Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har are a pair of Hanna-Barbera Funny Animal cartoon characters, respectively a lion in a tattered top hat and vest and a hyena in a porkpie hat and bow tie. Both characters are inversions of their species' traditional stereotypes: Lippy is a happy-go-lucky schemer, while Hardy's very name is ironic, as it's an onomatopoeia for laughter and Hardy is an eternal worrier and pessimist, to the point of having a major depressive disorder; indeed, one short implies that any expression of joy or happiness causes him physical pain.
Daws Butler voiced Lippy in a manner reminiscent of Joe E. Brown, and would use the exact same voice later for Peter Potamus. Hardy's vocal actor was Mel Blanc, done similarly to the way he portrayed the postman on The Burns and Allen Show. They appeared as the third segment on The Wally Gator Show.
The pair would turn up sometimes in later Hanna-Barbera shows such as Yogi's Ark Lark, Yo Yogi!, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, and Yogi's Gang. A heavily-altered version of them appears in Jellystone!.
Tropes? Oh me, oh my, this will never do:
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Lippy wears a vest and top hat and nothing else. Hardy is decked out in a collar, bow tie, and porkpie hat only.
- Alliterative Name: Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har.
- Animal Stereotypes: Inverted with both lead characters. Lions are stereotyped as noble and dignified, but Lippy is an easy-going schemer; hyenas are stereotyped as constantly laughing, but Hardy is chronically depressed.
- Bait-and-Switch Credits: From the title sequence, one would assume the setting for this series is an African jungle. None of the actual cartoons are set there, though.
- Butt-Monkey: Hardy, to the point of being
The Woobie. While Lippy cooks up one harebrained scheme after another, his hyena pal normally bears the brunt of the resultant comic abuse. - Can't Get in Trouble for Nuthin': Lippy and Hardy try to get themselves arrested in "Map Sap." They're in possession of a treasure map, which shows a fortune buried on jail property. For once, bad luck eludes them completely as they fail to get themselves pinched no matter what they try.
- Chained Heat: "Together Mess" finds the two knuckleheaded friends handcuffed together. They spend the rest of the episode trying to free themselves.
- Character Catchphrase: Ever the pessimist, Hardy frequently says "Oh me, oh my, this will never do."
- Circus Episode:
- "Smile the Wild" sees the hapless pair joining the circus. Hardy is passed off as a wild caveman character who has gone missing from the troupe. Despite Lippy's attempts at coaching his pal on the fine art of Neanderthal behavior, Hardy proves most unconvincing.
- Lippy tries to pass Hardy off as a fearless lion tamer in "Hard Luck Hardy."
- Digital Destruction: While the picture and transfer rate are top-notch on the complete series DVD, the sound quality varies wildly from episode to episode, being either too loud or too quiet.
- Dub Name Change:
- In the Spanish dub, Lippy is Leoncio and Hardy is Triston. 'Leon' means 'lion' and 'tristón' means 'sad.'
- In the French dub, Lippy stays the same, but Hardy is renamed to Jérémie. This is a Genius Bonus to Jeremiah, the weeping prophet from The Bible, making the name change very fitting.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Hardy made a guest appearance in a Snooper and Blabber cartoon before being paired with Lippy.
- The Eeyore: Hardy qualifies in spades, and given his frequent Butt-Monkey status, he usually has good reason to be mopey and depressed. It even hurts him to try to laugh. Despite this, Lippy uses laughing gas on his pal to try and make him laugh in "Gas Again."Hardy: [moans and grabs the sides of his face] Ouch! That hurts my laughing muscles.
- Funny Animal: The two characters possess few characteristics of animals and behave a lot like humans. They walk bipedally, talk to humans in English, are accessory-wearing cartoon animals, and act like homeless hobos.
- Furry Confusion: Funny Animal Lippy the Lion is seen alongside wild lions in the circus episode "Hard Luck Hardy."
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Lippy is always optimistic and doesn't think deeply about things, and Hardy is pessimistic and always complaining.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Lippy and Hardy form a consistent buddy pair and appear not to have any romantic connection.
- Horrible Camping Trip: In "Charge of the Fright Brigade," Lippy and Hardy see their attempts at camping out take a frightful turn when an army on a war-games maneuver mistakes them for members of the opposing squadron. Hilarity Ensues, of course.
- Mad Scientist: Lippy and Hardy encounter a crackpot inventor in "Scare to Spare." The monster he has just created scares off the hapless duo.
