Hanna-Barbera

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Hanna-Barbera
HB logo (Jetsons The Movie).png
The "Swirling Star" logo used for Jetsons: The Movie in 1990.
Formerly H-B Enterprises, Inc. (1957–1959)
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. (1959–1991)
Hanna-Barbera, Inc. (1991–1992)
H-B Production Co. (1992–1993)
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. (1993–2001)
Type In-name-only unit of Warner Bros.
Industry Film
Animation
Television
Predecessor(s) MGM Cartoons
Founded July 7, 1957
Founder(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
George Sydney
Defunct March 12, 2001
Fate Absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation
Successor(s) Studio:
Cartoon Network Studios
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe
Warner Bros. Animation
Library:
Warner Bros. Television Studios
(through Warner Bros. Animation)
(except licensed properties)
Headquarters Kling Studios, Hollywood, California, U.S. (1957–1960)
Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1960–1998)
Sherman Oaks Galleria, Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, U.S. (1998–2001)
Owner Screen Gems Television (18%, 1957–1966)
Taft Broadcasting (1966–1987)
Great American Broadcasting (1987–1991)

Turner Broadcasting System (50%, 1991–1993; whole, 1993–1996)
Apollo Global (50%, 1991–1993)
Time Warner/AOL Time Warner (1996–2001)

Parent Taft Broadcasting (1966–1987)
Great American Broadcasting (1987–1991)
Turner Entertainment Co. (1991–1996)
Warner Bros. Animation (1996–2001)
Division(s) Hanna-Barbera Australia (1972-1989)
Wang Film Productions (50%, 1978–1990s)
Cartoon Network Studios

Hanna-Barbera was an animation studio and production company founded in 1957 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera,[1] with financial backing by film director George Sidney. Prior to its founding, Hanna and Barbera were buisness partners at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the 1940s to 1950s, where they both served as the creators, directors and eventual producers of the Tom and Jerry theatrical animated shorts. When MGM's in-house animation department was shut down in 1957, Sydney—who previously formed a friendship with the two when they worked at MGM—helped form a deal with the producers at Screen Gems,[2] the television arm of Columbia Pictures. After Hanna-Barbera was created, it became one of the first and most successful animation studios to produce exclusively for television.

In its heydey, the company produced many successful animated television series such as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, and The Smurfs.[3] Hanna-Barbera also gained a record-breaking eight Emmy Awards[4] while they produced numerous feature-length movies and specials.

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 1980s), and then to South Korea by the end of the 1970s. They also used other animation outlets in Spain and the Philippines in the 1980s.

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 Broadcasting System. 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 as a standalone company until 2001, when it was shut down ten days before Hanna died. It was eventually folded into Warner Bros. Animation, as an in-name-only subsidiary of Warner Bros.

In the 1990s, Hanna-Barbera gained its own spin-off studio with Cartoon Network Studios, which become its own full-fledged studio when Hanna-Barbera was dismantled. In 2021, Cartoon Network Studios Europe rebranded itself as Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.

History

New Digs

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.[5]

Taft, the Great American

In 1987, Taft Broadcasting changed its name to Great American Broadcasting (or Great American Communications). Due to financial troubles,[6] Great American put up Hanna-Barbera Productions for auction at an asking price of $350-400 million in 1991, with at least twelve entertainment companies bidding, which included the Walt Disney Company, Hallmark Cards,[7] and L'Oréal, and MCA, with the latter coming out on top, perhaps due to their already established relationship with Hanna-Barbera, having a HB-themed attraction at their theme park at Universal Studios Florida, and co-producing and distributing Jetsons: The Movie.[8] UPI reported that MCA had offered the lower price of $175 million on July 18.[9] Although discussions were still ongoing by August 31, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Turner Broadcasting System had bigger plans and a better offer for Hanna-Barbera, which according to sources close to the deal would be $250 million, with help from Apollo Investment Fund. With the Hanna-Barbera library containing more than 3,000 hours of animated programming,[10] TBS could air the cartoons actross its cable stations.[9] One problem bidders like MCA would have to navigate through, however, was that Worldvision, via Spelling Productions, owned the domestic and international rights, although MCA seemed confident in being able to deal with this as they had their own distribution system.[8]

In 1993, the troubled Great American eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Turner Planet

On August 31, the Los Angeles Times announced that Turner had entered exclusive negotiations to purchase Hanna-Barbera Productions from Great American, as a joint venture with Apollo Investment Funds. Although no parties involved confirmed a price, sources close to the negotiations claimed that Turner would offer $250 million. They were also considering producing new cartoons based on Hanna-Barbera well-known characters. Turner faced the same prospect of having to deal with Worldvision's ownership of the distribution rights.[9] On September 3, UPI reported that Great American had accepted Turner's bid and written a letter of intent and started formal and exclusive negotiations with Turner for its acquisition. Turner was chosen because Great American chairman Carl Linder felt that the "quality of the TBS organization will assure the continued success of Hanna-Barbera's excellent programming."[7]

