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!” And neither can you with this enduring family favorite, which was Hanna-Barbera’s first animated theatrical feature film.

For thoughts on Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

Video Quality

Warner Archive brings Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear to Blu-Ray sourced from a new 4K scan of the Original Camera Negative that looks pretty incredible. The quality of this feature is visually dazzling with big, bright colors and nary a trace of damage to be found. There is the occasional softness with certain shots which seems to stem back to the animation style, but these issues are fleeting at worst. While some animated titles we have checked out recently have attempted to smooth over some of the quirks from the original creations, this disc allows the original look of the film to shine through in all of its glory.

There is an excellent amount of natural film grain present with a remarkable amount of detail and clarity to the picture. The textures of all of the background environments look naturally filmic and give the story a nice sense of depth. The animation quality is not a night and day difference from the series (which we also hope to get on Blu-Ray sooner rather than later from the Warner Archive) but it really looks gorgeous in high definition. The black levels hold up really well with no instances of black crush to be found. It is clear that Warner Archive has taken a great amount of care to restore this one to its most pristine condition.

Audio Quality

The audio quality of the Blu-Ray disc is likewise excellent with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono) track that presents essentially no flaws or damage. You may have experienced this one on an old VHS with all manner of age-related wear and tear, but this track provides clarity to the dialogue, sound effects and music throughout. The lively effects are given impeccable depth and are layered well to give the track a richer sound. The songs are one of the more unique aspects of the film, and they are presented with a pleasing fidelity. This track will really impress as it fully realizes this soundscape to its highest potential. This disc also includes optional English (SDH) subtitles.

Special Features

Yogi’s Birthday Party: A 23-minute special episode of The Yogi Bear Show is provided here from a new 4K scan of the Original Camera Negative. This is another fun adventure which we hopes proves to be the first steps to getting the full series in glorious HD.

Final Thoughts

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear is not up to the level of your “classic” animated films which solidified modern animation as we know it, but it proves to be a really fun expansion of the beloved series. The film provides plenty of laughs as you go on a zany journey with these classic characters. There are a few slow spots, but by and large this one is pretty consistently entertaining and should be a pretty fun viewing for the entire family. Warner Archive has delivered a dazzling Blu-Ray featuring a nearly flawless A/V presentation and a nice legacy supplement. If you are a fan of Saturday morning cartoons, this fits the bill quite nicely. Recommended

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.