Hanna-Barbera

History

Tom and Jerry and birth of a studio (1938–1957)

William Denby "Bill" Hanna and Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera met at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio in 1938, while working at its animation unit. Having worked at other studios since the early 1930s, they solidified a six-decade working partnership. Tom and Jerry came about, following the release of their very first collaborative success in 1940, centering on the madcap comical adventures of a cat and a mouse.

Hanna supervised the animation, while Barbera did the stories and pre-production for all 114 cartoons. Seven of the films won seven Oscars for "Best Short Subject (Cartoons)" between 1943 and 1953, and five additional shorts were nominated for twelve awards during this period. However, they were awarded to producer Fred Quimby, who was not involved in the development of the shorts.

Sequences for Anchors Aweigh, Dangerous When Wet and Invitation to the Dance and shorts Swing Social, Gallopin' Gals, The Goose Goes South, Officer Pooch, War Dogs and Good Will to Men were also made. With Quimby's retirement in May 1955, Hanna and Barbera became the producers in charge of the MGM animation studio's output.

In addition to continuing to write and direct new Tom & Jerry shorts, now in CinemaScope, Hanna and Barbera supervised the last seven shorts of Tex Avery's Droopy series and produced and directed the short-lived Spike and Tyke, which ran for two entries. In addition to their work on the cartoons, the two men moonlighted on outside projects, including title sequences and commercials for I Love Lucy.

MGM decided in mid-1957 to close its cartoon studio, as it felt it had acquired a reasonable backlog of shorts for re-release. While contemplating their future, Hanna and Barbera began producing additional animated television commercials. During their last year at MGM, they had developed a concept for a new animated television program about a cat and a dog.

After failing to convince the studio to back their venture, George Sidney offered to serve as their business partner and convinced Screen Gems to make a deal with the producers. Sidney, a veteran live-action producer-director, had worked with Hanna and Barbera on animated elements for several of his movies for MGM, Anchors Aweigh in particular. A coin toss gave Hanna precedence in naming the new studio. Harry Cohn, president and head of Columbia Pictures, took an 18% ownership in H-B Enterprises, and provided working capital.

Success with animated series (1957–1969)

The Ruff and Reddy Show, the studio's first animated television series, premiered on NBC on December 14, 1957, then The Huckleberry Hound Show (feat. Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Yogi Bear and Hokey Wolf) debuted one year later, in 1958, airing in most markets, and was also the first cartoon to win an Emmy. Several animation alumni joined – in particular former Warner Bros. Cartoons storymen Michael Maltese and Warren Foster as head writers, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears as film editors and Iwao Takamoto as character designer.

After reincorporating as Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., The Quick Draw McGraw Show (feat. Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy and Snooper and Blabber) and the theatrical cartoon short series Loopy De Loop followed in 1959. Walt Disney Productions laid off several of its animators after Sleeping Beauty (1959) bombed on the box-office during its initial theatrical run, with many of them moving to Hanna-Barbera shortly afterwards. In August 1960, it moved into a window-less, cinder block building at 3501 Cahuenga Boulevard West. Because it was too small to house the staff, some of its employees worked at home.

The Flintstones premiered on ABC on September 30, 1960, becoming the first animated series airing in prime time. It is loosely based on The Honeymooners and is set in a fictionalized Stone Age of cavemen and dinosaurs. Jackie Gleason considered suing Hanna-Barbera for copyright infringement, but decided not to because he did not want to be known as "the man who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air". For six seasons, it became the longest-running animated show in American prime time at the time (until The Simpsons beat it in 1997), a ratings and merchandising success and the top-ranking animated program in syndication history, all while dawning a media franchise with several spinoffs, movies and specials. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, but its reputation eventually improved and it is now considered a classic.

The Yogi Bear Show (feat. Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle), Top Cat, The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series (feat. Wally Gator, Touché Turtle and Dum Dum and Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har) and The Jetsons soon followed in 1961 and 1962. Several animated television commercials were produced as well, often starring their own characters (including the Pebbles cereal commercials for Post) and the opening credits for Bewitched, in which animated caricatures of Samantha and Darrin appeared. These characterizations were reused in The Flintstones' sixth-season episode "Samantha".

Mysteries, spin-offs, and more (1969–1979)

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! debuted on CBS on September 13, 1969; it is a mystery-based program which blended comedy, action, and elements from I Love a Mystery and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. For two seasons, it centered on four teenagers and a dog solving supernatural mysteries, and became one of Hanna-Barbera's most successful creations, spawning several new spin-offs, such as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and many others, which were regularly in production at Hanna-Barbera into the 1990s.