In a business report by UPI on October 29, it was announced that Turner Broadcasting System intended to buy Hanna-Barbera Productions from Great American Communications for $320 million. Chairman Ted Turner confirmed plans that he had been considering launching a cartoon channel for its Hanna-Barbera library, as well as plans to buy out Apollo Investment Funds %50 interest.[10] The next day, Turner confirmed that the company and its investment partner had signed a definite agreement that they would pay as much as $320 million to purchase the library and production commitments from Hanna-Barbera Productions. The $320 million payment included $40 million in contingent payments to be paid over an unspecified period. It was also speculated that Turner's plan to launch a channel dedicated to using its large library is to combat Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.[6]

Turner and Apollo Investments would both contribute $50 million each in addition to burrowing $160 million in bank debt. In addition, Turner paid a further $60 million for the distribution rights, which was possible after Spelling Entertainment gave up those rights to Great American for $24 million.[6] The deal was formalized December 4.[11] Turner had plans to integrate Hanna-Barbera into various parts of its organization, which resulted in the duplication of jobs already fulfilled by Turner employees in Atlanta and New York, resulting in the firing of 115 of 457 of Hanna-Barbera's employees at their Universal City-based animation studio. David Kirschner had been promoted from Hanna-Barbera's chief executive to the president of the production division, reporting to Scott Sassa, president of Turner Entertainment.[12]

UPI reported on December 29, 1993, that Turner bought out Apollo Investment Fund's 50% percent ownership for $255 million.[13]

The Cartoon Network

On February 18, 1992, Ted Turner announced plans for a 24-hour all-cartoon network which would be launched on October 1. The basic cable television channel would be Turner's fifth, joining TBS Superstation, TNT, CNN, and CNN Headline News.[14]

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 Ren and Stimpy Show episode "Ren's Retirement," the worm who eats both Ren and Stimpy in the end wears an outfit similar to early Hanna-Barbera funny animal characters, namely Yogi Bear. His voice and mannerisms, however, are clearly a parody of Fred Flintstone.
  • 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 Drawn Together episode "A Tale of Two Cows," when Live Action Squirrel with Big Balls is chased off, he makes the Hanna Barbera running sound effect.
  • 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 Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "One Hundred," realizing that their series has reached a hundred episodes, Master Shake demands the network put his team's show in syndication. But this leads to Hundred, a monster shaped like the number 100, on the warpath. In their escape, Master Shake takes the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to a place to hide that's a parody of the Scooby-Doo series called Aqua Unit Patrol Squad with the pilot called "The Bayou Boo-Ya!," which in reality, is what actor Dana Snyder is pitching to the network. It has all the tropes and conventions one would expect, including a reference to the cheapness of the studio reusing backgrounds for characters to run in front of continuously.
  • In the Comic Book Men episode "The Clash at the Stash," a seller mentions Hanna-Barbera being part of the Underoos line.
  • In the Family Guy episode "No Country Club for Old Men," Peter tells the family he got tired of not being able to find their luggage, so he tied a "vaguely looking Hanna-Barbera character" to it. True to his word, the family sees a purple rhinoceros come out on the luggage belt, with their luggage roped around it. The rhino angrily quips, "This trip was impoceros!"
  • In the Clarence episode "Spooky Boo," the kids check out a spooky house on Halloween, which old man Howard uses as an excuse to scare the kids while wearing a sheet and making eerie sound effects commonly heard in Hanna-Barbera cartoons, particularly Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! when the kids are running away from monsters.
  • In the Regular Show episode "The Dream Warrior," Rigby and Mordecai help Pops overcome his nightmares by watching Funkie Wunky and the Groovy Gang (a parody of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!), with the only nightmares from that show is the bad animation.
  • 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.
  • In the Succession episode "Kill List", Lukas Matsson interjects Roman & Kendall in their deal and ask the two if they had learnt their shady deal tactics at "Hanna-Barbera business school."

  • Hungrier than the average worm!

  • The vaguely looking Hanna-Barbera character.

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.

  • The Simpsons parody Hanna Barbera in "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"

47cartoonguy's documentary series

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Part 5 (finale):

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References

  1. ^ "Hanna and Barbera" Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica.com. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  2. ^ Hanna, William and Ito, Tom (1999). A Cast of Friends. New York: Da Capo Press. 0306-80917-6. Pg. 81–83
  3. ^ Holz, Jo (2017). Kids' TV Grows Up: The Path from Howdy Doody to SpongeBob. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 81–85, 124–126. ISBN 978-1-4766-6874-1. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "William Hanna – Awards" AllMovie. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  5. ^ [1]. Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Lippman, John (October 30, 1991). "Turner Is Buying Hanna-Barbera Film Library". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  7. ^ a b (September 3, 1991). "Great American to sell Hanna-Barbera". UPI. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Citron, Alan, Lippman, John (July 18, 1991). "MCA in Talks to Purchase Hanna-Barbera". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Citron, Alan (August 31, 1991). "Turner in Negotiations to Buy Hanna-Barbera". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  10. ^ a b McNary, Dave (October 29, 1991). "Turner to buy Hanna-Barbera for $320 million". UPI. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  11. ^ (December 4, 1991). "Hanna-Barbera Is Now a Turner Property". The Associated Press. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  12. ^ Lippman, John (December 7, 1991). "Turner Fires a Fourth of Hanna-Barbera Staff". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 9, 1991.
  13. ^ .(December 29, 1993). "TBS buys remaining interest in Hanna-Barbera for $255 million". UPI. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  14. ^ (February 19, 1992). "Ted Turner to Launch All-Cartoon Network". The Associated Press. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
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