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| “ | That Hokey's so smart... He's my hero! He knows everything. | „ |
| ~ Ding-a-Ling's catchphrase. |
| “ | I've fixed some sandwiches, to cheer you up mayor Hokey. But Hokey i was with you the whole time! | „ |
| ~ Ding-a-Ling in Yo! Yogi |
Ding-a-Ling is the younger sidekick of Hokey Wolf. who accompanies him through all of his misadventures. He is usually eager to follow in Hokey's ambitious con-artist footsteps, but often reconsiders the plans Hokey comes up with.
History
He was originally apart of The Huckleberry Hound Show segment: Hokey Wolf in 1961, where he appeared as Hokey's sidekick, who joined Hokey through out most of his misadventures. But after The Huckleberry Hound Show ended, Ding-a-Ling seems to have appeared very rarely and didn’t speak (likely due to his voice acter retiring) until "Yo, Yogi!" in 1991. Not much is known about Ding's backstory, and how it is he ended up with Hokey in the first place.
Physical appearance
Ding is a small anthropomorphic brown-furred wolf, he has a peach colored snout. He typically wears a bowler hat (mostly red, sometimes black), a sleeveless green shirt and a black vest.
Bio
Ding-a-Ling is Hokey's sidekick who joined Hokey through out most of his misadventures.
Personality
He is the younger sidekick to Hokey. He acts as if he could be slightly dim, not knowing what some words mean. While not acting villainous like Hokey, Ding doesn't con people (likely due to him being slightly dim-wited), he would mostly help Hokey in anyway he can and is willing to follow in Hokey's con artist footsteps.
Goals
His main goal in the Hokey Wolf shorts, is to follow in Hokey's con-artist footsteps. He is usually seen on Hokey's side, as Hokey's younger sidekick, Ding seems to help Hokey out on a few occasions, while Hokey does the fast-talking work. Ding is aside him, and usually is helping him out, when Hokey manages to succeed in either getting a place to stay or getting a free meal. however it usually backfires on the two at end, and it usually pays in serious consequences.
Heroic Acts
- in "Robot Plot" after the Farmer built a robot to dispose of Hokey, it eventually leads to Hokey trying to stop the robot from attacking him, but it failed and as a result the robot attacked him, it was until Ding-a-Ling hit the robot on the head with a plank of wood. In an attempt to save his friend.
- He is often seen helping Hokey.
- In some occasions, Ding-a-Ling would save Hokey's life.
Voice Actor
He was originally voiced by Doug Young, who also voiced characters such as Doggie Daddy, Yippee and performed supporting voices in Loopy De Loop. Until Doug retried from voice acting. Due to this, Hokey appeared mostly by himself in following events, (such as Laff-a-Lympics and Yogi's Treasure Hunt), he would still (rarely) appear as a background character, but never spoke, until Yo, Yogi!, when he finally got a new voice acter.
Other Appearances
While Ding-a-Ling appears in every episode of the Hokey Wolf shorts. Hokey appears by himself in later productions, such as Yogi's Treasure Hunt, Laff-a-Lympics and The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound and also some comics. However Ding-a-Ling has appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark - in his manger appearance Yogi's Gang go to a snowy place, in which Ding-a-Ling (without any speaking roles) is seen filling up the pool with a hose and Hokey (without any speaking roles) is seen preparing to jump into the pool, unfortunately due to the weather being cold, the pool freezes into ice and Hokey hits his head on the ice. Ding then appears again, where he (alongside Huckleberry Hound and Doggie Daddy) are skating on the same ice.
In 2021, Ding-a-Ling has some cameo appearances in the Jellystone! series.
Trivia
- It seems Ding didn't join Hokey in the Laff-a-Lympics, Yogi's Treasure Hunt or in The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, as Hokey appeared by himself.
- However it's likely due to Doug Young retiring at that time, to be with his wife. So it's likely possible Ding-a-Ling did not appear for that reason.
- However another Hanna-Barbera character (Doggie Daddy) shared the same voice actor. However his voice was done by the late John Stephenson.
- However it's likely due to Doug Young retiring at that time, to be with his wife. So it's likely possible Ding-a-Ling did not appear for that reason.
- The character's voice is said to be an impression of Buddy Hackett.
- In a Hanna-Barbera card set; it implies on the back of Hokey's card that Ding-a-Ling is a fox.
- However it's implied multiple times that Ding-a-Ling is a wolf, not a fox.
- Oddly enough, the same error happened in the Dell Comics of Huckleberry Hound, where in the Hokey Wolf stories, Ding-a-Ling is again implied to be a fox.
- He didn't join the Yogi Yahooeys in the Laff-a-Lympics with Hokey. other sidekicks who didn't join include: Chopper, Baba Looey and Beegle Beagle, (who were sidekicks to Yakky Doodle, Quick-Draw McGraw and Grape Ape).
- He was the only main character of The Huckleberry Hound Show to be voiced by Doug Young.
