Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals ...

and

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

following the decision of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

to close its in-house cartoon studio. Headquartered in Cahuenga Blvd. until 1998 and then

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

, both in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, until going defunct, it created many television shows, theatrical films, televised movies and specials, including ''

Huckleberry Hound Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue anthropomorphic coonhound that speaks with a North Carolina Southern drawl. He first appeared in the series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to ...

'', ''

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of ''The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

'', ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'', ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

'', ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced f ...

'', ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'', ''

Wacky Races Eccentricity (also called quirkiness) is an unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive. Eccentricity is contrasted with norm ...

'', ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...

'' and ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

''. Its productions have won a record-breaking 8

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Its fortunes declined by the 1980s as the profitability of

Saturday-morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

s was eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication.

Taft Broadcasting The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the Taft family, family of William Howard Taft, the 27th Presid ...

acquired Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and retained ownership until 1991 when

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

took over and used its back catalog as programming for its then-newly-created

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

which launched the following year. Turner later merged in 1996 with Time Warner, which rebranded as

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

in 2018 and is now part of

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...

since April 8, 2022. After Hanna died on March 22, 2001, Hanna-Barbera as a standalone company was dissolved and merged into Warner Bros. Animation and later Cartoon Network Studios. Although defunct, Warner Bros. continues to produce new programming and material based on the studio's classic properties and using with their logo occasionally in select projects.

History

''Tom and Jerry'' and birth of a studio (1937–1957)

William Denby Hanna (Bill), native of

Melrose, New Mexico Melrose is a village in Curry County, New Mexico, Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 651 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town is losing population due to Rural flight, rural exodus. Melrose is served by M ...

and Joseph Roland Barbera (Joe), born of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

heritage in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, first met at the

(MGM) studio in 1937, while working at its animation division. Having worked at other studios since the early 1930s, they solidified an "eight-decade" partnership. ''

Puss Gets the Boot ''Puss Gets the Boot'' is a 1940 American animated short film and is the first short in what would become the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, though neither were yet referred to by these names. It was directed by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, ...

'', released in 1940, served as the first entry in the theatrical film series ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

''. Hanna supervised the animation, while Barbera did the stories and pre-production. Seven of the cartoons won 7 Oscars for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) between 1943 and 1953, and five additional shorts were nominated for 12 awards during this period. However, they were awarded to producer

Fred Quimby Frederick Clinton Quimby (July 31, 1886 – September 16, 1965) was an American animation producer and journalist best known for producing the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series, for which he won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Films ...

, who was not involved in the development of the shorts. Sequences were done for ''

Anchors Aweigh "Anchors Aweigh" is the fight song of the United States Naval Academy and unofficial march song of the United States Navy. It was composed in 1906 by Charles A. Zimmermann with lyrics by Alfred Hart Miles. When he composed "Anchors Aweigh", Zim ...

'', ''

Dangerous When Wet ''Dangerous When Wet'' is a 1953 American live-action/animated musical comedy film starring Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas and Jack Carson, directed by Charles Walters and featuring an animated swimming sequence starring Williams with the cat-a ...

'' and '' Invitation to the Dance'', one-shot shorts ''

Gallopin' Gals ''Gallopin' Gals'' is a 1940 American one-reel Technicolor animated film directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It belonged to the screwball comedy genre. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer in October 26 ...

'', ''The Goose Goes South'', ''

Officer Pooch ''Officer Pooch'' is a 1941 animated short film produced by Fred Quimby, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cartoon is mostly done in pantomime. Plot A canine officer (modeled after the Keys ...

'', ''

War Dogs Dogs in warfare have a very long history starting in ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied and some continue to exist in modern military ...

'' and ''

Good Will to Men ''Peace on Earth'' is a one-reel 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation, cartoon short subject, short directed by Hugh Harman, about a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals, as it is claimed in the short that human beings have gone extinc ...

'' made and supervised ''The Bear and the Bean''. 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 CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

, Hanna and Barbera supervised the last seven shorts of

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

's ''

Droopy Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Go ...

'' series and produced and directed the short-lived ''

Spike and Tyke ''Spike and Tyke'' is a short-lived theatrical animated short subject series, based upon the American bulldog father-and-son team from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons. The characters first appeared in the ''Tom and Jerry'' seri ...

