Cartoons may be pigeonholed for children but even parents today in their mid-30s or 40s knew them too back in the day. For the most part, much of the cartoons they know can be associated with the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions.
There is too much history in the Hanna-Barbera brand that even if presently it is only an in-name-only unit of Warner Brothers Studios anymore, it is still alive in spirit. To fully understand the influence of Hanna Barbera in the cartoon animation world, we have to go way back in 1944 when two animation directors met: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Entering the animation industry in the second half of the 20th century, at a time when Disney and even Warner Brothers were still nursing its wingspans, Hanna-Barbera provided a steady stream of cartoon animation series – and this trend continued for the most part for three decades. In the beginning, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and their live-action director friend George Sidney never intended for their partnership to be a full-time employment stint; it was merely a team-up for the production of sponsored films and TV commercials. However, in 1957, MGM Studios (where Hanna and Barbera worked) shut down its animation studio so they had no choice but to start from scratch.
Going into the 1960s, the cartoon animation shows of Hanna-Barbera were picking up momentum because of its response from viewers and logically, the television networks. These monumental shows include The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, Top Cat, Tom and Jerry, The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Scooby Doo, The Smurfs, and Wacky Races.
Hanna-Barbera went on to be recognized as one of the premiere animation studios to produce their own cartoon animation series. Eventually, they also branched out to do a few theatrical projects based on their intellectual properties. These movies were Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear (1964) and The Man Called Flintstone (1966).
With the success of its shows and its respective characters capturing the attention of young children in the Saturday mornings demographic (the weekend school child), Hanna-Barbera went on to produce more well-known cartoon animation series. The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel, Space Ghost, Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles, Shazzan, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor, Young Samson and Goliath, The Herculoids and Fantastic Four of Marvel Comics.
To further cement the popularity of Hanna-Barbera, they produced the 1969 cartoon animation show Scooby Doo, Where Are You! which became popular because it blended the typical dose of action adventure with the interactions of four teenagers (which was the centerpiece of the rival series, The Archie Show . Due to the strength of Scooby Doo, it was able to stay under production until 1986. Along the way, there were minor shows created to complement Scooby Doo: Josie and the Pussycats (1970-72), The Funky Phantom (1971-72), Speed Buggy (1973-74), Clue Club (1976-78) and Jabberjaw (1976-77)
In the 1970s, cartoon animation show was almost always equated with Hanna-Barbera. The studio was all over the place. Stations wanted primetime, afternoon cartoons, Saturday mornings and even weekday afternoons; Hanna-Barbera had a cartoon animation series for all these time slots.
However, all good things can only last for so long. With the increasing demand for Hanna-Barbera shows at such a fast clip, quality was inevitably compromised. Over time there were a lot of shortcuts in the animation process, the characterizations of new roles in new shows are often stereotyped or simplified. In a sense, it bit off more than it can chew. The trouble of the company slowly developed until in 1990 it was acquired by Turner Broadcasting. In 1992, Turner launched Cartoon Network to showcase the huge library of animation content primarily supplied by Hanna-Barbera.
Slowly the brand died a natural-death and began to be only featured in its classics only. Not surprisingly, the slow decline of the era of Hanna-Barbera was signified in 2001 when William Hanna died. In 2006, Joseph Barbera followed. Thus, as a tribute to these two animation luminaries, Hanna-Barbera remains as an in-name-only unit in Warner Brothers.
Here is the intro video of The Flintstones to remind us all of the reign of Hanna-Barbera Productions:
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