Referred to as "The General Motors of animation", Hanna-Barbera produced nearly two-thirds of all Saturday-morning cartoons in a single year. Josie and the Pussycats, The Funky Phantom, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Speed Buggy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Inch High, Private Eye, Clue Club, Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and The New Shmoo built upon the mystery-solving template set by Scooby-Doo, with further shows built around teenagers solving mysteries with a comic relief pet of some sort.

Starting in 1971, many new spin-offs, such as The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, featuring Fred and Barney's now teenaged children along with The Flintstone Comedy Hour, The Tom and Jerry Show, The New Fred and Barney Show and "all-star" shows Yogi's Gang, Laff-A-Lympics, Yogi's Space Race and Galaxy Goof-Ups came to the airwaves.

Hanna-Barbera teamed up with Avco Broadcasting Corporation in 1971, a company that was once a rival to its owner Taft at that time, who maintains rivalry in the Columbus and Cincinnati markets, to produce two holiday specials for the syndicated market by way of its syndicated division. In 1972, H-B opened an animation studio in Australia, with the Hamlyn Group acquiring a 50% stake in 1974.

Hamlyn was acquired by James Hardie Industries. Hanna-Barbera Australia bought itself out from Hardie and Taft in 1988, changing its name to Southern Star Group, since becoming Endemol Shine Australia, a division of Banijay Entertainment. Super Friends, an action-adventure show adapted from DC Comics' Justice League of America and the first of many iterations of the Super Friends series, premiered on ABC on September 8, 1973. It returned to production in 1976, remaining on ABC through 1985 with The All-New Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Superfriends and The World's Greatest Super Friends.

The Smurfs dominance and control decrease (1980–1991)

Super Friends, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Richie Rich, The Flintstone Comedy Show, Space Stars, The Kwicky Koala Show (feat. The Bungle Bros., Crazy Claws and Dirty Dawg), Trollkins and Laverne and Shirley in the Army debuted in 1980 and 1981, while Taft purchased Ruby-Spears from Filmways (which was eventually absorbed into Orion Pictures the following year), making it a sister company to Hanna-Barbera and as a result, several early-1980s series were shared between both companies.

While Filmation, Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, Rankin/Bass, DIC and other Hollywood animation studios introduced successful animated series syndicated, including some based on licensed properties, Hanna-Barbera fell behind, as it no longer dominated the television animation market as it did years earlier and lost control over children's programming, going down from 80% to 20%.

The Smurfs, adapted from the Belgian comic by Peyo and centering on a group of tiny blue creatures led by Papa Smurf, debuted on NBC on September 12, 1981, and ran for nine seasons until December 2, 1989, becoming so the longest-running Saturday-morning cartoon series in broadcast history, a significant ratings success, the top-rated program in eight years and the highest for an NBC show since 1970. The Gary Coleman Show, Shirt Tales, Pac-Man, The Little Rascals, The Dukes, Monchhichis and The Biskitts followed in 1982 and 1983.

Following a 1982 strike, new cartoons were outsourced to Cuckoo's Nest Studios, Mr. Big Cartoons, Toei Animation and Fil-Cartoons in Australia and Asia, which provided production services from 1982 to the end of H-B's existence. Challenge of the GoBots, Pink Panther and Sons, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, Snorks, The New Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Show, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, Galtar and the Golden Lance, Paw Paws, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo debuted in 1984 and 1985.

While new revivals of The Jetsons, Jonny Quest and Yogi Bear were commissioned for broadcast, Pound Puppies, The Flintstone Kids, Foofur, Wildfire, Sky Commanders and Popeye and Son arrived in 1986 and 1987. After its financial troubles affected Hanna-Barbera, the American Financial Corporation acquired Taft in 1987 and renamed it Great American Broadcasting. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, Fantastic Max, The Further Adventures of SuperTed and Paddington Bear followed in 1988 and 1989.

Acquisition period and studio's demise (1991–2001)

On July 18, 1991, MCA Inc. had talks with the struggling Great American Communications about purchasing the studio for $175 million. However, the two companies were uncertain whether to reach a deal over the latter's existing distribution agreement with Worldvision for the H-B catalogue. Two days later on 20 July, Great American Communications officially announced that they were considering putting Hanna-Barbera up for sale, with The Walt Disney Company as another interested partner.

At the end of August, Turner Broadcasting System reported that they were also interested in purchasing the studio. Disney's then-CEO Michael Eisner later admitted that not buying Hanna-Barbera was his biggest regret.

On October 29, 1991, Turner Broadcasting System officially announced that under a 50/50 venture with Apollo Global Management, they would purchase Hanna-Barbera Productions for $320 million, outbidding MCA and Hallmark Cards. Turner stated that if the deal went through, they would use the Hanna-Barbera library to launch a dedicated animation cable network.