'', which ran for two entries. In addition to their work on the cartoons, the two men moonlighted on outside projects, including the original title sequences and commercials for ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

''. 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 TV program about a dog and cat duo in various misadventures. After they failed to convince the studio to back their venture, live-action director

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics ''Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgro ...

, who had worked with Hanna and Barbera on several of his theatrical features for MGM, offered to serve as their business partner and convinced

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

to make a deal with the producers. A coin toss gave Hanna precedence in naming the new studio.

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...

, president and head of Columbia Pictures, took an 18% ownership in their new company, H-B Enterprises, and provided working capital. Screen Gems became the new distributor and its licensing agent, handling merchandizing of the characters from the animated programs as the cartoon firm officially opened for business in rented offices on the lot of Kling Studios (formerly

Charlie Chaplin Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...

) on July 7, 1957, one year after the MGM animation studio closed. Sidney and several Screen Gems alumni became members of the studio's board of directors and much of the former MGM animation staff—including animators

Carlo Vinci Carlo Vinci (February 27, 1906 – September 30, 1993) was an American animator active from the 1930s to the 1970s. He is mainly known for his career at the Terrytoons and Hanna-Barbera cartoon studios. Among the characters he animated were the or ...

Kenneth Muse Kenneth Muse (July 26, 1910 – July 26, 1987) was an American animator best known for his work on the ''Tom and Jerry'' series at MGM. Biography Muse worked briefly at Walt Disney Productions, where he was Preston Blair's assistant on '' Fa ...

Lewis Marshall Lewis Marshall (born 29 August 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays for in the Mitre 10 Cup. His preferred position is fullback, though he is a versatile backline player. Although from Wainuiomata, Marshall attended ...

Michael Lah Michael Richard Lah (September 1, 1912 – October 13, 1995) was an American animator of Slovene origin. He is best remembered for his work at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, primarily as a member of Tex Avery's animation unit. He first ...

and

Ed Barge Edward John Barge (August 29, 1910 – September 29, 1991) was an American animator. Barge was born to Alfred Edward and Margaret G. Barge in San Jose, California. In 1916, the family moved to Bakersfield, where his father was employed by t ...

and layout artists

Ed Benedict Ed Benedict (August 23, 1912 – August 28, 2006) was an American animator and layout artist. He is best known for his work with Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he helped design Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Reddy on Ruff and Re ...

and

Richard Bickenbach Richard Frederick Bickenbach (August 9, 1907 – June 28, 1994) was an American animator who worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as a layout artist and character designer for MGM and Hanna-Barbera Productions. He worked on animation for many ...

—became the new production staff.

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with ''The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ret ...

was in charge of providing the music while voice performers, such as

Penny Singleton Penny Singleton (born Mariana Dorothy McNulty, September 15, 1908 – November 12, 2003) was an American actress, singer, dancer and labor leader. During her 60-year career on stage, screen, radio and television, Singleton appeared as the ...

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from ''Batt ...

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

Henry Corden Henry Corden (born Henry Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in the 1 ...

Jean Vander Pyl Jean Thurston Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon ''The Flintstones''. In a ...

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''The New York Times'', 22 December 2 ...

Marvin Kaplan Marvin Wilbur Kaplan (January 24, 1927 – August 25, 2016) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Best known as Henry Beesmeyer in '' Alice'' (1978–1985). Early years Kaplan was born on January 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, t ...

Allen Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...

Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that ...

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...

Gerry Johnson Gerry Johnson (April 4, 1918 - January 24, 1990) was an American actress and television host, best known as the voice of Betty Rubble during seasons five and six of the animated television series ''The Flintstones''. Early life Geraldine Adela ...

Lucille Bliss Lucille Theresa Bliss (March 31, 1916 – November 8, 2012) was an American actress, known in the Bay Area and in Hollywood as the "Girl With a Thousand Voices". A New York City native, Bliss lent her voice to numerous television characters, in ...

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show ''Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hallo ...

, George O' Hanlon,

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Ho ...

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

Julie Bennett Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress and later talent agent and realtor. Early years Bennett was born in Manhattan, New York, on January 24, 1932. Acting career A native of Hollywood, Bennett worked as a ...

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

Howard Morris Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Cae ...

