HBO Max revealed Thursday the first trailer for Jellystone!, a comedy cartoon series that revives the world of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, in some cases bringing back characters that haven’t been seen on television in 30 years. Showrunner and executive producer C.H. Greenblatt (Chowder) is heading up the show, which centers on core Hanna-Barbera characters like Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and Huckleberry Hound, but also brings in some extremely deep-cut characters as well, like incompetent crime-fighters El Kabong and Baba Looey, Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har, the genie Shazzan, the little duck Yakky Doodle, and a whole lot more.
The first trailer has a manic vibe and simple animation style that recalls ThunderCats Roar, the short-lived simplified comedy take on the classic 1980s Thundercats. Fans loudly rejected ThunderCats Roar, but might be more willing to accept a similarly fast-paced, joke-heavy revival series built around the Hanna-Barbera stable of characters, given that those cartoons were never meant to be adventure-drama on the level of Thundercats. If nothing else, the first trailer is a game of ID-the-character for extremely old-school animation fans. A few of these characters, like Peter Potamus, Augie Doggie, and Wally Gator, made guest appearances on heavily referential cartoon series like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, or were used in Cartoon Network bumpers, but others remain deeply obscure except to fans of older cartoon revival blocks and previous crossover shows like Laff-A-Lympics.
Here’s HBO Max’s description of the show:
Set in the charming town of the same name, Jellystone! follows an ensemble of Hanna-Barbera characters as they live, work, play, and (as is often the case), destroy the town in some silly way together. Huckleberry Hound proudly serves as the town’s mayor; Cindy, Boo Boo and Yogi are the town’s medical staff; Jabberjaw works at Magilla’s clothing store where they supply all the bow ties and hats to the town’s citizens; and every character has a specific role in the community. Their paths cross in fun and ridiculous ways, turning everyday activities into hilarious pandemonium.
Season 1 of Jellystone! premieres Thursday, July 29 on HBO Max.