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Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service in the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
history to date. The
Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-gover ...
, the Forest Service, and the
National Association of State Foresters The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) is a non-profit organization that represents the directors of the 50 state forestry agencies, eight United States territories, and the District of Columbia. State foresters manage and protect stat ...
, in partnership with the creative agency FCB, use the character of Smokey Bear to educate the public about the dangers of unplanned human-caused
wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
. The first campaign featuring Smokey began in 1944; it used the slogan "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". (Smokey's name has always intentionally been spelled differently from the adjective "smoky".) In 1947, the slogan was changed to "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires." This version of the slogan was used continually in Smokey Bear campaigns until April 2001, when the message was officially updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires." This change was made in response to a massive outbreak of wildfires occurring in natural areas other than forests (such as grasslands), and to clarify that Smokey was promoting the prevention of unplanned outdoor fires, not prescribed burns. Smokey has also been given additional lines to say throughout the years. According to the Ad Council, in 2018, 80% of outdoor recreationists correctly identified Smokey Bear's image, and 8 in 10 recognized the campaign’s public service announcements. Smokey Bear's name and image are protected by the ''Smokey Bear Act of 1952'' (16 U.S.C. 580 (p-2); previously also 18 U.S.C. 711).


History


Origins

Although the U.S. Forest Service had been fighting wildfires long before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the war brought a new importance and urgency to the effort. At the time, many experienced firefighters and other able-bodied men were serving in the armed forces, leaving fewer at home to fight wildfires. U.S. planners hoped that, if Americans knew how wildfires would harm the war effort, they would work with the Forest Service to reduce their occurrence. The Forest Service began using colorful
posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...
to educate Americans about the dangers of wildfires in the hope that local communities could prevent them from starting in the first place. Careless citizens were not the only fire threat, however; the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
considered using wildfires as a weapon, and in the spring of 1942, Japanese submarines surfaced near the coast of
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
, and fired shells that exploded on an oil field close to
Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
. The Japanese military implemented a concerted wildfire strategy later in the war, launching some 9,000 fire balloons into the
jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...
; an estimated 11% of these reached the U.S. between November 1944 and April 1945. Only one balloon bomb is known to have caused fatalities: Elsie Mitchell (the wife of Archie E. Mitchell) and five children were killed by one near Bly, Oregon, on May 5, 1945. A memorial was erected at what was later named the Mitchell Monument Historic Site.


Campaign beginnings

In 1942, the U.S. Forest Service established the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention program, and on August 13 of that year, Disney's full-length animated motion picture ''
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
'' premiered in New York City. Soon after,
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
allowed his characters to appear in fire-prevention public service campaigns. However, ''Bambi'' was only loaned to the government for a year, so after that the Forest Service needed a new symbol. After much discussion, a bear was chosen, based on a rough sketch made by Forest Service artist Harry Rossoll. His name was inspired by "Smokey" Joe Martin, a
New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...
hero who had suffered burns and blindness during a bold fire rescue in 1922. On August 9, 1944, the Forest Service authorized the creation of Smokey Bear as its official symbol. This date has since been considered the character's birthday. The first Smokey Bear poster was delivered on October 10 by artist Albert Staehle.Smokey Bear
at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
br>Archived
from the original on June 5, 2017.
In the first poster, overseen by the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign, Smokey was depicted wearing
jeans Jeans are a type of trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with the addition of copper pocket rivets added by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and patented by ...
and a campaign hat, pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. The message underneath read, "SMOKEY SAYS;– Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!" In 1947, the Wartime Advertising Council (later the Ad Council) coined the slogan that was associated with Smokey Bear thereafter for more than five decades: "Remember...only YOU can prevent forest fires." In 2001, the slogan was officially amended to replace "forest fires" with "wildfires" in response to numerous outbreaks of wildfires in natural areas other than forests, and to clarify that the campaign was advocating for the prevention of unplanned fires, not of controlled burns or of fires prescribed for conservation purposes.


