Quick Draw McGraw, or just Quick Draw, is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. He is depicted as wearing a red cowboy hat and light blue bandana. He was voiced by Daws Butler. All 45 of his cartoons that originally aired between 1959 and 1962 were written by Michael Maltese, known best for his work at the Warner Bros. cartoon studio. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960.
Character description
Quick Draw was usually depicted as a sheriff in a series of short films set in the Old West. Quick Draw was often accompanied by his deputy, a Mexican burro called Baba Looey (also voiced by Daws Butler), who spoke English with a Mexican accent and called his partner "Queeks Draw". In the Spanish American version, Quick Draw (Tiro Loco McGraw) speaks in a very English-influenced accent, and Baba Looey (Pepe Trueno, or Pepe Luis in some episodes) speaks in a very Mexican accent, so it was clear that Quick Draw was the alien, and there was no need to adapt any feature of the story. In the Brazilian version, however, Quick Draw speaks in a drawling Portuguese which along with his hispanized name (Pepe Legal) would suggest he was either a Texan-American or Mexican cowboy.
Quick Draw satirized the westerns that were popular among the American public at the time. His character was well-intentioned, but somewhat dim.
Another featured character was Snuffles, the bloodhound dog that would point to his mouth and "ah-ah-ah-" when he wanted a biscuit, then hug himself, leap up in the air, and float back down after having eaten one. In several cases when Quick Draw did not have a dog biscuit to offer, or if he tried to give Snuffles the reward cash for capturing an outlaw, Snuffles would either shake his head and say "Uh-uh" or grunt to himself and mumble "Darn cheapskate!" In his first appearance, "Bow-Wow Bandit", he was trying to find Quick Draw's assistant Baba Looey, which was kidnapped by a bandit that thinks that he has a tattoo of a map on his back. When he was not called Snuffles, Quick Draw sometimes called him "dog deputy".
Personality
Quick Draw was himself a horse caricature that walked on two legs like a human (as did Baba Looey), and had "hands" that were hooves with thumbs and could hold objects such as guns. This did not stop the show's producers from depicting him riding into town on a realistic horse, or as seen in the show's opening credits, driving a stagecoach pulled by a whole team of realistic horses. This aspect was made light of in the 1980s made-for-television film The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, which featured Quick Draw.
El Kabong
In certain cases, Quick Draw would also assume the identity of the masked vigilante El Kabong (a spoof of Zorro). His introduction went as follows â€" "Of all the heroes in legend and song, there's none as brave as El Kabong". As El Kabong, Quick Draw would attack his foes by swooping down on a rope with the war cry "OLÉ!" and hitting them on the head with an acoustic guitar (after shouting "KABOOOOOONG!"), which is always referred to as a "kabonger", producing a distinctive kabong sound and usually destroying the guitar in the process. The "guitar" was usually drawn as a four stringed quatro. On the cartoon's soundtrack, the "kabong" sound effect was produced by a foley artist striking the detuned open strings of a cheap acoustic guitar.
Guest appearances in other media
- Quick Draw McGraw occasionally appeared in other Hanna-Barbera productions, including 1973's Yogi's Gang, 1977â€"1978's Laff-a-Lympics, a celebrity roast honoring Fred Flintstone on the TV special Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1978) and the 1979 TV special Casper's First Christmas, and in an episode from the short-lived 1978 series Yogi's Space Race.
- Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey appeared in The Yogi Bear Show episode "Yogi's Birthday Party".
- In the "Fender Bender 500" segment of 1990's Wake, Rattle, and Roll, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey are the featured racers where they drive a padded wagon-modeled monster truck called the Texas Twister. Quick Draw McGraw was voiced by Greg Burson, while Baba Looey was voiced by Neil Ross.
- In Yo Yogi!, Quick Draw McGraw (again voiced by Greg Burson) and Baba Looey (voiced by Henry Polic II) are seen as Wild West entertainers.
- Greg Burson reprises his role of Quick Draw McGraw when he and Baba Looey (who was also voiced by Burson) appeared in the Samurai Jack episode titled "The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful". They were seen on the train on which Samurai Jack was riding.
- Quick Draw appeared in Class of 3000 episode "Home".
- Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey appeared in the South Park episode "Imaginationland Episode III". They join the good imaginary characters fighting the evil characters in the final battle.
- Quick Draw also appeared in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Guitar Control" voiced by Maurice LaMarche impersonating Charlton Heston. He appears as a defendant for being charged with carrying a concealed weapon (his guitar) when he was about to use it on some criminals as El Kabong.
- Quick Draw's dog Snuffles made a special guest appearance on an episode of Johnny Bravo in which Johnny follows a woman whom he mistakes for his mother. In the episode, Snuffles is assigned by the police to help find Johnny â€" provided, of course, he is given doggy snacks along the way.
In advertisements
- Quick Draw was the mascot for Sugar Smacks in the early 1960s.
- Quick Draw made a cameo in a MetLife commercial in 2012.
Parodies
- There are references to "El Kabong" in the TV series The Critic â€" Jay Sherman's father, Franklin Sherman, imitates El Kabong, swooping from chandeliers dressed similar to Zorro and hitting people over the head with a guitar.
- In the professional wrestling world, the name "El Kabong" was used by then-Extreme Championship Wrestling commentator Joey Styles to describe when a popular ECW wrestler, New Jack, used an acoustic guitar as a weapon during a match. The act is also used by former World Wrestling Federation employee The Honky Tonk Man, former enhancement talent Quick Draw Rick McGraw and current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Vice President and wrestler Jeff Jarrett.
Merchandise
- McFarlane Toys produced a figure of Quick Draw McGraw as El Kabong as part of their Hanna-Barbera toy line.
References in popular music
Quick Draw McGraw is referred to in Busta Rhymes' songs "So Hardcore" and "Everything Remains Raw". He is also referred to in MF Doom's Viktor Vaughn song "Modern-day Mugging". Lil Wayne refers to Quick Draw McGraw in his songs "Fireman" and "What's Wrong With Them?" Quick Draw McGraw is also referred to in House of Pain's song "Boom Shalock Lock Boom (Butch Vig Mix)." The song appeared on the EP, Shamrocks And Shenanigans. The Game's "One Blood (Remix)" refers to Quick Draw McGraw.
References
External links
- Quick Draw McGraw at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016