Magilla Gorilla

Magilla Gorilla was the feature segment on the half-hour, The Magilla Gorilla Show. Backup segments included Punkin’ Puss & Mushmouse and Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long. In the show’s second season the Ricochet Rabbit segment was swapped with Breezly & Sneezly from The Peter Potamus Show to help bolster ratings for Peter Potamus.

Mr. Peebles, owner of Peebles Pet Shop, just couldn’t sell the lovable but bumbling primate, Magilla Gorilla. Not only did the cost of feeding Magilla considerably curtail Mr. Peebles profits, but the happy-go-lucky simian was prone to breaking things — mostly while zipping around the store on toys (roller skates, unicycle, small motor car, etc.). Mr. Peebles failure to get rid of Magilla was not for lack of trying; he gave Magilla a permanent place in the display window, almost always accompanied by one or more ‘On Sale’ signs, or with prices marked down until Magilla was practically free. But in truth, selling the gorilla wasn’t Mr. Peebles’ real problem, it was his return policy.

Buyers purchased Magilla on a number of occasions, he just never stayed sold. Normally, the people who bought Magilla had an ulterior motive, like needing an ape for a part in a movie, or as a promotional figure for an advertising agency, or to help pull the vault door off its hinges in a bank heist. Whatever the circumstance, Magilla naively but inevitably managed to frustrate his new owner into returning him to the pet store, or at other times just came back on his own when he decided he didn’t like the new arrangement. The overwhelming joy that Mr. Peebles felt every time he sold Magilla was replaced by an equal measure of dismay upon his return. About the only customer who actually wanted Magilla for a pet was a little girl named Ogee. Unfortunately for her (and Mr. Peebles), Ogee’s parents didn’t approve of having a gorilla around the house.