Living symbol

The living symbol of Smokey Bear was a five-pound, three-month-old
American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with ...
cub who was found in the spring of 1950 after the Capitan Gap fire, a
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
that burned in the Capitan Mountains of
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, yet his paws and hind legs had been burned. At first he was called Hotfoot Teddy, but he was later renamed Smokey, after the character created a few years prior. Ranger Ray Bell of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish heard about the cub and took him to Santa Fe. Bell, his wife Ruth, and their children, Don and Judy, cared for the little bear with the help of local veterinarian Dr. Edwin J. Smith. The story was picked up by the national news services and Smokey became a celebrity. Many people wrote and called asking about the cub's recovery. The state game warden wrote to the chief of the US Forest Service, offering to present the cub to the agency as long as the cub would be dedicated to a conservation and wildfire prevention publicity program. According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' obituary for Homer C. Pickens, then assistant director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, he kept the cub on his property for a while before flying with the bear to D.C. Soon after, Smokey was flown in a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser airplane to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. A special room was prepared for him at the Saint Louis Zoo for an overnight fuel stop during the trip, and when he arrived at the National Zoo on June 27, 1950, several hundred spectators, including members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, photographers, and media, were there to welcome him. Smokey Bear lived at the National Zoo for 26 years. During that time he received millions of visitors and so many letters addressed to him (more than 13,000 a week) that in 1964 the United States Postal Service gave him his own ZIP Code (20252), which is still in use. He developed a love for peanut butter sandwiches in addition to his daily diet of bluefish and
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
. In 1962, Smokey was paired with a female bear, "Goldie Bear," with the hope that perhaps Smokey's descendants would take over the Smokey Bear title. In 1971, when the pair still had not produced any young, the zoo added "Little Smokey," another orphaned bear cub from the Lincoln Forest, to their cage—announcing that the pair had "adopted" this cub. On May 2, 1975, Smokey Bear officially "retired" from his role as living icon, and the title "Smokey Bear II" was bestowed upon Little Smokey in an official ceremony. Little Smokey died August 11, 1990. Upon the death of the original bear on November 9, 1976, his remains were returned by the government to Capitan, New Mexico, and buried at Smokey Bear Historical Park, operated by the New Mexico State Forestry Division. The facility is now a wildfire and Smokey interpretive center. The bear is interred in the adjacent garden. The plaque at his grave reads, "This is the resting place of the first living Smokey Bear ... the living symbol of wildfire prevention and wildlife conservation." ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' ran a semi-humorous obituary for Smokey, labeled "Bear," calling him a transplanted New Mexico native who had resided for many years in Washington, D.C., with many years of government service. It also mentioned his family, including his wife, Goldie Bear, and "adopted son," Little Smokey. The obituary noted that Smokey and Goldie were not blood-relatives, despite the fact that they shared the same "last name" of "Bear." ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' included an obituary for Smokey Bear on the front page of the paper on November 11, 1976. ''The New York Times'' published one as well; in fact, so many newspapers published articles and obituaries that the National Zoo archives include four complete scrapbooks devoted to them (Series 12, boxes 66–67).


Peak in popularity

Smokey quickly became a part of American popular culture, appearing on radio programs, in comic strips, in cartoons, and as merchandise. Knickerbocker Bears acquired the license to produce Smokey Bear dolls in 1944. In 1949, Forest Service worker Rudy Wendelin became the campaign's full-time artist and was considered Smokey Bear's "manager" until Wendelin retired in 1973. By 1952, because Smokey Bear had attracted considerable commercial interest, the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
passed the Smokey Bear Act to remove the character from the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
and place it under the control of the
United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organi ...
. The act provided that Smokey's royalties would be used to fund education about wildfire prevention. In 1939, after local high school students helped fight a forest fire in the Black Hills, Hill City High School in
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
became the only school district in the United States authorized to use Smokey Bear as their mascot. A Smokey Bear doll was produced by
Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...
beginning in 1952; the doll included a mail-in card for children to enable them to sign up to be designated Junior Forest Rangers. Children could also apply by writing to the U.S. Forest Service or Smokey Bear at his ZIP Code. Within three years, half a million children had applied. Also in 1952, songwriters Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins produced a successful song, titled "Smokey the Bear," and performed by Eddy Arnold. The pair said that the word "the" was added to Smokey's name to keep the song's rhythm. During the 1950s, that variant of the name became widespread both in popular speech and in print, including in at least one standard encyclopedia, even though Smokey Bear's name was never officially changed. A 1955 book in the Little Golden Books series was called ''Smokey the Bear,'' and he calls himself by this name in the book. It depicted him as an orphaned cub rescued in the aftermath of a forest fire, loosely following the true story of the bear who had been chosen as Smokey's "living symbol". This was the first book about him, and it was followed by many sequels and coloring books. Soon, thousands of dolls, toys, and other collectibles were on the market. During the 1950s and 1960s, the
Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-gover ...
sponsored radio advertisements featuring Smokey Bear "in conversation" with prominent American celebrities such as
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
, Art Linkletter,
Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...
and
Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...
. Smokey's name and image are used for the ''Smokey Bear Awards'', which are awarded by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and the Ad Council, to "recognize outstanding service in the prevention of human-caused wildfires and to increase public recognition and awareness of the need for continuing fire prevention efforts". The face of Smokey Bear occasionally appeared (usually on
jumpers Jumper or Jumpers may refer to: Clothing *Jumper (sweater), is a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater **A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the Uniforms of the United St ...
) in some episodes of the Canadian television series The Forest Rangers. In 1959, a 14-foot-tall animatronic version of Smokey Bear was unveiled at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Natural Resources Park. It was installed to help teach fire prevention to children and their families. In 2015, it was replaced by a new Smokey Bear version in the same location. Both iterations of the animatronic figure have asked visitors to take the pledge to "never, ever play with matches or leave any fire unattended".
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
quote Smokey Bear in their 1964 song "
Drive-In A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or Drive-in theater, movie theater) where one can driving, drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by ...
": "If you say you watch the movie you're a couple of liars / and 'Remember only you can prevent forest fires'". Though Smokey was originally drawn wearing the campaign hat of the U.S. Forest Service, the hat alone later became famous by association with the Smokey cartoon character. Today, it is sometimes called a "Smokey Bear hat" and is still used by the U.S. Forest Service, some branches of the military, and the state police.