, John Stephenson, Hal Smith,

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 197 ...

, Doug Young and

Danny Goldman Daniel Goldman (October 30, 1939 – April 12, 2020) was an American actor and casting director. He was most widely recognized as the voice of Brainy Smurf in Hanna-Barbera's ''The Smurfs'' (1981–1989). Early life Goldman graduated from Far R ...

came on board.

Success with animated sitcoms (1957–1969)

The Ruff and Reddy Show ''The Ruff and Reddy Show'' (also known as ''Ruff and Reddy'') is an American NBC Saturday morning animated television series, is one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons, and the first series made by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series fo ...

'', its very first televised cartoon, premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on December 14, 1957. ''

The Huckleberry Hound Show ''The Huckleberry Hound Show'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and the second series produced by the studio following ''The Ruff and Reddy Show''. The show first aired in syndication on September 2 ...

'', which came on September 29, 1958, and aired in most markets just before prime time, was the first animated series to win an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Beginning to expand rapidly following its initial success, several animation industry alumni – in particular former Warner Bros. Cartoons storymen

Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably "Wha ...

and

Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera. Early life He was born in Brooklyn, New York to Marion B. Fos ...

, became new head writers and joined the staff at this time, along with

Joe Ruby Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...

and

Ken Spears Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-found ...

as film editors and

Iwao Takamoto Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...

as character designer. H-B Enterprises was reincorporated as Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. by 1959, and slowly became a leader in TV animation production from then on. ''

The Quick Draw McGraw Show ''The Quick Draw McGraw Show'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and their third television series overall after ''The Ruff and Reddy Show'' and ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Voice actor Daws But ...

'' and ''

Loopy De Loop ''Loopy De Loop'' is a theatrical cartoon short series produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after leaving MGM and opening their new studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions. Loopy De Loop Profile 48 cartoons were produced between 19 ...

'', its only theatrical short film series, followed that same year. In August 1960, the company moved into a window-less, cinder block building at 3501

Cahuenga Boulevard Cahuenga Boulevard () is a major boulevard of northern Los Angeles, California, US. The “Cahuenga” name is a Spanish, phonetic derivative with no actual Spanish language meaning that is attributed to the Tongva village of Kawengna, meaning "p ...

West, though the building was too small to house the growing staff and some of its employees worked from home. ''

'' premiered in prime time on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1960, loosely based on ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...

'' and set in a fictionalized Stone Age of cavemen and dinosaurs.

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

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". The series ran for six seasons, becoming 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. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, but its reputation eventually improved and it is now considered a classic. ''The Yogi Bear Show'', ''Top Cat'', ''Wally Gator'', ''Touché Turtle and Dum Dum'', ''Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har'' and ''

'' soon followed in 1961 and 1962. Several animated TV commercials were produced as well, often starring their own characters (probably the best known is a series of Pebbles cereal commercials for Post Foods, Post featuring Barney Rubble, Barney tricking Fred into giving him his Pebbles cereal) and H-B also produced the opening credits for ''Bewitched'', in which animated caricatures of Samantha and Darrin appeared. These characterizations were reused in the sixth season ''Flintstones'' episode "Samantha". HannaBarbera

In 1963, Hanna-Barbera's operations moved to 3400

West in Hollywood Hills/Studio City. This contemporary office building was designed by architect Arthur Froehlich. Its ultra-modern design included a sculpted latticework exterior, moat, fountains, and a ''Jetsons''-like tower. In 1964 and 1965, ''The Magilla Gorilla Show'', ''The Peter Potamus Show'', ''

'', ''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel'' and ''Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt'' came on air. Screen Gems and Hanna-Barbera's partnership lasted until 1965 when Hanna and Barbera announced the sale of their studio to

