Hanna-Barbera Information
When I first started searching for William Hanna and Joseph Barbera information, I found over hundreds of Scooby sites, over thousands of other Hanna-Barbera cartoon sites, and very few sites containing actual information on the two cartoon creators. After finding no results on search engines I tried to find Scooby sites with information on Mr. Barbera and Mr. Hanna, there were also few. Many Scooby sites didn't even have a link to a site about Hanna and Barbera. But without Mr. Barbera and Mr. Hanna there wouldn't be a Scooby Doo, or a Fred Flinstone, or a Huckleberry Hound, or a Yogi Bear, or a Jonny Quest, or the Smurfs, or over 2,000 other characters created by the awesome pair. But thanks to all of the fans (you gals & guys) that are taking the time to learn a little bit about the two funtastic people who made Saturday mornings (cartoon wise) worth setting an alarm clock for! :o)
A LOOK INTO THE EYES OF THE TWO GREATEST CARTOON LEGENDS OF ALL TIMES:
There are three awesome articles that someone found and posted on their website which I thought described these two incredible men alot better than I could. The following three works are not mine, the author is unknown (the guy that owned the site said that he had forgotten the name of the book), I did not write the following information:
William Denby Hanna (1910- 2001)
American animator and producer born in Melrose, New Mexico, on July 14, 1910. William Hanna studied to become a structural engineer but had to drop out of college with the onset of the Depression. A talent for drawing led him to join the Harman-Ising animation studio in 1930; there he worked for seven years in the story and layout departments.
When the MGM animation unit was established in 1937, Hanna became one of its first staff members and directed many of the Captain and the Kids cartons in 1938-39, together with William Allen. In 1938 he and Joe Barbera were teamed for the first time on a short titled Gallopin' Gals; the association became permanent the next year when the duo directed the first of the Tom and Jerry cartons, "Puss Gets the Boot." Over the next 18 years Hanna and Barbera directed more than 200 Tom and Jerry shorts, winning great popularity and a number of Oscars along the way. For a brief period following Fred Quimby's retirement in 1956, they were also in charger of production.
In 1957 Hanna and Barbera struck out on their own and formed Hanna-Barbera Productions with a view to producing cartoon films for television as well as for theatrical release. The success of their early television series, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, helped establish them in the field, but their theatrical venture, Loopy de Loop, fizzled out. In the early 1960s the phenomenal success of The Flintstones boosted the studio to the top of the TV cartoon field; Hanna-Barbera Productions was sold to Taft Communications in 1966 for a reported $26 million, with Hanna and Barbera remaining at the head of the company.
Hanna-Barbera has been churning out animation material at an increasing pace as television has provided a greater and greater market for their product. Among the more than 100 cartoon series and specials produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 20 years of the studio's existence, there are very few that are commendable or even watch able. Some of their series titles are Atom Ant, Magilla Gorilla, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Quickdraw McGraw, Ruff and Ready, Auggie Doggie and Doggie Daddy (an imitation of the earlier Spike and Tyke MGM cartoons), Dastardly and Mutley and Birdman; the specials include Alice in Wonderland, Jak and the Beanstalk, Cyrano de Bergerac and Charlotte's Web.
Hanna-Barbera has been called "the poor man's Disney," but even that appellation is probably too charitable. There is no artistic reason why Hanna and Barbera, who proved themselves very talented craftsmen during their halcyon days at MGM, could not have used limited animation to better effect than they have in all their days as independent producers. Jay Ward and others have proved that TV animation need not be as dreadful an exercise as Hanna-Barbera made it. On November 24, 1977, CBS aired a special called The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera, in which their current production was contrasted with their earlier work at MGM -- The worst condemnation that could possibly have been imagined.
Joseph Roland Barbera (1911- )
American animator and producer born in New York City in 1911. Despite a flair for drawing, Joe Barbera decided after high school to become a banker, and he attended the American Institute of Banking. He briefly worked as an accountant for a law firm but found himself out of a job at the start of the Depression. After trying unsuccessfully to begin a new career as a magazine cartoonist, he became associated with the Van Beuren studio in 1932, working as an animator and scriptwriter, notable on the Tom and Jerry series (which featured two zany human characters in all kinds of weird situations).
In 1937 Barbera went west and joined the newly formed MGM carton unit, first as a scriptwriter, then as an animator. He teamed up with William Hanna the following year to direct Gallopin' Gals; the association proved mutually satisfying, and in 1939 Barbera and Hanna collaborated again on "Puss Gets the Boot," the first entry in the Tom and Jerry series. (While the title was probably inspired by the Van Beuren characters, the protagonists in this one were a cat and a mouse, and very different from their namesakes.) The Tom and Jerry cartoons went on to dizzying success, and from 1939 on the professional career of Joe Barbera became inseparable from that of William Hanna.
