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Mr. Magoo

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'''Mr. Magoo''' is a cartoon character created by United Productions of America UPA. Voiced by Jim Backus, he is a little old man who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his failing eye-sight. He is notable as one of the only cartoon characters to be an alumnus of a real-life university, Rutgers University Rutgers. Mr. Magoo's first appearance was in the theatrical short cartoon ''The Ragtime Bear'' (1949). Columbia Pictures Columbia was reluctant to release the short, but allowed it to pass only because it included a bear. However, audiences quickly realized that the real star was Magoo, one of the few "human" cartoon characters ever produced in Hollywood at the time. The short became a box-office success. John Hubley, who created Magoo, handed the series completely over to creative director, Pete Burness. Under Burness, Magoo would obtain two Academy Awards Oscars for the studio with ''When Magoo Flew'' (1955) and ''Magoo's Puddle Jumper'' (1956). In 1959, Mr. Magoo starred in ''1001 Arabian Nights'', directed by Jack Kinney, UPA's first feature-length production. In the 1960s, UPA transferred its attention to television, and began producing Mr. Magoo television series. UPA was forced to churn out cartoons at a far greater quantity than the studio had done for theatrical release; this caused the ''Mr. Magoo'' series to sink to an embarrassing level. One bright moment in the UPA television era came with ''Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'', the first episode of an animated TV series entitled ''The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'', which placed Magoo in various well-known stories. ''Christmas Carol'' captured the spirit of Charles Dickens' tale in a manner that few of the many retellings of the story would, and it is considered to be a holiday classic of the 1960s, ranking alongside ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' and ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''. In the 1970s, Mr. Magoo appeared in a new television series called ''What's New Mr. Magoo?''. This series was made under license by the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises DePatie-Freleng studio, as UPA had by this time ceased in-house cartoon production. In 1997, during a fad for live-action films based on cartoon characters, Mr. Magoo was portrayed by Leslie Nielsen in a live-action ''Mr. Magoo (movie) Mr. Magoo'' feature film. It failed to find critical or popular success, in part because many support groups for the handicapped protested it on behalf of the blind. Classic Media/Sony Wonder began issuing the ''Mr. Magoo'' cartoon series on DVD in 2001, beginning with ''Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol''. In 2005, Mr. Magoo became the spokesperson of the optical retail store, Sterling Optical.

Characters
* Mr. Quincy Magoo - An elderly, bald, man, whose eye-sight is failing (though he either does not know it or is too stubborn to do anything about it). (voiced by Jim Backus) * Waldo - Magoo's nephew (voiced by Casey Kasem in the 70s series) * Cuddles - Magoo's dog in the original UPA shorts * Mother Magoo * Charley - Magoo's Chinese houseboy * Prezley - Waldo's "partner in crime" in the 1960 cartoon * Bowser - Magoo's dog (really a cat) * Wheeler and Dealer - two children Magoo often babysits * McBarker - Magoo's nearsighted dog who looks exactly like his owner (appeared only in the 70s cartoon series, ''What's New Mr. Magoo'') (voiced by Frank Welker)

External links
* The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Columbia_Pictures/UPA/Mister_Magoo/ Magoo]
- UPA: Mavericks, Magic, and Magoo
- The Columbia Crow's Nest
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Mr. Magoo page
- Interview with Henry G. Saperstein
- Toon Tracker's Mr. Magoo Page Category:Animated characters Magoo, Mister Category:Mr. Magoo Magoo, Mister Category:Fictional Misters Magoo, Mister pt:Mr. Magoo Category:UPA series and characters Category:Fictional Misters Magoo, Mister

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