The Ballad of Smokey the Bear

The Ballad of Smokey the Bear is a television special that first aired on November 24, 1966 on NBC as part of the General Electric Full Color Fantasy Hour's Thanksgiving programming. Narrated by James Cagney, it told the story of US Forest Service safety mascot Smokey Bear.

Cast

 * James Cagney - Narrator/Smokey's Brother
 * Barry Pearl - Smokey the Bear
 * Bryna Raeburn - Mama Bear
 * Herb Duncan - Mr. Beaver, Crow Leader, Additional voices
 * Rose Marie Jun - Mrs. Beaver, Additional voices
 * George Petrie - Fox
 * William Marine - Mr. Turtle
 * Ruth Franklin -

Francine Carol -

Additional voices by Billie Richards, Paul Soles, Larry Mann, Carl Banas, Alfie Scopp, Hal Smith, Lennie Weinrib, Dallas McKennon, Pat Woodell, and Allen Swift

Songs

 * The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (and its reprises)
 * Tell it to a Turtle
 * Delilah
 * Don't Move
 * Curiosity
 * All Together
 * Anyone can Move a Mountain

Trivia

 * Rose Marie Jun and Herb Duncan, who voiced the Beaver couple in this film, did the voices for another more famous animated couple, Jane and George Jetson from the 1962 Hanna-Barbara cartoon series, The Jetsons.
 * The songs in the special are all written by Johnny Marks, who had previously written the songs (including the titular song prior to the days of Rankin/Bass) for Rankin/Bass' first Stop-motion animated Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964.
 * According to various sources, this special was initially said to be a Thanksgiving, as opposed to the other classic TV specials of the same company being mostly Christmas specials.
 * The Gorilla that serves as an antagonist in the special, might have likely been inspired by King-Kong from the 1933 film of the same name.
 * This special also aired less than a few of weeks before Walt Disney passed away at the age of sixty-five, and before another holiday special by Warner Brothers legend Chuck Jones, How the Grinch stole Christmas, premiered on TV that same year.