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10 things you didn't know about Magilla Gorilla
This ape loves bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Oh, Gee! The Magilla Gorilla Show premiered in 1964 and Magilla swung from his swing and into our hearts. This banana-loving gorilla was sweet, lovable, a bit of a troublemaker, and a lot of fun for kids (and kids at heart). For two seasons of his own show and nearly 61 years as a guest star on other shows and movies, Magilla has brought joy to audiences everywhere. We did a deep dive into the precocious primate and found 10 lesser known facts about Magilla, let's learn about the what made this ape such a party animal.
Allan Melvin, voice of Magilla Gorilla, also played Sam the Butcher!
Allan Melvin was both a voice actor and an on-screen actor. After voicing Magilla, he went on to play Alice's boyfriend on The Brady Bunch. He also played Drooper on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour! Throughout different productions, Melvin voiced Magilla for over 30 years.
Magilla has a B.A.
When they were announcing the show to the press, Hanna-Barbera provided a biography for Magilla which included that he received a B.A. from UCLA...the B.A. stands for Banana Arts!
Magilla is originally from Africa
According to that same biography, Magilla was born in "the small banana-mining town of Simian Springs, Africa,".
''Magilla Gorilla'' premiered in a children's hospital
This is very sweet, one of the networks that first aired The Magilla Gorilla Show held a premiere at the San Pablo Brookside Hospital children's ward. According to the Times-Herald, "...the youngsters thought it was fun."
Magilla Gorilla was one of the first cartoons that came with a toy line.
Ideal Toys paid $30 million to sponsor The Magilla Gorilla Show and in return they produced plush toys that were available right when the show came out. The original intro said "He's really ideal!" and showed Magilla blowing up a balloon with the Ideal Toys logo and included an ad spot a the end of the intro. After the initial success, Ideal Toys expanded the line to include hand puppets and board games.
Magilla Ice
While the show lasted two seasons, Magilla Gorilla went on to guest star on other cartoons. He even made an appearance on Yo Yogi! as eighties mall popstar Magilla Ice!
Magilla's stats
According to the San Francisco Examiner, Magilla is 5'4 and 530 pounds, which is slightly large for a gorilla. Specifically, Magilla is a Western Gorilla which tend to weigh around 370 pounds.
Magilla's castmates were TV royalty
Magilla wasn't the only one on the show with a famous voice actor. Ogee was voiced by Jean Vander Pyl, also known as Wilma Flintstone. Mr. Peebles was voiced by Howard Morris, who is most well known for playing Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.
Magilla ran for President
In 1964, Hanna-Barbera launched a lighthearted, fictional presidential campaign alongside the real one. Magilla ran against Yogi Bear, and Top Cat was his campaign manager! This fictional campaign was seen as a fun way to teach children about the democratic process - and it was an opportunity to promote the new The Magilla Gorilla Show and the Yogi Bear feature film Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!. The campaign songs were equally entertaining, you can listen to them here!
Magilla's name inspiration
Magilla's name was inspired by the Yiddish word megillah which means a long, tedious account or a story written in a scroll. In the first episode, "Big Game", Magilla says "Such a megillah over a gorilla."