.Rogers, Lawrence H. (2000).
History of U. S. Television: A Personal Reminiscence
'. Bloomington. IN. USA: AuthorHouse. pg. 444-447 Taft's acquisition of Hanna-Barbera was delayed for a year by a lawsuit from Joan Perry, John Cohn, and Harrison Cohn – the wife and sons of former Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn, who felt that the studio undervalued the Cohns' 18% share in the company when it was sold a few years previously.Shostak, Stu (November 3, 2011).
Interview with Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Shaw!, and Earl Kress
. ''Stu's Show''. Retrieved March 18, 2013. Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Shaw (artist), Scott Shaw!, and Earl Kress were all former employees of Hanna-Barbera over the years, and relate the history of the studio to host Stu Shostak In 1966, ''Laurel and Hardy (animated series), Laurel and Hardy'', ''Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles'' and ''Space Ghost (TV series), Space Ghost'' first aired and by December 1966, the litigation had been settled and the studio was finally acquired by Taft for $12 million. Taft folded the studio into its corporate structure in 1967 and 1968, becoming its distributor. Hanna and Barbera stayed on with the studio while Screen Gems retained licensing and distribution rights to the previous Hanna-Barbera-produced cartoons, along with trademarks to the characters into the 1970s and 1980s. A number of new comedy and action cartoons followed in 1967, among them are ''The Space Kidettes'', ''The Abbott and Costello Cartoon Show'', ''Birdman and the Galaxy Trio'', ''The Herculoids'', ''Shazzan'', ''Fantastic Four (1967 TV series), Fantastic Four'', ''Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor'' and ''Samson & Goliath''. ''The Banana Splits, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour'', ''The Adventures of Gulliver'', and ''The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' arose in 1968, while the successful ''

'' and its spinoffs ''The Perils of Penelope Pitstop'' and ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'' aired on CBS, followed by ''Cattanooga Cats'' for ABC. The studio had a record label, Hanna-Barbera Records, headed by Danny Hutton and distributed by Columbia Records. Previously, children's records featuring Hanna-Barbera characters were released by Colpix Records.

Mysteries, spinoffs, and more (1969–1979)

Ruby and Spears created ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' for CBS Saturday mornings in 1969, a mystery-based program which blended comedy, action, and elements from ''I Love a Mystery'' and ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis''.Shostak, Stu (February 5, 2012).
Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
. ''Stu's Show.'' Retrieved March 18, 2013. Running for two seasons, it centered on four teenagers and a dog solving supernatural mysteries, and became one of Hanna-Barbera's most successful creations and has spawned several new spin-offs, such as ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'', ''The Scooby-Doo Show'', ''Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979 TV series), 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 eventually went even further by producing nearly two-thirds of all

s in a single year. Several Hanna-Barbera series from the 1970s, such as ''Josie and the Pussycats (TV series), 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 series built around teenagers solving mysteries with a comic relief pet of some sort. ''The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show'' returned ''The Flintstones'' characters to television in 1971 with a new spin-off series based on their now teenaged children while ''The Flintstone Comedy Hour'' and ''The New Fred and Barney Show'' remained in production through the early 1980s. Meanwhile, ''Josie'' received her own spinoff ''Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)#''Josie and the Pussycats in Other Space, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space''. Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and others returned in 1972 for brand new shows, such as ''Yogi's Gang'', ''Laff-a-Lympics'', ''Yogi's Space Race'', and ''Galaxy Goof-Ups'', while ''Tom and Jerry'' were also given a The Tom and Jerry Show (1975 TV series), new series of televised cartoons in 1975. ''The Great Grape Ape Show'' and ''The Mumbly Cartoon Show'' followed soon after. In 1972, Hanna-Barbera opened an animation studio in Australia, with the Hamlyn Group acquiring a 50% stake in 1974. Hamlyn was acquired by James Hardie Industries. In 1988, Hanna-Barbera Australia bought itself out from Hardie and Taft Broadcasting, with the studio changing its name to Southern Star Group. The studio has since become Endemol Shine Australia, a division of Banijay. In 1973, Hanna-Barbera produced the first of several iterations of ''Super Friends'', an action-adventure series adapted from DC Comics' ''Justice League of America'' superhero characters. Following Super Friends (1973 TV series), 1973's ''Super Friends'' on ABC, the show returned to production in 1976, remaining on ABC through 1986 with ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'', ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' and ''The World's Greatest Super Friends''. Other 1970s Hanna-Barbera series included ''Harlem Globetrotters (TV series), Harlem Globetrotters'', ''Wait Till Your Father Gets Home'', ''Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch!'', ''The Roman Holidays'', ''Sealab 2020'', ''Jeannie (TV series), Jeannie'', ''The Addams Family (1973 animated series), The Addams Family'', ''Partridge Family 2200 A.D.'', ''These Are the Days (TV series), These Are The Days'', ''Valley of the Dinosaurs'', ''Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch'', ''Dynomutt, Dog Wonder'', ''CB Bears'', ''The Robonic Stooges'', ''The All New Popeye Hour'', ''Godzilla (1978 TV series), Godzilla'', ''Buford and the Galloping Ghost'' and ''Jana of the Jungle''. ''Charlotte's Web (1973 film), Charlotte's Web'', an adaptation of E. B. White's Charlotte's Web, children's novel and Hanna-Barbera's first feature film not based on one of their TV shows, was released in 1973 by Paramount Pictures. While the majority of American television animation during the second half of the 20th century was made by Hanna-Barbera, with major competition coming from Filmation and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, DePatie–Freleng, then-ABC president Fred Silverman gave its Saturday-morning cartoon time to them after dropping Filmation for its failure of ''Uncle Croc's Block''. Along with the rest of the American animation industry, it began moving away from producing all its cartoons in-house in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ruby and Spears worked with Hanna-Barbera in 1976 and 1977 as ABC network executives to create and develop new cartoons before leaving in 1977 to start their company, Ruby-Spears, Ruby-Spears Enterprises, with Filmways as its parent division. In 1979, Taft bought Worldvision Enterprises, which became Hanna-Barbera's distributor. New live-action material was produced in the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as new live-action/animated projects since the mid-1960s. Their live-action unit spun off and became Solow Production Company in 1976.Shostak, Stu (12-20-2006).
Interview with Mark Evanier
. ''Stu's Show.'' Retrieved June 17, 2014.

