Episode no. Season 3
Episode 1.2 Featured music Hoyt Curtin | Written by Warren Foster | |
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera Cinematography by Don Patterson (Animator) Original air date September 11, 1960 (1960-09-11) | ||
Tricks and Treats is the pilot episode of the Hokey Wolf cartoon series, debuting in the premiere third season of The Huckleberry Hound Show on September 11, 1960. It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, while the story was crafted by Warren Foster.
Plot
In their first ever cartoon appearance, both Hokey Wolf and his young companion Ding-A-Ling Wolf are trotting through the countryside until Ding mentions he is hungry and tired. In Hokey's possession is his makeshift "survival kit" within a briefcase, which includes a wolf trap, a camera, and a newspaper; all used to frame an unsuspecting farmer and eventually work their way into a hot meal. When they arrive at a farmer's house, they go up to its chicken coop and Hokey assembles the survival kit with his foot inside the wolf trap. Hokey starts howling until farmer Smith rushes up to him and Ding begins taking pictures with the kit's camera of the innocent act.
Pretending to have a crippled leg, Hokey tells the farmer he'll be taking him to court for animal cruelty, but the farmer instead invites Hokey into his house and offers him a meal in return. After being left unattended by farmer Smith for a brief period, Hokey calls the humane society for protection and to publish a story, though the farmer later returns to see Hokey is alright after all. Now angry with the situation, the farmer threatens to shoot Hokey when the humane society arrives at the same time for publicity photographs. The cartoon then ends with farmer Smith being forced to provide foster care for both Hokey and Ding-A-Ling.