Adaptations
In 1939, students from Hill City, South Dakota, helped stop a devastating wildfire that threatened their community. Afterwards the school district was allowed by the government to use Smokey Bear as its mascot. It is believed to be the only school in the country to be able to do so.
Smokey Bear — and parodies of the character — have been appearing in animation for more than fifty years. In 1956, he made a cameo appearance in the Walt Disney short film In the Bag with a voice provided by Jackson Weaver.
In 1966, Rankin/Bass produced an animated television special for ABC, named The Ballad of Smokey the Bear, narrated by James Cagney. During the 1969-1970 television season, Rankin/Bass also produced a weekly Saturday Morning series, The Smokey the Bear Show, also for ABC.
Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins's song "Smokey the Bear" has been covered by the group Canned Heat, among others. The track is on their CD The Boogie House Tapes 1969-1999.
"Smokey the Bear Sutra" is a 1969 poem by Gary Snyder, which presents environmental concerns in the form of a Buddhist sutra, and depicts Smokey as the reincarnation of the Great Sun Buddha.
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