Control decrease and ''Smurfs''-era (1980–1991)

''Super Friends (1980 TV series), Super Friends'', ''Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1980 TV series), Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo'', ''The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang'', ''Richie Rich (1980 TV series), Richie Rich'', ''The Flintstone Comedy Show'', ''Laverne & Shirley (1981 TV series), Laverne and Shirley in the Army'', ''Space Stars'', ''The Kwicky Koala Show'' and ''Trollkins'' debuted in 1980 and 1981. Taft purchased Ruby-Spears from Filmways (which was eventually absorbed into Orion Pictures, Orion the following year), making it a sister studio to Hanna-Barbera. As a result, several early-1980s series were shared between both studios, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, the animated version of ''Mork & Mindy'' and ''The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour'' among them.Shostak, Stu (01-16-2013).
''Program 305'' (TV animation producers JOE RUBY and KEN SPEARS return to discuss the formation of their own company and creating such series as "Fangface", "Rickety Rocket", "Goldie Gold" and many others. Also - animation writer MARK EVANIER talks about working on "Thundarr" and "Plastic Man" for the team.)
. ''Stu's Show''. Retrieved March 18, 2013. Other of Hollywood's animation factories such as Filmation, Sunbow Entertainment, Marvel Productions, Rankin/Bass Productions, Rankin/Bass, DIC Entertainment, DIC and Saban Entertainment introduced successful Broadcast syndication#Animated_series, syndicated shows based on licensed properties. While Hanna-Barbera continued to produce for Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons, it no longer dominated the TV animation market and its control over children's programming went down from 80% to 20%. ''

