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Poster for Linus the Lionhearted

Linus the Lionhearted

★ 7.4 TMDB Rating · 5 votes

Linus the Lionhearted is an American animated television series featuring a main character of the same name. The character was created in 1959 by the Ed Graham advertising agency, originally as a series of ads for General Foods' Post Cereals. At first, Linus was the spokesman for the short-lived Post cereal "Heart of Oats". Eventually, the lion was redesigned and reintroduced in 1963 to sell Crispy Critters, which featured Linus on the box. The ads were so popular that a television series was created in 1964 and ran on the CBS network until 1966, then reruns [in color] aired on ABC from 1966, until it was cancelled three years later. A coloring book was published which detailed the adventures of So-Hi going on a scavenger hunt in order to break a curse on a two-headed bird, who is then transformed into a boy due to So-Hi's dedication. In addition to Linus, a rather good-natured "King of the Beasts" who ruled from his personal barber's chair and voiced by Sheldon Leonard, there were other features as well, all based on characters representing other popular Post cereals. The best-known of these was Sugar Bear, who sounded like Bing Crosby and was voiced by actor Gerry Matthews. There was also a postman named Lovable Truly, a young Asian boy named So Hi, and Rory Raccoon.

Seasons
2
Episodes
3
Episode length
~30m
First aired
Sep 26, 1964
Networks
CBS
Original language
English
Origin
United States

Cast of Linus the Lionhearted

  • Portrait of Sheldon Leonard

    Sheldon Leonard

    Linus (voice)

  • Portrait of Carl Reiner

    Carl Reiner

    Billy Bird / Sascha Grouse / Dinny Kangaroo (voice)

  • Portrait of Bob McFadden

    Bob McFadden

    Lovable Truly / Rory Raccoon / So Hi (voice)

  • Gerry Matthews

    Sugar Bear (voice)

  • Portrait of Jesse White

    Jesse White

    C. Claudius Crow (voice)

  • Portrait of Ruth Buzzi

    Ruth Buzzi

    Granny Goodwitch (voice)

  • Portrait of Jonathan Winters

    Jonathan Winters

    The Giant (voice)

  • Portrait of Jerry Stiller

    Jerry Stiller

  • Portrait of Anne Meara

    Anne Meara

  • Portrait of Sterling Holloway

    Sterling Holloway

Seasons

  • Poster for Season 1 of Linus the Lionhearted

    Season 1

    Sep 25, 1964

    2 episodes

  • Poster for Season 2 of Linus the Lionhearted

    Season 2

    Sep 11, 1965

    1 episode

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