Hanna and Barbera
Conversations
Published on 15. May 2024
Book
Hardback
277 pages
978-1-4968-5043-0 (ISBN)
Description
Hanna and Barbera: Conversations presents a lively portrait of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, the influential producers behind Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, the Smurfs, and hundreds of other cartoon characters who continue to entertain the world today. Encompassing more than fifty years of film and television history, the conversations in this volume include first-person accounts by the namesakes of the Hanna-Barbera studio as well as recollections by artists and executives who worked closely with the pair for decades. It is the first collection of its kind about Hanna and Barbera, likely the most prolific animation producers of the twentieth century, whose studio once outflanked its competitor Walt Disney in output and influence.
Bill Hanna fell into animation in 1930 at the Harman-Ising studio in Los Angeles, gaining skills across the phases of production as MGM opened its animation studio. Joe Barbera, a talented and sociable artist, entered the industry around the same time at the wild and woolly Van Beuren studio in Manhattan, learning the ins and outs of animation art before crossing the country to join MGM. In television, Hanna's timing and community-oriented work ethic along with Barbera's knack for sales and creating funny characters enabled Hanna-Barbera to build a roster of beloved cartoon series.
A wide range of pieces map Hanna and Barbera's partnership, from their early days in Hollywood in the 1930s to Cartoon Network in the 1990s, when a new generation took the reins of their animation studio. Relatively unknown when they made over one hundred Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons at MGM in the 1940s and 1950s, Hanna and Barbera became household names upon entering the new medium of television in 1957. Discussions here chart their early primetime successes as well as later controversies surrounding violence, overseas production, and the lack of quality in their Saturday morning cartoons. With wit, candor, insight, and bravado, Hanna and Barbera: Conversations reflects on Bill and Joe's breakthroughs and shortcomings, and their studio's innovations and retreads.
Bill Hanna fell into animation in 1930 at the Harman-Ising studio in Los Angeles, gaining skills across the phases of production as MGM opened its animation studio. Joe Barbera, a talented and sociable artist, entered the industry around the same time at the wild and woolly Van Beuren studio in Manhattan, learning the ins and outs of animation art before crossing the country to join MGM. In television, Hanna's timing and community-oriented work ethic along with Barbera's knack for sales and creating funny characters enabled Hanna-Barbera to build a roster of beloved cartoon series.
A wide range of pieces map Hanna and Barbera's partnership, from their early days in Hollywood in the 1930s to Cartoon Network in the 1990s, when a new generation took the reins of their animation studio. Relatively unknown when they made over one hundred Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons at MGM in the 1940s and 1950s, Hanna and Barbera became household names upon entering the new medium of television in 1957. Discussions here chart their early primetime successes as well as later controversies surrounding violence, overseas production, and the lack of quality in their Saturday morning cartoons. With wit, candor, insight, and bravado, Hanna and Barbera: Conversations reflects on Bill and Joe's breakthroughs and shortcomings, and their studio's innovations and retreads.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Jackson
United States
Product notice
Paper over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
628 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4968-5043-0 (9781496850430)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Kevin Sandler | Tyler Solon Williams
Hanna and Barbera: Conversations
E-Book
04/2024
NYU Press
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
Kevin Sandler is associate professor in the Film and Media Studies Program at Arizona State University. He is author of The Naked Truth: Why Hollywood Doesn't Make X-Rated Movies, coeditor of Titanic: Anatomy of a Blockbuster, and editor of Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation.
Tyler Solon Williams is assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. He studies animation, television, cultural history, and media theory.
Tyler Solon Williams is assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. He studies animation, television, cultural history, and media theory.