'', adapted from The Smurfs (comics), the Belgian comic of the same name by Peyo, Pierre Culliford (known as Peyo) and centering on a group of tiny blue creatures led by Papa Smurf, premiered on NBC and aired for nine seasons, becoming 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. ''Jokebook'', ''The Gary Coleman Show'', ''Shirt Tales'', ''Pac-Man (TV series), Pac-Man'', ''The Little Rascals (animated TV series), The Little Rascals'', ''The Dukes (TV series), The Dukes'', ''Monchhichis (TV series), Monchhichis'', ''The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show'' and ''The Biskitts'' were aired in 1982 and 1983. Following an animation strike in 1982, more of Hanna and Barbera's shows were outsourced to studios outside of the United States. Cuckoo's Nest Studios, Mr. Big Cartoons, Toei Animation and Fil-Cartoons in Australia and Asia provided production services to Hanna-Barbera from 1982 through to the end of its existence. ''The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries'', ''Snorks'', ''Challenge of the GoBots'', ''Pink Panther and Sons'', ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'', ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians'', ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'', ''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'', ''Galtar and the Golden Lance'', ''Paw Paws'' and new episodes of ''The Jetsons'' premiered in 1984 and 1985. ''The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible'' debuted while in 1986 and 1987, The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, new episodes of ''Jonny Quest'', ''Pound Puppies (1986 TV series), Pound Puppies'', ''The Flintstone Kids'', ''Foofur'', ''Wildfire (1986 TV series), Wildfire'', ''Sky Commanders'' and ''Popeye and Son'' premiered. Taft's financial troubles were affecting Hanna-Barbera, leading to its acquirement by the American Financial Corporation in 1987 and renamed Taft to Great American Broadcasting the next year. ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'', ''The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley'', The New Yogi Bear Show, new episodes of ''Yogi Bear'', ''Fantastic Max'', ''The Further Adventures of SuperTed'' and ''Paddington Bear (TV series), Paddington Bear'' followed in 1988 and 1989. Great American sold Worldvision to Spelling Television, Aaron Spelling Productions, while Hanna-Barbera and its library remained with them. In January 1989, while working on ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'', Tom Ruegger got a call from Warner Bros. to resurrect its animation department. Ruegger, along with several of his colleagues, left Hanna-Barbera at that time to develop new programs such as ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and ''Animaniacs'' at Warner Bros. David Kirschner, known for ''An American Tail'' and ''Child's Play (1988 film), Child's Play'', was later appointed as the new CEO of Hanna-Barbera. In 1990, while Kirschner and the studio formed Bedrock Productions, Great American put Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears, up for sale after being less successful and burdened in debt. New shows ''Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone'', ''Gravedale High, Rick Moranis in Gravedale High'', ''Tom & Jerry Kids'', ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990 TV series), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures'', ''The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda'' and ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll'' first aired that year. ''Young Robin Hood'', ''The Pirates of Dark Water'' and ''Yo Yogi!'' would follow in 1991.

Acquisition by Turner and absorption into Warner Bros. Animation (1991–2001)

outbid MCA Inc., MCA (then-parent company of Universal Pictures), Hallmark Cards and other major companies in acquiring Hanna-Barbera while also purchasing Ruby-Spears as well. The two studios were acquired in a 50-50 joint venture between Turner Broadcasting System and Apollo Investment Fund for $320 million. Turner purchased these assets to launch a then-new all-animation network aimed at children and younger audiences which would be called

. Scott Sassa hired Fred Seibert to head Hanna-Barbera, who filled the gap left by Great American's production crew with new animators, directors, producers and writers, including Craig McCracken, Donovan Cook, Genndy Tartakovsky, David Feiss, Seth MacFarlane, Van Partible and Butch Hartman. Following its new name H-B Production Company and ''Fish Police (TV series), Fish Police'', ''Capitol Critters'' and The Addams Family (1992 animated series), new episodes of ''The Addams Family'' for broadcast, Cartoon Network launched in 1992 and became the first 24-hour all-animation channel, to air its library of cartoon classics, of which Hanna-Barbera was the core contributor. In 1993, the studio again renamed itself to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. (though the Hanna-Barbera Productions name was still used in regards to the pre-1992 properties) and while Turner acquired its remaining interests from Apollo Investment Fund for $255 million, ''Droopy, Master Detective'', ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The New Adventures of Captain Planet'', ''SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron'' and ''2 Stupid Dogs'' emerged that year. Turner refocused the studio to produce new shows exclusively for its networks. In 1995, while Bruce Johnson left Hanna-Barbera as executive vice president to start out PorchLight Entertainment, ABC aired ''Dumb and Dumber (TV series), Dumb and Dumber'' while Seibert launched ''What a Cartoon!'' for Cartoon Network. During 1996, ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest'' and ''Cave Kids'' premiered while Turner merged with WarnerMedia, Time Warner (then WarnerMedia, now

). ''Johnny Bravo'', ''Cow and Chicken'' and ''The Powerpuff Girls'' made their debuts in 1997 and 1998. After 35 years of being headquartered at Cahuenga Boulevard since 1963, Hanna-Barbera moved to Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks, California where Warner Bros. Animation was located and operated alongside it until its absorption in 2001. Cartoon Network Studios, led by former DiC and Nickelodeon production executives Brian A. Miller and Jennifer Pelphrey, was revived and took over production of programming, after moving to an abandoned telephone exchange in Burbank. Hanna died on March 22, 2001, at the age of 90 years old. The Cahuenga Blvd. studio faced demolition after many of the Hanna-Barbera staff and performers vacated the facilities in 1997, despite the efforts of Barbera and the others to preserve it. In May 2004, the Los Angeles City Council approved a plan to preserve the headquarters, while allowing retail and residential development on the site.