The purchase included company's 3,000 half-hour library, the production and animation facilities, and the acquisition of distribution rights from Worldvision Enterprises. The catalogue of sister company Ruby-Spears Enterprises was also included in the sale, but not the studio itself, which would split off from Great American as an independent company called RS Holdings.

Shortly after the sale in 1992, the company was taken into a new direction, with a renaming to H-B Production Co., while Scott Sassa hired Fred Seibert to head Hanna-Barbera, who filled the gap left by Great American's crew with new animators, directors, producers and writers, including Craig McCracken, Donovan Cook, Genndy Tartakovsky, David Feiss, Seth MacFarlane, Van Partible and Butch Hartman.

1992 saw the broadcast of Capitol Critters and Fish Police, two prime-time animated sitcoms that attempted to copy the success of Fox's The Simpsons to little success. Turner's planned animation cable network, Cartoon Network, launched on October 1 as the first 24-hour all-animation channel, with Hanna-Barbera as a core contributor to the channel's launch lineup.

Post-closure and Barbera's final years (2001–2006)

While Cartoon Network Studios took over production of programming, the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to preserve the Cahuenga Blvd. headquarters in May 2004, while allowing retail and residential development on the site.

Barbera died of natural causes on December 18, 2006, at the age of 95. Warner Bros. Animation has continued to produce new productions based on Hanna-Barbera properties since then.

Production

Production process changes

The small budgets that television animation producers had to work within prevented Hanna-Barbera from working with the full theatrical-quality animation that Hanna and Barbera had been known for at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. While the budget for MGM's seven-minute Tom and Jerry shorts was about $35,000, the Hanna-Barbera studios were required to produce five-minute Ruff and Reddy episodes for no more than $3,000 apiece. To keep within these tighter budgets, Hanna-Barbera furthered the concept of limited animation (also called "planned animation") practiced and popularized by the United Productions of America (UPA) studio, which also once had a partnership with Columbia Pictures. Character designs were simplified, and backgrounds and animation cycles (walks, runs, etc.) were regularly re-purposed.

Characters were often broken up into a handful of levels so that only the parts of the body that needed to be moved at a given time (i.e. a mouth, an arm, a head) were animated. The rest of the figure remained on a held animation cel. This allowed a typical seven-minute short to be done with only nearly 2,000 drawings instead of the usual 14,000. Dialogue, music, and sound effects were emphasized over action, leading Chuck Jones—a contemporary who worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons and whose short The Dover Boys practically invented many of the concepts in limited animation—to disparagingly refer to the limited television cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera and others as "illustrated radio".

In a story published by The Saturday Evening Post in 1961, critics stated that Hanna-Barbera was taking on more work than it could handle and was resorting to shortcuts only a television audience would tolerate. An executive who worked for Walt Disney Productions said, "We don't even consider [them] competition". Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman argues that Hanna-Barbera attempted to maximize their bottom line by recycling story formulas and characterization instead of introducing new ones. Once a formula for an original series was deemed successful, the studio reused it in subsequent series. Besides copying their own works, Hanna-Barbera drew inspiration from the works of other people and studios.

Lehman considers that the studio served as the main example of how animation studios that focused on TV animation differed from those that focused on theatrical animation. Theatrical animation studios tried to maintain full and fluid animation and consequently struggled with the rising expenses associated with producing it. Limited animation as practiced by Hanna-Barbera kept production costs at a minimum. The cost in quality of using this technique was that Hanna-Barbera's characters only moved when necessary.

Digital innovation

Hanna-Barbera was among the first animation studios to incorporate digital tools into their pipeline. As early as the 1970s, they experimented with using Scanimate, a video synthesizer, to create an early form of digital cutout style. A clip of artists using the machine to manipulate scanned images of Scooby-Doo characters, scaling and warping the artwork to simulate animation, is available at the Internet Archive.

Likewise, Hanna-Barbera was perhaps the first proponent of digital ink and paint, a process wherein animators' drawings were scanned into computers and colored using software. Led by Marc Levoy, Hanna-Barbera began developing a computerized digital ink and paint system in 1979 to help bypass much of the time-consuming labor of painting and photographing cels. The process was implemented on a third of Hanna-Barbera's animated programs, televised feature films and specials from 1982 through 1996.

Sound effects

Hanna-Barbera was known for its large library of sound effects that modern audiences are now used to, which have been featured in exhibitions at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Ownership

After Hanna-Barbera's partnership with Screen Gems ended in 1966, it was sold to Taft Broadcasting, where it remained its owner until 1991 when Turner Broadcasting System acquired the company and its library for its flagship network, Cartoon Network. In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner, then WarnerMedia, now Warner Bros. Discovery.