# Time for Beany

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Time_for_Beany
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Time_for_Beany.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_for_Beany
> Source revision: 1353712995
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Time for Beany*** is an American [children's television series](/source/Children's_television_series), with puppets for characters, which was broadcast locally in Los Angeles starting on February 28, 1949, and nationally (by [kinescope](/source/Kinescope)) by the improvised [Paramount Television Network](/source/Paramount_Television_Network) from 1950 to 1955. It was created by animator [Bob Clampett](/source/Bob_Clampett), who later reused its main characters for the animated series *[Beany and Cecil](/source/Beany_and_Cecil)*. The show won three [Emmy Awards](/source/Emmy_Award) for best children's show.[1][2]

## History

The principal characters were Beany, a plucky young boy who wears a [beanie](/source/Beanie_(seamed_cap)) cap; the brave but dimwitted Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, who claimed to be 300 years old and tall; another serpent named Common Dragon (named after [Carmen Dragon](/source/Carmen_Dragon), a famous conductor); Beany's uncle, Captain Horatio K. (for Kermit) Huff'n'puff (whose name is a play on [Horatio Hornblower](/source/Horatio_Hornblower)), who would blow on the sails of the ship Leakin' Lena (see below) to make it go faster, familiarly called Uncle Captain; Dishonest John, a/k/a "D.J.", whose [cape](/source/Cape) and [handlebar mustache](/source/Handlebar_mustache) identified him obviously as a villain; another sometimes villain named Dudley Nightshade (named after [Deadly Nightshade](/source/Deadly_nightshade), a poisonous member of the family [Solanaceae](/source/Solanaceae)); Tear-a-long the Dotted Lion (who always had a fast entrance and whose name is in reference to the phrase "tear along the dotted line"); Mouth Full of Teeth Keith (a lion with false teeth); and Hopalong Wong (a Chinese version of [Hopalong Cassidy](/source/Hopalong_Cassidy), a tough cowboy actor).[3] Another character, a [circus clown](/source/Circus_clown) aptly named Clowny, appeared in early episodes, but was later unused.

The principal voice actors and puppeteers were [Daws Butler](/source/Daws_Butler) (Beany and Captain Huff'n'puff) and [Stan Freberg](/source/Stan_Freberg) (Cecil and Dishonest John). The writers were Charles Shows, [Bill Scott](/source/Bill_Scott_(voice_actor)), and Adam Bracci. The puppets were presented against simple sets or crude background drawings. After Butler and Freberg quit the show during 1952 or 1953,[4] Jim MacGeorge, Irv Shoemaker and [Walker Edmiston](/source/Walker_Edmiston) did the voice work and puppeting duties.[5] Shoemaker assumed Freberg's roles, MacGeorge voiced Cap'n Huffenpuff, and Edmiston voiced Beany for a while, then left to do a new show Clampett had launched, whereupon MacGeorge and Dick Nelson began doing Beany's voice.[6][7][8] [Scatman Crothers](/source/Scatman_Crothers) voiced two characters for the show.[9] [Korla Pandit](/source/Korla_Pandit) served as the show's organist.

## Premise

*Time for Beany* recounted the exotic voyages and landfalls of the ship *Leakin' Lena* as commanded by the sometimes inept "Uncle" Captain Huffenpuff. The daily episodes, each fifteen minutes in length, frequently contained topical references, usually of a satirical nature. One episode portrayed President [Harry S. Truman](/source/Harry_S._Truman) in puppet form, accompanying Cecil's singing. Other characters spoofed popular entertainers; examples are Dinah Saur and The Red Skeleton, parodies of [Dinah Shore](/source/Dinah_Shore) and [Red Skelton](/source/Red_Skelton). Children could laugh at the silliness, and adults could laugh at the political and social satire.

## Reception

[Albert Einstein](/source/Albert_Einstein) was reportedly a fan of the show. On one occasion, the physicist is said to have interrupted a meeting by announcing, "You will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It's *Time for Beany*."[10] Musician and composer [Frank Zappa](/source/Frank_Zappa) was also a fan,[11] as was [Harpo Marx](/source/Harpo_Marx), according to an interview with his son William Marx.

## Popular culture

- The *[Animaniacs](/source/Animaniacs)* segment "[Pinky and the Brain](/source/Pinky_and_the_Brain)" paid homage to the show. In the episode "Puppet Rulers", Albert Einstein (who was a fan of *Time for Beany*) sits down with his nephew and niece to watch *Time for Meany* featuring Meany and Treacle (both voiced by [Maurice LaMarche](/source/Maurice_LaMarche), who had voiced Dishonest John in the 1988 animated version of *Beany & Cecil*), which inspires Pinky and Brain to create a children's television show as part of a new plan to take over the world.
- Science fiction writer [Larry Niven](/source/Larry_Niven) created an alien race he named [Pierson's Puppeteers](/source/Pierson's_Puppeteers). The creatures are so called because they have two one-eyed heads on the ends of tentacle-like necks, giving them a faint resemblance to Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent. A member of this race plays a major role in Niven's novel *[Ringworld](/source/Ringworld)*. Niven also gives the show brief mention in the novel *[Lucifer's Hammer](/source/Lucifer's_Hammer)* which he co-wrote with [Jerry Pournelle](/source/Jerry_Pournelle).

## Videography

- *Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil: The Special Edition* (Image Entertainment, 1999) (4 episodes)

## References

1. [In His Own Words: Bob Clampett on “Time for Beany”](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-his-own-words-bob-clampett-on-time-for-beany/)

1. [https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/time-beany](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/time-beany)

1. "Tested TV Programs at Prices You Can Afford" [1952 Paramount syndication ad], Broadcasting-Telecasting, 12 February 1952, 54. [https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-02-12.pdf](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-02-12.pdf)

1. ["OT: Bob Clampett's TIME FOR BEANY"](http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/archive/index.php/t-10591.html). Forums.goldenagecartoons.com. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120415153948/http://www.goldenagecartoons.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-10591.html) April 15, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-09-27.

1. ["Today's Video Link"](http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2011_05_13.html#020650). Newsfromme.com. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110604005800/http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2011_05_13.html#020650) 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-09-27.

1. ["Today's Video Link"](https://www.newsfromme.com/2008/01/16/todays-video-link-343-2/). News From ME. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

1. ["Today's Bonus Video Link"](https://www.newsfromme.com/2007/10/12/todays-bonus-video-link-87/). News From ME. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

1. ["Today's Video Link"](https://www.newsfromme.com/2016/12/07/todays-video-link-2397/). News From ME. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

1. Haskins, James (1991). [*Scatman : an authorized biography of Scatman Crothers*](https://archive.org/details/scatmanauthorize0000hask/page/104). 1st ed. New York: W. Morrow and Co. pp. [104](https://archive.org/details/scatmanauthorize0000hask/page/104). ISBN 9780688085216. [OCLC 22888802](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22888802)

1. Freberg, Stan (1988). *It Only Hurts When I Laugh*. [Times Books](/source/Times_Books). ISBN 978-0-8129-1297-5.

1. ["Frank Zappa - Lost Interview - Beatles, Stones & Censorship (4-7)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj4ftkasiv8). [YouTube](/source/YouTube). January 20, 2009. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/oj4ftkasiv8) 2021-12-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 23, 2010.

## External links

- [Toon Tracker](https://web.archive.org/web/19990117032717/http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/7762/timebean.htm)
- [Time for Beany](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145637/) at IMDb

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Time for Beany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_for_Beany) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_for_Beany?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.