Succession and legacy-based properties (2001–present)

Barbera continued to be involved in the production of new Hanna-Barbera material until his death on December 18, 2006 at the age of 95 years old. Warner Bros. Animation continues to produce new productions based on the legacy properties of Hanna-Barbera since then. Warner Bros. has released several theatrical films based on Hanna-Barbera properties since 2002. Most recently, ''Scoob!'' came out on May 15, 2020, which is intended to be the first installment of a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe. Warner Animation Group also has an animated ''The Jetsons'' film, an animated ''The Flintstones'' film and an animated ''Wacky Races'' film in development, along with more new content. On April 7, 2021, Cartoon Network Studios Europe rebranded as Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe to revive the name. After

was established through the corporate spin-off, spin-off of

by AT&T and merge with Discovery, Inc., Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation consolidated their development and production teams as part of a restructuring by Warner Bros. Television, with Audrey Diehl overseeing kids and family, Peter Girardi overseeing adult animation and Sammy Perlmutter overseeing animated long-form productions. Among the legacy Hanna-Barbera properties, the merger does not impact their output as labels, with Cartoon Network Studios continuing to focus on original content and Warner Bros. Animation used for classic franchises.

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.Hanna, William and Ito, Tom (1999). ''A Cast of Friends''. New York: Da Capo Press. 0306-80917-6. Pg. 81–83 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 Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions said, "We don't even consider [them] competition".(December 2, 1961)
TV'S Most Unexpected Hit – ''The Flintstones''
" ''The Saturday Evening Post'' Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman argues that Hanna-Barbera attempted to maximize their Net income, 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. Its solution to the criticism over its quality was to go into films. It produced six theatrical feature films, among them are higher-quality versions of its television cartoons and adaptations of other material. It was also one of the first animation studios to have their work produced overseas. One of these companies was a subsidiary began by Hanna-Barbera in November 1987 called Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines, with Jerry Smith as a consultant for the subsidiary. Wang Film Productions got its start as an overseas facility for the studio in 1978.

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 animation, cutout style or Flash animation. 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 1984 through 1996.

Sound effects

Hanna-Barbera was known for its large library of sound effects, 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 studio and its library for its flagship network, Cartoon Network. In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner, then WarnerMedia, now Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio was separated from Cartoon Network Studios and absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. Since its closure, Warner Bros. has continued to produce new material and programming based on its classic intellectual property and the classic Hanna-Barbera logo occasionally appears.

Filmography

References

Notes Bibliography * * * * * Lawrence, Guy (2006)
Yogi Bear's Nuggets: A Hanna-Barbera 45 Guide
Spectropop.com. *

External links

*
The Big Cartoon Database: Hanna-Barbera Studios Directory
* {{authority control Hanna-Barbera 1957 establishments in California 2001 disestablishments in California 1966 mergers and acquisitions 1987 mergers and acquisitions 1991 mergers and acquisitions 1996 mergers and acquisitions American animation studios American companies disestablished in 2001 American companies established in 1957 Annie Award winners Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies disestablished in 2001 Entertainment companies established in 1957 Film production companies of the United States Filmmaking duos Mass media companies disestablished in 2001 Mass media companies established in 1957 Taft Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System Television production companies of the United States Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Discovery

History

''Tom and Jerry'' and birth of a studio (1937–1957)

Success with animated sitcoms (1957–1969)

Mysteries, spinoffs, and more (1969–1979)

Control decrease and ''Smurfs''-era (1980–1991)

Acquisition by Turner and absorption into Warner Bros. Animation (1991–2001)

Succession and legacy-based properties (2001–present)

Production

Production process changes

Digital innovation

Sound effects

Ownership

Filmography

See also

References

External links