A fat, dumb, freeloading bear who lives in Brownstone National Park and is always on the lookout for an easy meal. Humphrey tended to run afoul of Donald Duck and fussy ranger J. Audubon Woodlore.
The Humphrey cartoons have been aptly described as "belly-laugh" shorts by Leonard Maltin, as they feature a broader, wilder style of comedy than the usually cute or coy gags typically associated with the Classic Disney Shorts.
Not to be confused with the star of the Australian children's show Here's Humphrey.
Filmography
1950
Hold That Pose (Goofy cartoon)
1954
Grin and Bear It
1955
Bearly Asleep
Beezy Bear
1956
Hooked Bear (One of only two shorts in his own series)
In the Bag (One of only two shorts in his own series)
Mickey Mouseworks / House of Mouse shorts
Donald's Grizzly Guest
Donald's Fish Fry
Hot Tub Humphrey
Survival of the Woodchucks
Media Featuring Humphrey:
Television shows:
- The Mickey Mouse Club
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
- Goof Troop
- Mickey Mouse Works / House of Mouse
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Cameo appearance in one episode)
- Legend of the Three Caballeros
- Mickey Mouse (2013) / The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse (cameo)
- Once Upon a Studio
Tropes That Apply to Humphrey:
- Bears Are Bad News: Well, sort of. Humphrey may make life harder for those around him, but he's a pest rather than an actual threat.
- Beary Friendly: Humphrey never shows any signs of aggression despite being a grizzly bear.
- Beary Funny: His bumbling attempts to get food and avoid hunters leads to lots of comedy.
- Big Eater: When he can get food, that is.
- The Cameo: Spike the Bee appeared in "Beezy Bear".
- Captain Ersatz: Not Humphrey himself, but when Humphrey's creator Jack Hannah left Disney for Walter Lantz, he created a new character named Fatso Bear, who was more or less identical to Humphrey.
- Catchphrase: A very distinctive "heh". Humphrey also has a tendency to take in a deep breath and let it out with an exasperated babbling of his lips when things go awry for him.
- Dagwood Sandwich: In "Grin and Bear It", Humphrey joins Donald's picnic and helps him build two sandwich towers. Instead of sharing them, however, Donald just smooshes the two together and eats them himself.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In his first appearance, on the Goofy short "Hold that Pose", he has a different design and acts more belligerent.
- In Bearly Asleep, Donald is the ranger rather than Woodlore. His name wasn't even Humphrey, given by his rare speaking line, "Humphrey pinched me!"
- Fence Painting: On "In the Bag", the Ranger tricks the bears into picking up garbage by making it into a game.
- Hot Potato: The ending gag in "Beezy Bear". Donald has caught Humphrey sucking honey through a hose, so he hooks the hose to a faucet and turns it on full blast. The ranger arrives, takes the hose away from Humphrey and gives it back to Donald, who knows what's coming and tries to give it back. They fight over who gets it until all three of them get soaked.
- Implied Death Threat: In "Grin and Bear It", the Ranger warns the bears (mostly Humphrey) not to steal the park goers' food. If they don't, he threatens them with "the supreme penalty", and points at a ratty bear skin rug hanging on the side of the ranger station.
- Little Girls Kick Shins: In "Hooked Bear", a boy kicks Humphrey in the shin after he pops the kid's fish balloon float. When Humphrey complains to the Ranger, the Ranger angrily tells him to "Leave the kiddies alone!" and hits Humphrey in the same shin with a bucket of fish.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Rare male example: he has rather human-like pecs (although without visible nipples).
- Not So Above It All: In "Grin and Bear It", after Humphrey's last attempt to get Donald's picnic basket results in its contents littering the road, the Ranger orders them to clean it up. As he points out what to pick up, he runs into a large ham and secretly hides it inside his shirt. Donald and Humphrey catch him and stick him in the butt with their pickers. The Ranger can just smile sheepishly and utter Humphrey's "Heh."
- Old Faithful: On "In the Bag", Humphrey has to clean all the liter in the park to get his dinner, so he just throws it all in a hole. Unfortunately, that hole is the geyser Old Fateful, and Humphrey tries to stop it before it gives him away.
- Shark Fin of Doom: In "Hooked Bear", Humphrey takes the keel from a toy sailboat and wears it on his head as a fin to scare away fishermen and keep the fish for himself.
- Shout-Out: Smokey the Bear appears in In the Bag, stomping out Humphrey's attempt to burn his trash, telling viewers that "Only you can prevent forest fires."
- Staged Pedestrian Accident: Humphrey tries to con Donald one last time in "Grin and Bear It" by pretending to be run over as Donald drives away from the park. Don tries to walk away from the scene of the crime, but Humphrey starts screaming and Donald gives him all his food to shut him up. Unfortunately, this doesn't fool Ranger Woodlore.
- This Is My Side: In "Beezy Bear", a white line indicates the border between the park and Donald's bee farm, and the Ranger warns the bears not to cross it. Don puts up barbed wire along his side for good measure, not that it deters a hungry Humphrey much.
- Traveling-Pipe Bulge: Seen in "Beezy Bear" when Humphrey tries to siphon Donald's honey through a garden hose.
- The Unintelligible: Humphrey's speech consists of grunts, mumbles, and whines, with some occasional talking thrown in.