Recent history

For Smokey's 40th anniversary in 1984, he was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, illustrated by Rudy Wendelin, that pictured a cub hanging onto a burned tree. The same year, the U.S. Forest Service began to transfer Smokey Bear materials that had been collected from the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign to the
National Agricultural Library The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Locate ...
to be maintained in their special collections as documentation of the program. The
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
transferred their materials concerning Smokey to the National Agricultural Library's special collections in 1990. The library continues to accept and maintain donations from various Forest Service offices. The collection consists of posters, proofs, mechanicals, original artwork, motion pictures, sound recordings, and various pieces of memorabilia, some of which are available online; all the pieces are accessible in Beltsville, MD, through the library. The commercial for his 50th anniversary portrayed woodland animals about to have a surprise birthday party for Smokey, including a cake with candles. Smokey comes blindfolded, smells smoke and not realizing the source is his birthday candles, he uses his shovel to destroy the cake. When he takes off his blindfold, he sees that it was a birthday cake for him and apologizes. That same year, a poster of the bear with a cake full of extinguished candles was issued. It reads "Make Smokey's Birthday Wish Come True". In 2004, Smokey's 60th anniversary was celebrated in several ways, including a Senate resolution designating August 9, 2004, as "Smokey Bear's 60th Anniversary", requesting that the President issue a proclamation "calling upon the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities". According to Richard Earle, author of ''The Art of Cause Marketing'', the Smokey Bear campaign is among the most powerful and enduring of all public service advertising:
"Smokey is simple, strong, straightforward. He's a denizen of those woods you're visiting, and he cares about preserving them. Anyone who grew up watching ''
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
'' realizes how terrifying a forest fire can be. But Smokey wouldn't run away. Smokey's strong. He'll stay and fight the fire if necessary, but he'd rather have you douse it and cover it up so he doesn't have to."
In 2011, the campaign launched its first mobile application, or app, to provide critical information about wildfire prevention, including a step-by-step guide to safely building and extinguishing campfires, as well as a map of current wildfires across America. In 2012,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, the U.S. Forest Service, the Texas Forest Service and Smokey Bear teamed up to celebrate Smokey's 68th birthday at NASA's
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...
in Houston. The popular mascot toured the center and recorded a promotional announcement for NASA Television. NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and the Expedition 31 crew chose a plush Smokey doll to be the team's launch mascot, celebrating their trip to the International Space Station. During his tour about 250 miles above Earth, Smokey turned 68 years old. In 2014, the campaign celebrated Smokey's 70th birthday, with new birthday-themed television, radio, print, outdoor, and digital PSAs that continued the 2013 campaign "Smokey Bear Hug". The campaign depicted Smokey rewarding his followers with a hug, in acknowledgement of using the proper actions to prevent wildfires. In return, outdoor–loving individuals across the nation were shown reciprocating with a birthday bear hug in honor of his 70 years of service. Audiences were encouraged to join in by posting their own #SmokeyBearHug online. The campaign also did a partnership with Disney's '' Planes'' that same year. In 2016, the campaign launched a new series of PSAs that aimed to increase awareness about less commonly known ways that wildfires can start. The new "Rise from the Ashes" campaign featured art by Bill Fink, who used wildfire ashes as an artistic medium to illustrate the devastation caused by wildfires and highlight less obvious wildfire causes. In 2017, the campaign launched new videos and artwork inspired by Smokey Bear posters to continue to raise awareness of lesser-known wildfire starts. The new artwork was created by Brian Edward Miller, Evan Hecox, Janna Mattia, and Victoria Ying, portraying Smokey Bear in each of their unique styles. For his 75th birthday in 2019, the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. opened an outdoor exhibit on May 23, 2019. Fourteen posters and multiple archival photographs of the original bear line the pathway in front of Smokey Bear's original habitat. At the entrance stands a 6-foot-tall statue of his cartoon persona. Along with the exhibit, new commercials and promotional materials were released, and events were held throughout the U.S. The NAL showcased movies, commercials, and paintings at their Beltsville location, materials were loaned to government agencies, and materials were provided to travel to various National Forests across the country throughout 2019. On August 1, 2019, Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles released a Smokey Bear License Plate, just a few days before Smokey Bear's 75th birthday. The plate was sponsored by Keep Oregon Green, and costs an extra $40 per registration period, $35 of which goes to Keep Oregon Green.


