Famous Hippos

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Bubbles

Bubbles the hippo caught the nation's attention in late February and early March of 1978 when she escaped from a wild animal park in Southern California. Bubbles disappeared into the Laguna Hills near Irvine, where she eluded capture for nineteen days. On March 10, Bubbles was finally brought down with tranquilizer darts. Tragically, she collapsed in an unnatural position and died of suffocation. An autopsy later revealed that Bubbles had been five months pregnant.

George and Martha

George and Martha are a pair of irascible but lovable hippos created by author James Marshall. They have appeared in a popular series of children's books, beginning with George and Martha in 1972. The theme of the series is friendship--the ups, the downs, the misunderstandings, and the reconciliations. The most appealing aspect of Marshall's stories is that he never settles for the obvious solution but finds creative and innovative ways for his characters to resolve their differences.

George and Martha Encore (1973)

Huberta

From 1928 to 1930, Huberta the hippopotamus wandered across the province of Natal in South Africa, visiting farms, villages, and cities along the way. Many people believed that a visit from Huberta was an omen of good fortune and treated her as a welcome guest. Others considered her a nuisance and sought to drive her out of town--or worse. In the city of Durban, Huberta strolled right down the main street, raided a fruit stand, and almost entered a movie theatre where a Judy Garland film was showing. In all, Huberta's wanderings took her an estimated 1200 miles from her starting point. Unfortunately, Huberta's story has a sad ending. An angry farmer, unaware of Huberta's celebrity status, shot her dead as she grazed in his fields. Then came the biggest surprise: Huberta was a male.

Hugo

Hugo's story is similar to that of Huberta (see above). In the mid-1960s, Hugo began wandering away from his usual feeding grounds on the banks of the Kurasini Creek, just outside the city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and invading nearby farms to feast upon sweet potatoes, maize, and cabbage. Thanks to a series of newspaper stories, the roaming hippo soon became the talk of the whole country. Local farmers wanted him destroyed, but the majority, especially the nation's children, sided with Hugo. Newspapers, schools, and animal welfare groups were soon organizing save-Hugo fund drives. Hugo's cause was aided by the fact that he was an unusually friendly hippo. He loved to romp with dogs along the shores of the Kurasini and march behind herds of cattle. It was even reported that water skiers skimmed over Hugo's partly submerged back without his raising a fuss. What eventually happened to Hugo I don't know. Does anyone out there know how his story ended? (I hope it was a happy ending.)

Hyacinth Hippo

Hyacinth Hippo was the prima ballerina of the famous dancing hippos in Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940). The hippos appeared along with troupes of ostriches, elephants, and alligators in a hilarious and inspired parody of classical ballet, set to Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours." The action takes place in a Great Hall of fountains, gardens, and marble columns. Each group of animal dancers represents a particular time of day. First come the ostriches (Morning), followed by the hippos (Afternoon), the elephants (Evening), and finally the alligators (Night). Hyacinth is the real star of the piece, for she does not depart with the rest of her entourage but remains, asleep, through the elephants' dance and is the first living thing encountered by the alligators. The highlight of the sequence begins when Ben Ali Gator, the leader of the alligator troupe, sets his lecherous eyes on the dozing behemoth in the transparent tutu and immediately falls in love with her. The pas de deux between the rotund Hyacinth and the wiry Ben Ali is a milestone in the history of character animation.

Hyacinth herself was modelled after Tatiana Riabouchinska of the Ballet Russe. (Animators also studied live-action footage of actresses Hattie Noel and Marjorie Babbitt.) Reportedly, Ms. Riabouchinska was delighted with the results. What makes Hyacinth so appealing is that, even though she is huge and ponderous, her graceful movements and coy expressions make it obvious that she considers herself dainty and petite.

Obaysch

Obaysch, named after his native island in the Nile River, was the first live hippopotamus seen in Europe since the time of the Roman Empire. He was brought to the London Zoo in 1850, when he was not yet a year old. Obaysch immediately became a local celebrity, for England at that time was caught up in a craze for natural history and exotic animals. For more information on Obaysch, see Nina Root's article "Victorian England's Hippomania" in the February 1993 issue of Natural History.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great, known later in life simply as Pete, was born at the Central Park Zoo on July 13, 1903, but spent most of his long life at the nearby Bronx Zoo. He was one of that zoo's most popular attractions, mainly because of his longevity. Pete lived to the age of forty-nine years, six months, and nineteen days, the record age for a hippopotamus in captivity.

Peter Potamus

Peter Potamus was one of the many animated cartoon stars created by the legendary team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. He originally appeared in 1964 in a syndicated television cartoon series called "Peter Potamus and his Magic Flying Balloon." He made the move to network television in 1966 when he starred in "The Peter Potamus Show" on ABC. Peter, who dressed like a jungle explorer and talked like comedian Joe E. Brown, traveled around the world--and through time, as well--in a sailing ship suspended beneath a hot-air balloon. His loyal sidekick was a monkey called So-So. Peter didn't have any super powers per se, but he did have a secret weapon: the "Hippo Hurricane Holler." In times of trouble, Peter could produce a hurricane-force blast of wind which would literally blow away any would-be foes.

By the way, if you understand Portuguese, you might enjoy the Peter Potamus Page from Portugal. (Try saying THAT three times fast.)

EXTRA!
Listen to or download the Peter Potamus theme song. (Requires RealPlayer3.0 or better and a 28.8Kps connection)
View a video clip of Peter's "Hippo Hurricane Holler." (Requires RealPlayer5.0 or better and a 28.8Kps connection)

Thanks to Ron Kurer's Toon Tracker for making these files available on the World Wide Web.

William

"William" is the nickname given by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to this blue faience hippopotamus from ancient Egypt. The figure is decorated with stylized water lilies, symbolic of the hippo's river home, and dates back to the 12th Dynasty (1991-1786 B.C.). William has enjoyed such popularity that he has become the Museum's unofficial mascot.

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Revised 23 May 1998
URL: http://members.aol.com/HippoPage/famhippo.htm