Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert

ComposerHerbie HancockCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishProductionExecutive producersBruce Campbell
Roy SilverProducerHarry GittesCinematographyMike Bortman, Ken BrownOriginal releaseNetworkNBCReleaseNovember 12, 1969 (1969-11-12)Related

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert is an animated primetime television special which originally aired on November 12, 1969, on NBC in the United States.^[1]

Bill and Russell are eating breakfast, but complain about the "lumps" in the cereal. They are told to finish eating it by their mother before leaving to meet up with their friends Nolan, Dumb Donald, Old Weird Harold, and Weasel. Dumb Donald dropped his football down a sewer hole after being told by his mother "not to kick it, not to drop it, not to throw it." Using a wad of gum and Harold's long lanky body, they manage to retrieve it. The boys are preparing for an upcoming football game against the Terrors with Bill reiterating that their friend Fat Albert will be there to help them win the game. Fat Albert appears at the mere mention of his name and with a loud booming "Hey, hey, hey!"

They are soon greeted by their friend Rudy who invites them all to come see The Wolf Man movie which is playing at the local cinema. Everyone agrees to go, except Fat Albert who does not like scary movies and heads home. The rest of the boys go to see the film (using real footage from the actual movie) and despite putting on a tough front, are clearly scared of the picture. They walk home together where everything proceeds to scare them. They then try to laugh it off by making fat jokes about Fat Albert. They unknowingly pass by his apartment building where he hears them and becomes sad.

On the day of the game, Bill goes to visit Fat Albert who makes it known that he does not want to be friends with him anymore and plans to move away after telling his parents. Bill goes to the game where the Terrors clobber Bill's team. Desperate, Bill goes back to Fat Albert and apologizes by offering to pay him for the next couple of weeks. Fat Albert appears at the game and helps defeat the Terrors. Fat Albert is hailed a hero and tells his friends that he is not moving away after all.

While NBC did re-air the special twice following its initial airing, it has rarely been seen since. The film is in the collection of the Paley Center for Media.^[2] While public showings of the episode are limited, it can be viewed upon request. It was created by Bill Cosby and animator Ken Mundie. It was based on Cosby's stand-up routines, which were based on his childhood. It would later inspire the long-running 1972 animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. A second special, Weird Harold, aired on May 4, 1973.^[3]

The special has a very different style from the later series. As a stylistic choice, the animators drew directly onto cels with grease pencils and actual footage of Philadelphia were used for backgrounds. Cosby disliked the character designs used in the special, with Mundie explaining that "[Cosby] wanted [the protagonists] to be more a fun bunch of kids." For the football match sequence, stock footage of NFL games play in the background, and when Fat Albert tackles the Green Street Terrors, stock shots of building demolitions are used.^[4] The music was provided by Herbie Hancock, who later used some of the music he composed on his album Fat Albert Rotunda. Unlike the later Cosby Kids series and specials, it has not been released on DVD.

The episode was classified as partially lost media, with only brief and limited clips of the special available online. An audio recording of a 1971 re-broadcast surfaced online in February 2024.^[5] On July 28, 2024, a user uploaded a complete recording of the special to YouTube. This recording was filmed at the Paley Center and synchronized with the audio found earlier in the year.^[6][7]

• Article featuring concept art and a short clip