Commercialization and cultural impact

Use of the Smokey Bear symbol in popular culture is often unauthorized. Clothing, accessories, and memorabilia depicting Smokey Bear are common in American fashion and culture. The chief of the Forest Service can authorize use of the Smokey Bear symbol for noncommercial educational purposes, and for "the commercial manufacture, importation, reproduction, or use of Smokey Bear upon the following findings: (1) That the use to which the article or published material involving Smokey Bear is to be put shall contribute to public information concerning the prevention of forest fires. (2) That the proposed use is consistent with the status of Smokey Bear as the symbol of forest fire prevention and does not in any way detract from such status. (3) That a use or royalty charge which is reasonably related to the commercial enterprise has been established. (c) Such other conditions shall be included as the Chief deems necessary in particular cases." Some state police forces are nicknamed "Smokeys" (particularly by truck drivers) because their patrolmen wear the same type of campaign hat that Smokey Bear does.


Voice portrayal

Washington, D.C., radio station WMAL personality Jackson Weaver served as the primary voice representing Smokey until Weaver's death in October 1992.
Dallas McKennon Dallas Raymond McKennon (July 19, 1919 – July 14, 2009), sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American actor. With a career lasting over 50 years, McKennon's best known roles include Gumby for Art Clokey, Archie Andrews in several diffe ...
voiced Smokey in the 1957 ''
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...
'' short film, '' Red Riding Hoodlum''. George Walsh voiced Smokey in the 1960 animated short film, ''Smokey the Bear and the Little Boy''. After Weaver's death, Gene Moss took over the role and voiced him until his death in 2002. In later years, Smokey has also been voiced by Roger C. Carmel (1969–1986),
Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...
(1993–2008), and
Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor and radio personality. Angel voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' Super Friends'', '' The Transformers'' and '' G.I. Joe'' and was involve ...
(2002–2012). Frank Welker also briefly voiced Smokey in a few commercials. In June 2008, the Forest Service launched a new series of
public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...
s voiced by actor Sam Elliott, simultaneously giving Smokey a new visual design intended to appeal to young adults. (coincidentally, Elliott was born on the very same day that Smokey was created). In celebration of Smokey's 75th birthday in 2019, public service announcements featuring emoji-based versions of the character were introduced, with the voices of
Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
, Jeff Foxworthy, and Al Roker. In 2024, in celebration of Smokey's 80th birthday, actor
Brian Tyree Henry Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta (TV series), Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he recei ...
took over as the new voice.


