Li'l Abner was a comic strip in United States newspapers, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch. Written and drawn by Al Capp, the strip ran from 1934 through 1977.

Read daily by scores of millions of people, the strip's characters and humor had a powerful cultural impact. A pseudo-holiday created in the strip, Sadie Hawkins Day is still observed in the form of dances at which women approach (or chase after) men.

Li'l Abner is a 1959 musical film based on the comic strip of the same name created by Al Capp. It was also based on a successful Broadway musical that opened in 1956. The movie was produced by Norman Panama and directed by Melvin Frank (co-writers of the Broadway production). Some music in the movie was adapted directly from the Broadway production, but the original portions of the motion picture score were written and conducted by Nelson Riddle and Joseph J. Lilley, which earned them an Oscar nomination for Best Score in 1960 and earned Riddle a Grammy nomination for Best Soundtrack Album. The movie was released on December 11, 1959 by Paramount Pictures.

Almost every major character in the movie's cast was played by the same person who held that role in the original Broadway cast. Notable exceptions are the characters of Daisy Mae (played by comedienne Edie Adams on Broadway) and Appassionata von Climax (played on Broadway by Tina Louise).

There were actually two film versions of Li'l Abner--both based on the Al Capp comic strip. The 1959 film--a musical nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy awards and based on the Tony-Award winning Broadway show--is the better known of the two. There was another version of Li'l Abner--filmed in black and white--which was released in 1940 by blank">Vogue Productions. The 1940 version was not a musical, but played as a comedy, and the storyline was significantly different from the later productions. The three most recognizable names associated with the 1940 film were _Buster Keaton as Lonesome Polecat, Jeff York (much better-known as perennial bad-guy Mike Fink in the Daniel Boone TV serials) as Li'l Abner, and Milton Berle, who wrote the title song. The copyright on the 1940 film has expired and it is now available for download from EMOL.org.

As Sadie Hawkins Day approaches, Daisy Mae hopes to win the hand of Li'l Abner by catching him in the traditional race. A senator comes to visit to tell the residents of Dogpatch that their town is to be used as an atomic bomb testing ground, unless they can find *something* necessary about the town. Could Mammy Yokum's Yokumberry tonic (which Abner has taken every day since he was a baby) be the key? Written by Anonymous

A comedy musical based on an earlier stage musical, which was in turn based on the comic strip characters created by Al Capp. When residents of Dogpatch, USA are notified by the government that they must evacuate, they try to persuade the government that their town is worth saving. Meanwhile, Earthquake McGoon wants to marry Daisy Mae; Daisy Mae wants to marry Li'l Abner, and Li'l Abner just wants to go fishing, until it is learned that Abner's Mammy's Yokumberry Tonic might be enough to save the town. Abner offers the tonic to Washington, but General Bullmoose wants it too, so Bullmoose tries to trap Abner into marrying his attractive but ditzy executive secretary, Appassionata. Meanwhile, Daisy Mae pledges herself to Earthquake in marriage in exchange for rescuing Abner from Bullmoose. Will Abner and Daisy Mae ever finally get together? Written by Brian C. Madsen

Set in the mythical town of Dogpatch. Dogpatch has a serious unemployment problem. Men spend their days idling away fishing, and the single women spend time scheming about how to catch their preferred single men come the next Sadie Hawkins Day. Daisy Mae has her sights set on Li'l Abner (Keaton), but rival, Appasianata, has other plans. Written by SindyMac