Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har are a pair of anthropomorphic Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters, a lion in a tattered top hat and vest, and a hyena in a porkpie hat and bow tie, respectively. The latter's name is ironic, as it's an onomatopoeia for laughter, but Hardy is an eternal pessimist, Hardy is the stereotype of someone with a very deep major depressive disorder; indeed, one short implies that expression of joy or happiness actually puts Hardy in pain.
History[]
Lippy and Hardy (voiced by Daws Butler and Mel Blanc respectively) first appeared in The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series in 1962, along with Wally Gator and Touché Turtle and Dum Dum. Mel Blanc used the same voice, personality and expressions for Hardy Har-Har that he used playing the Happy Postman character on the Burns and Allen radio show.
Their cartoons revolved around ever-hopeful Lippy's attempts to get rich quick, with reluctant Hardy serving as a foil. Whatever the consequences were to Lippy's schemes, Hardy would end up getting the worst of it — a fact he always seemed to realize ahead of time, with his moans of, "Oh me, oh my, oh dear." Although the intro shows them in a jungle setting proper for such beasts, most of the cartoons' stories took place in an urban setting.
In 1971, Lippy and Hardy got their own cartoon show, simply titled Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har; it lasted one season.
Since then, the duo have been infrequently included in the cast of Hanna-Barbera's ensemble shows (e.g., Yogi's Gang). They were no longer constantly pursuing Lippy's get-rich-quick schemes, but their personalities were unchanged; Lippy was still the smiling optimist, Hardy the moaning pessimist.
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