Adaptations

Smokey Bear—and parodies of the character—have been appearing in animation for more than fifty years. In 1956, Smokey made a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in the
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
short film '' In the Bag'' with a voice provided by Jackson Weaver.
Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...
, in cooperation with
Tadahito Mochinaga was a pioneer Japanese stop-motion animator. Having done many stop motion films in Japan, he is best known as the animator for Rankin/Bass' " Animagic" productions at his MOM Production Studio in Tokyo throughout the 1960s. He did this work in a ...
's MOM Production in Japan, produced an "Animagic" stop-motion animated television special, ''Ballad of Smokey the Bear'', narrated by
James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...
. It was broadcast on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1966, as part of the ''General Electric Fantasy Hour'' on NBC. The same day, a Smokey Bear balloon was featured in the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the American-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States ...
, and it was advertised as "Thanksgiving is Smokey Bear Day on NBC TV". During the 1969–1970 television season, Rankin/Bass also produced a weekly
Saturday Morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a ...
series for ABC, called '' The Smokey Bear Show''. This series was animated by
Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
in Japan. Despite his real name being Smokey Bear, the name "Smokey the Bear" has been perpetuated in popular culture. Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins' song "Smokey the Bear" has been covered by the group
Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American blues rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and ...
, among others. The track is on their CD ''The Boogie House Tapes 1969–1999''. The
online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...
battle royale game A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration, and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who ...
'' Fortnite: Battle Royale'' parodies Smokey and his motto in a
loading screen A loading screen is a screen shown by a computer program, very often a video game, while the program is loading (moving program data from the Disk storage, disk to Random-access memory, RAM) or initializing. In early video games, the loading scr ...
featuring Cuddle Team Leader, a woman dressed in a teddy bear costume replacing Smokey and doing his signature finger-pointing pose. Below her is the message "Only YOU can prevent V-Buck scams", warning players not to risk security compromises by attempting to obtain free virtual currency offered by hackers as bait. Smokey is briefly mentioned in the 2015 Sony Pictures Animation film ''Open Season: Scared Silly'', when Eliot the Deer mentions Smokey being one of his favorite bears.


Slogan

Although the goal of reducing human-caused wildfires has never changed, the tagline of the Smokey Bear campaign was adjusted in the 2000s, from "Only you can prevent forest fires" to "Only you can prevent wildfires". The main reason was to accurately expand the category beyond just forests to include wildlands, which include grasslands. Another reason was to respond to misplaced criticism from wildfire experts, and to distinguish 'bad' intentional or accidental wildfires from the needs of sustainable forests via natural "good" fire ecology. Decades of fire suppression and lack of indigenous
fire ecology Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with the effects of fire on natural ecosystems. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and coniferous forests, have evolved with fire as an essential contributor to habitat vit ...
can contribute to dense forests with a lot of understory "fuel" and many dead standing trees. When a forest fire eventually does occur, the increased fuel creates a crown fire, which destroys all vegetation and affects surface soil chemistry. Although such fires have been occurring sporadically for 100 million years, and are part of the natural ecological rhythm of forests, frequent and small "natural" ground fires do prevent the accumulation of fuel and allow large, slow-growing vegetation, ''e.g.'', trees, to survive. Periodic low-intensity wildfires are also an integral component of certain
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
s that evolved to take advantage of natural fires, such as
Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
,
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
and closed-cone conifer forest habitats, which need fire for
cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...
s to open and seeds to sprout, and germinate and grow better in open burn sites. Wildfires also play a role in the preservation of pine barrens, which are well adapted to small ground fires and rely on periodic fires to remove competing species. SmokeyBear.com's current site has a section on "Benefits of Fire" that includes this information: "Fire managers can reintroduce fire into fire-dependent ecosystems with prescribed fire. Under specific, controlled conditions, the beneficial effects of natural fire can be recreated, fuel buildup can be reduced, and we can prevent the catastrophic losses of uncontrolled, unwanted wildfire." Prescribed or controlled fire is an important resource management tool. It is a way to efficiently and safely provide for fire's natural role in the ecosystem. However, the goal of Smokey Bear will always be to reduce the number of human-caused wildfires and reduce the loss of resources, homes and lives.


See also

* Johnny Horizon *
Mark Trail ''Mark Trail'' is a newspaper comic strip created by the American cartoonist Ed Dodd. Introduced April 15, 1946, the strip centers on Environmentalism, environmental and ecological themes. As of 2020, King Features syndicated the strip to "near ...
* Smokey the Bear Sutra * Woodsy Owl


References


External links


SmokeyBear.com

Smokey N' Da Boyz Fire Safety PSA 1995
at
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

A collection of Smokey Bear-related media
()
The Real Smokey Bear
– slideshow by ''Life'' magazine
Inventory of the Rudolph Wendelin Papers, 1930–2005
in the
Forest History Society The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu. ...
Library and Archives, Durham, NC *
Smokey's Story
from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
National Agricultural Library's Smokey Bear Collection
– contains pictures, images, and a list of what's held in the collection. {{Authority control American mascots Anthropomorphic bears Bear mascots Cartoon mascots Culture of the United States Fictional firefighters Fictional park rangers Fire prevention Male characters in advertising Mascots introduced in 1944 National Zoological Park (United States) Public service announcement characters Public service announcements of the United States United States Forest Service Wildfire ecology