Combined: Hanna-Barbera:
WILLIAM DENBY Hanna and Joseph Roland Barbera. Why do these names ring a bell? While collectors may not be familiar with these gentlemen as individuals, they certainly know their creations - Huckleberry Hound, Yogi and Boo-Boo, Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone, Jonny Quest, and Scooby-Doo.
Collectors and scholars are assessing who has exercised the greatest influence on the generations of Saturday morning television cartoon show youngsters - Hanna and Barbera or Walt Disney? Betting money is on Hanna and Barbera.
I was surprised at how hard it was to research the lives of these men and the history of their cartoon empire. I found a piece here, a piece there. At Hanna-Barbera Studios, I talked with Karen Farris and Marc Grossman in the publicity department. Individuals and a company of their importance deserve better.
Much of this information comes from press releases provided by Karen Farris on behalf of Hanna-Barbera Studios. Credit where credit is due. I am plagiarizing freely because I believe much of the information will be as new to you as it was to me.
William Danby Hanna was born on July 14, 1910, in Melrose, N.M. Attending college during the Depression, he studied structural engineering briefly before a lack of finances forced him to end his studies. A talent for drawing landed him a job at the Harman-Ising animation studio in 1930. Hanna worked there for seven years.
Joseph Roland Barbera was born in New York City in 1911. Although enamored with drawing, Barbera initially worked as an accountant at a law firm, following his studies at the American Institute of Banking. He lost his job as a result of the Depression. After a brief stint as a magazine cartoonist, in 1932 Barbera joined the Van Beuren studio, where he helped animate and script Tom and Jerry.
The original Van Beuren Tom and Jerry cartoons featured two zany human characters who found themselves constantly in weird and strange situations. MGM's "Tom and Jerry," the cartoon with which most of us are familiar, stars a cat and a mouse. Cartoon historians see a clear linkage between the two. They should.
For Hanna and Barbera, 1937 was a magic year. MGM was organizing a new cartoon unit in Hollywood. Barbera headed west and joined MGM as a scriptwriter and later an animator. Hanna, one of the first MGM staff members, directed many of the "Captain and Kids" cartoons, collaborating with William Allen.
It was not until 1938 that Hanna and Barbera were first teamed together. Their first project was "Gallopin' Gals." In 1939 Hanna and Barbera collaborated again, this time on "Puss Gets the Boot," the cartoon that would propel Tom, the cat, and Jerry, the mouse, to cartoon stardom. From this point forward, Hanna and Barbera were inseparable.
During the next 18 years, Hanna and Barbera worked together on over 200 Tom and Jerry cartoons, earning seven Academy Awards in the process. The pair won critical acclaim in the 1940s as their cartoon characters danced with Gene Kelly in the motion pictures "Anchors Away" and "Invitation to Dance" and with Esther Williams in the film "Dangerous When Wet." When MGM's Fred Quimby retired in 1956, Hanna and Barbera were placed in charge of all MGM's cartoon production.
In 1957, after being with MGM for 20 years, Hanna and Barbera struck out on their own. Their goal was to develop cartoons for television, a medium they saw as an opportunity for a new animation style and the introduction of a host of new cartoon characters. Their independent Hanna-Barbera Studio would define the art of television animation.
Hanna contributed his talents in respect to personnel management and comic tempo. Barbera added skilled draftsmanship, a strong story-telling ability, and comic inventiveness.
For almost 40 years, Hanna and Barbera have charmed television viewers and movie audiences with a never-ending array of lively, entertaining cartoon characters, beginning with Ruff and Reddy and extending through the Smurfs. In 1991, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera were elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Now in their 80s, Hanna and Barbera continue to work. Bill Hanna was executive producer on the feature-length animated musical adventure "Once Upon a Forest" from Twentieth Century Fox and directed "I Yabba-Dabba-Doo" and "Hollyrock-A-Bye Baby," both ABC specials.
Joe Barbera was a creative consultant for the animated feature film "Tom and Jerry - The Movie," produced by Turner Entertainment Co. and distributed by Miramax. He also served as producer and executive producer for the syndicated Hanna-Barbera / Fox Children's Network show "Tom and Jerry Kids."
Hanna and Barbera are lending their individual talents to the World Premier Toons project, 48 seven-minute cartoon shorts, the first of which aired on the Cartoon Network last February. Hanna is directing "Hard Luck Duck," his first solo outing since 1937. Barbera is directing the popular Flintstones snorkasaurus Dino, the original purple dinosaur, in "Stay Out."
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