Ranger Smith is a fictional park ranger first appearing in the 1961 Yogi Bear cartoon series. The character is Yogi's main antagonist, and appears in other Yogi Bear series, including Yogi's Gang, Yogi's Treasure Hunt and Yo Yogi! as well as the 2010 live-action Yogi Bear film. The cartoon character has been primarily voiced by Don Messick and Greg Burson.
History
Character
A former US Army soldier, he is the serious and stern authority figure in Jellystone Park, in contrast to the antics of the troublesome Yogi, and he greatly disapproves of Yogi's picnic basket thievery, mainly because it repels parkgoers and creates a lot of extra work for him. In the original Yogi Bear shorts on Huckleberry Hound, a different and unnamed character that would evolve into Ranger Smith had a much different appearance, looking older and with a white mustache, though his voice was the same, and other rangers also served as the authority figures in early episodes. Even after his trademark appearance had been established, Ranger Smith's design was notably inconsistently drawn throughout each episode of "The Yogi Bear Show". In one episode, he appears as his young self, but this may be his first actual encounter with Yogi as he doesn't appear to recognize him and refers to Yogi as "that bear". Ranger Smith is sometimes very friendly with Yogi. In other episodes, he wants nothing more than to send Yogi away to the zoo. The attitudes of the Ranger towards Yogi usually parallel Yogi's behavior: if Yogi is up to mischief, then Smith wants to be rid of him; if Yogi is trying to behave himself, the ranger will often be supportive. There seems to be a deep down—if not grudging—respect for Yogi. Although the two have a somewhat antagonistic relationship, if serious trouble were to befall one of them, the other, usually attempts to rescue him. They also have a long-running friendly rivalry. Ranger Smith genuinely likes Boo-Boo, because Boo-Boo always tries to stay out of trouble, unlike Yogi. Some episodes have Ranger Smith answering to his superior the park commissioner.
Other appearances
Ranger Smith has appeared in some episodes of Yogi's Gang. In those appearances, he is seen with blond hair instead of black.
In Yo Yogi!, Ranger Smith is shown as Officer Smith who is a security guard at Jellystone Mall and was often the one who arrests the bad guys upon their defeat.
Ranger Smith has become a starring character in parody shorts produced by the now-defunct animation company Spümcø including Boo Boo Runs Wild, A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith, and Boo Boo and the Man. In those appearances, Ranger Smith was voiced by Corey Burton.
Various designs for Ranger Smith made non-speaking appearances in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Identity Theft", referencing the noticeable inconsistencies the design experienced in the original cartoon.
Ranger Smith appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "President Evil" voiced by Seth Green. In a movie trailer segment that featured Yogi and Boo Boo, Ranger Smith tells the sheriff that the cops won't catch Yogi since he's smarter than the average bear.
Ranger Smith appears in the Yogi Bearfeature film that was released December 17, 2010. He is portrayed by actor Tom Cavanagh. In this film, Ranger Smith learns that Jellystone is being shut down by Franklin City's Mayor R. Brown and he tries to avoid this with a firework celebration during the 100th anniversary that is accidentally ruined by Yogi and Ranger Smith is sent to a fake patch of land. However, this does not to stop him from helping Yogi and Boo Boo stop Mayor R. Brown from cutting down all the trees and revealing the rare frog-mouthed turtle that lived in Jellystone which Boo Boo kept as a pet.
Ranger Smith can be briefly spotted in a Metlife commercial that aired in 2012.
Portrayers
From the time of the character's debut until 1994, Ranger Smith was voiced by Don Messick in his last performance as Yogi the Easter Bear. In Yo Yogi!, Ranger Smith was known as Officer Smith and voiced by Greg Burson. In the Spümcø shorts, Ranger Smith is voiced by Corey Burton. Scott Innes briefly voiced the character for S short time. In the Yogi Bear film, the character is portrayed by Tom Cavanagh.