- Mistaken Identity:
- When a witch turns a prince into a hyena in "Witch Crafty," she later stumbles into Lippy and Hardy and mistakes the latter for the prince. Hilarity Ensues further when the king, the witch, and Lippy turn into hyenas that look like Hardy later in the episode.
- In another cartoon, Hardy gets mistaken for a bank robber thanks to a witness description sounding like him. After trying to evade the police throughout the cartoon, he and Hardy end up getting arrested, but look on the bright side that there's a decent meal for them in their cell...only for the police to release them when the real robber is caught, who ends up getting the meal. It shows just how bad their Butt-Monkey status is when their chains get yanked even when they're proven innocent.
- Name and Name: The segment title consists of the two characters' names with "and" in the middle.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Lippy's voice is modeled after that of Joe E. Brown.
- Only Sane Man: Of the two characters, Hardy is by far the more practical one. Lippy never listens to him, though, and careens from one Zany Scheme to another — much to the hyena's chagrin.
- Pantomime Animal: In "Phoney Pony," the hapless pair manage to get on TV as a costumed horse pair. Their luck runs out in a hurry, though, as they subsequently get involved in a bank robbery, a horse race, and a police pursuit.
- Perpetual Poverty: Lippy's zany schemes to land himself and Hardy on easy street never, ever work out.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Personality-wise, Lippy is red and Hardy is blue.
- Ring Around the Collar: Like most Hanna-Barbera characters from this time, Hardy wears an accessory around his neck (a shirt collar and bowtie in this case) to facilitate animation shortcuts. Lippy is a rare example who does not, though his mane serves the same purpose.
- Scaling the Summit: Lippy and Hardy try to climb Mount Flooglehorn in "Hick Hikers." Unfortunately, they have to contend with a pesky mountain goat who repeatedly refuses to let them reach the mountaintop.
- Schemer: Lippy constantly tries to come up with some clever scheme to either better himself and/or his sidekick. It invariably fails miserably.
- Scullery Maid: In "Banks for Everything," the down-and-out pair pass themselves off as a housekeeper (Lippy) with a baby (Hardy) in order to get work. Unfortunately for them, they're employed by a pair of criminals who subsequently force them to rob banks on their behalf.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Lippy is an aggressive, scheming, manly character. His pal Hardy is a timid, sensitive fellow who tries to rein in the more reckless lion — and invariably fails at it.
- The Show Goes Hollywood:
- The episode "Film Flam" sees the two adventure seekers attempt to break into the movies. Lippy decides to become a movie star and succeeds, but at a price — the director is keen to amp up the violence to attract the biggest audience possible. Needless to say, the duo's day in the limelight is brief.
- In "Phoney Pony," the hapless pair manage to get on TV as a costumed horse pair. Their luck runs out in a hurry, though, as they subsequently get involved in a bank robbery, a horse race, and a police pursuit.
- Stepping-Stone Sword: The title sequence shows the two lead characters climbing up a tree on thrown spears used like ladder rungs.
- Three Shorts: As a part of The Wally Gator Show triumvirate, Lippy and Hardy's shorts were traditionally last.
- Treasure Map: The episodes "Map Sap" and "Me-My-Mine" show Lippy and Hardy in possession of a treasure map. Hilarity Ensues when they try to use it.
- Vagabond Buddies: Lippy and Hardy appear to be the Funny Animal equivalent of homeless hobos. The former even dresses in shabby clothing. They're also inseparable Heterosexual Life-Partners.
- The Wild West: "Gun Fighter Lippy" sees the mooching pair head to Ulch Gulch trying to get a handout. Lippy passes Hardy off as a big-time gunslinger, but trouble rears its ugly head when a real-life baddie shows up in town.
- Zany Scheme: Lippy hatches a harebrained plan just about every episode. Oftentimes, Hardy gets offered up as someone else in disguise in such situations, much against his better judgement.
- In "Flood for a Thought," Lippy and Hardy pass themselves off as rainmakers to a rancher living on a desert-based property.
- Lippy twice attempts to pass Hardy off as a circus performer, in "Smile the Wild" (as a missing circus caveman character) and in "Hard Luck Hardy" (as the world's greatest lion tamer).
- "Gun Fighter Lippy" sees the lion try to pass off Hardy as a notorious gunslinger.
- Lippy tries to pass Hardy off as a baby twice, in "Banks for Everything" and "Kidnap Trap."
- "Crazy Cat Capers" sees Lippy (for a change) pass himself off as a large house cat. The woman brings him home, but it turns out her husband is a big-game hunter.
