Yogi and Boo-Boo's appearance at ShowBiz was limited to only three locations, which is quite sad considering the amount of planning, investment, and production that went into making this insane concept a reality. The project took nearly two years to become a reality - even the license negotiations were complicated and took a total of five months to reach an agreement from Hanna-Barbera Inc.1 However, the final result was approval for an initial test phase, with the option of an entire system rollout. The three locations that tested the Yogi Bear stage were Omaha, NE, Colorado Springs, CO, and Augusta, GA.2 Special television and newspaper advertisements along with a special poster were all created to alert customers about Yogi's appearance.
After their successful work creating the Statue of Liberty animatronic, ShowBiz once again commissioned Creative Presentations, Inc. to work on Yogi Bear. For the animatronic, Yogi Bear utilized the mech of Rolfe DeWolfe, and Boo-Boo was placed over the mech of Looney Bird. Bringing these characters to life were the authentic bonafide voice actors who had been behind these icons from the start - Daws Butler voiced Yogi Bear and Don Messick voiced Boo-Boo. The recording sessions for the Hanna-Barbera actors occured shortly before Daws Butler's death3, and wound up being one of his last (if not his very last) recordings for Yogi Bear.
On stage with the Rock-afire Explosion, both Yogi and Boo-Boo had some fun interactions with the band. Boo-Boo was afraid to come out of his barrel because he thought he saw "a 500 lb gorilla". Another instance involved Yogi trying to beg for pizza from the customers, with the band having to essentially guilt trip him through song about his nemisis Mister Ranger watching him to make sure he's staying out of trouble. Mitzi also mentioned having a crush on "one of" the guest characters in another segment, which led to Yogi and Boo-Boo bickering back and forth throughout the song in a somewhat cringy exchange.4
Sadly the Yogi Show at ShowBiz Pizza never made it past the test phase, and was never tested beyond the initial three locations. According to at least one article, the show did play for an extended time where it was tested. They started running the show in late September of 1987, removing them around Thanksgiving for the holiday show, with plans to bring them back by mid-January. The customers reaction to the show seemed mostly positive, doing just "ok" with younger customers but going over much better with adults who were likely more familar with the characters.5
References
1 - Horizons Issue #4 - Yogi Bear Article
2 - Entertainment '87 - Franchise Convention
3 - Wikipedia - Daws Butler
4 - Introducing: Yogi Bear! Showtape Script #2
5 - Yogi and Boo Boo Join Lineup of Cartoon Cast at ShowBiz Pizza - Omaha World-Herald
