Hanna-Barbera

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The "Swirling Star" logo used for Jetsons: The Movie in 1990.

Hanna-Barbera, also known as HB Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, was an animation studio founded in 1957 by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna, with financial backing by film director George Sidney. Sidney formed a friendship with Barbera and Hanna when they worked at MGM as animation directors during the 1940s, and when MGM's animation department closed down, Sidney helped form a deal with Screen Gems, the television arm of Columbia Pictures, which led to the creation of Hanna-Barbera. In the 1990s, it also gained its own spin-off studio with Cartoon Network Studios, which become its own full-fledged studio when Hanna-Barbera was dismantled.

Hanna-Barbera had never been an independent studio, always having been a subsidiary of another company. In 1966, Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting (later known as Great American Broadcasting), until 1991 when it was bought by Turner Entertainment Company. It was finally bought by Time Warner when it merged with Turner in 1996, where it remains today, although only as a brand name. The studio continued to operate until 2002, when it was finally shut down after Hanna died, with Warner Bros. Animation officially taking over. It remains as an in-name-only subsidiary of Warner Bros.

Hanna-Barbera worked as an in-house studio until the beginning of the 1970s when they outsourced to Australia (which eventually led to its own independent off-shoot known as Hanna-Barbera Australia until the late '80s), and then to South Korea by the end of the '70s. They also used other animation outlets in Spain and the Philippines in the '80s.

In 2021, Cartoon Network Studios Europe rebranded itself as Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

History

In 1963, a larger building of the studio was built in Los Angeles, California. The building was designed by architect Arthur Froehlich, and was made in a clean Mid-Century Modern style. It was horizontally oriented, with flat roofs and dramatic perforated concrete screens, and protected by a small guard station.[1]

Filmography

1950s

Main article: 1950s

1960s

Main article: 1960s

1970s

Main article: 1970s

1980s

Main article: 1980s

1990s

Main article: 1990s

2000s

Main article: 2000s

2010s

In popular culture

  • In the Red Razors arc of the comic 2000AD, a group of Sov-Block mercenary enforcers called themselves the Spooky Doo Gang, due to owning a dog called Spooky who resembled a green Scooby-Doo. Daphne and Velma's doppelgangers are called Hannah and Barbra, in reference to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, respectively.
  • In the Animaniacs segment "Back in Style," Thaddeus Plotz, the CEO of Warner Bros., tries to save the company by loaning off the Warner siblings to Phil and Schmoe, parodies of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, who were known for making cartoons of limited animation.
  • The humans in the animated TV series Krypto the Superdog resembled the cartoonish designs of the humans used in Hanna-Barbera's cartoons such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons.
  • In the Torchwood book Slow Decay, Jack Harkness expressed his dissatisfaction with the TV film Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, marking it to be a low point in Hanna-Barbera's output.
  • In the American Dad! episode "Shallow Vows," Stan trips on a harp that produces the "Kabong" sound.
  • In the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Raiders of the Lost Art," Nate christens the main set of villains for the second season to be the Legion of Doom after a Hanna-Barbera cartoon he watched as a kid.
  • In Harley Quinn #64, Harley believes that Justice League Dark is dressed up like Mystery Incorporated because it is a DC/Hanna-Barbera event in reference to the one-shot crossovers DC Comics had been doing at the same time.

The Simpsons

  • "The Front:" Roger Meyer's Jr. notes that animators reuse backgrounds to save cost as he, Bart and Lisa pass by the same door, water cooler and cleaning lady several times. This parodies the fact that Hanna-Barbera reused their backgrounds many times.
  • "HOMЯ:" The voice actor who copies other characters' voices and celebrity voices at the animation festival references how many early Hanna-Barbera "funny animal" characters' voices were often based off popular celebrities of the time.
  • "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One):" The couch gag features the family in Hanna-Barbera poses running past the couch several times.

47cartoonguy's documentary series

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References

  1. ^ [1]. Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved October 23, 2022.