SMOKEY THE BEAR SONG PERFORMED BY EDDY ARNOLD U.S. FOREST SERVICE WILDFIRE PREVENTION PSAs 95644b

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Browse our products on Amazon: Produced by the Forest Service in 1952, this short film tells the story of Smokey the Bear, the iconic U.S. Forest Service’s iconic representative for wildfire prevention. Despite the common belief that Smokey was named after a burned orphan bear cub, the opposite it actually true. During WWII, the Forest Service began a public information campaign, to try to prevent wildfires. The 1942 campaign featured Disney characters from the film Bambi, but the characters were only allowed to be used for one year. A new symbol was needed, and a bear character chosen featuring the name Smokey. This was adopted from “Smokey” Joe Martin, a famous NYFD firefighter who suffered severe burns in a heroic 1922 rescue. In 1950, a 3-month-old black bear cub with burned paws and hind legs was discovered in New Mexico in the wake of the Capitan fire. The cub initially was n