Content
Introduction
Chronology
Hanna and Barbera: After Fifty Years, Opposites Still Attract
Morrie Gelman / 1989
Cartoon Creator Joseph Barbera Takes Tom and Jerry to Movies
Tom Provenzano / 1993
Hanna and Barbera at MGM
Michael Barrier / 1999
Roundtable Discussion with Mike Lah
Darrell Van Citters / 1977
Interview with Ray Patterson
Michael Mallory / 1998
Oscar Goes to Author of Cartoon
Fred Quimby / 1944
They Paint a Million Cats
Barrett Kiesling / 1956
The Influence of Crusader Rabbit on Ruff and Reddy
Karl Cohen / 1989
Ed Benedict
Amid Amidi / 2002
Daws Butler: The Master's Voice
Brian Lowry / 1987
Don Messick: Vocal Hero
Brian Lowry / 1986
Cartoonists Turn to TV for Work
Charles Witbeck / 1959
Lance Nolley
Don Peri / 2011
A Few Words from Jerry Eisenberg
Yowp / 2011
TV Hit from a Cartoon Factory
Thomas E. Stimson Jr. / 1960
Close-Up on Huck and Yogi: Hanna and Barbera with Antoinette Bower
Antoinette Bower / 1961
TV without Terror
Jane Kesner Ardmore / 1962
Doug Wildey on Jonny Quest
David W. Olbrich / 1986
Hanna-Barbera and Taft Broadcasting
Lawrence H. Rogers II / 2000
It'll Cost $40 to $50 a Day to Enjoy Area's New Park
George Palmer / 1969
The Improbable World of Hanna-Barbera
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera / 1967
The Purveyor of Saturday's Fare
John Stanley / 1968
Hanna-Barbera Presents Saturday Morning and Comedy
Hanna-Barbera / 1969
The Men behind Dastardly and Muttley
John Culhane / 1969
Iwao Takamoto
Amid Amidi / 1999
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Stu Shostak / 2012
Roundtable Discussion with Mike Maltese
Darrell Van Citters / 1977
Hanna-Barbera Australia
Dan Torre and Lienors Torre / 2018
Darrell McNeil on Super Friends
Marc Tyler Nobleman / 2011
Hanna-Barbera School to Keep an Art Alive
Lee Margulies / 1977
My Adventure in the Hanna-Barbera Animation Training Program
Tom Minton / 2024
Tom Sito on Hanna-Barbera
Kevin Sandler and Tyler Solon Williams / 2021
Margaret Loesch and Joe Barbera
Sonny Fox / 1979
Squire Rushnell at ABC
Kevin Sandler / 2021
Hanna-Barbera: The Cartoonists Who Own Saturday Morning
John Mariani / 1979
The Smurfs
Gerard Baldwin / 2015
Hanna-Barbera: Will Heidi's Song Be Its Snow White?
John Canemaker / 1981
Yabba Dabba Crew: Working with Hoyt Curtin at Hanna-Barbera
Jeff Bond / 2001
Fred Seibert on Cartoon Network
Jesse Kowalski / 2017
Brian Levant on The Flintstones Movie
Kevin Sandler / 2021
Joseph Barbera: An Animated Life
Scott Shaw! / 2007
Suggested Resources
Index
Chronology
Hanna and Barbera: After Fifty Years, Opposites Still Attract
Morrie Gelman / 1989
Cartoon Creator Joseph Barbera Takes Tom and Jerry to Movies
Tom Provenzano / 1993
Hanna and Barbera at MGM
Michael Barrier / 1999
Roundtable Discussion with Mike Lah
Darrell Van Citters / 1977
Interview with Ray Patterson
Michael Mallory / 1998
Oscar Goes to Author of Cartoon
Fred Quimby / 1944
They Paint a Million Cats
Barrett Kiesling / 1956
The Influence of Crusader Rabbit on Ruff and Reddy
Karl Cohen / 1989
Ed Benedict
Amid Amidi / 2002
Daws Butler: The Master's Voice
Brian Lowry / 1987
Don Messick: Vocal Hero
Brian Lowry / 1986
Cartoonists Turn to TV for Work
Charles Witbeck / 1959
Lance Nolley
Don Peri / 2011
A Few Words from Jerry Eisenberg
Yowp / 2011
TV Hit from a Cartoon Factory
Thomas E. Stimson Jr. / 1960
Close-Up on Huck and Yogi: Hanna and Barbera with Antoinette Bower
Antoinette Bower / 1961
TV without Terror
Jane Kesner Ardmore / 1962
Doug Wildey on Jonny Quest
David W. Olbrich / 1986
Hanna-Barbera and Taft Broadcasting
Lawrence H. Rogers II / 2000
It'll Cost $40 to $50 a Day to Enjoy Area's New Park
George Palmer / 1969
The Improbable World of Hanna-Barbera
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera / 1967
The Purveyor of Saturday's Fare
John Stanley / 1968
Hanna-Barbera Presents Saturday Morning and Comedy
Hanna-Barbera / 1969
The Men behind Dastardly and Muttley
John Culhane / 1969
Iwao Takamoto
Amid Amidi / 1999
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Stu Shostak / 2012
Roundtable Discussion with Mike Maltese
Darrell Van Citters / 1977
Hanna-Barbera Australia
Dan Torre and Lienors Torre / 2018
Darrell McNeil on Super Friends
Marc Tyler Nobleman / 2011
Hanna-Barbera School to Keep an Art Alive
Lee Margulies / 1977
My Adventure in the Hanna-Barbera Animation Training Program
Tom Minton / 2024
Tom Sito on Hanna-Barbera
Kevin Sandler and Tyler Solon Williams / 2021
Margaret Loesch and Joe Barbera
Sonny Fox / 1979
Squire Rushnell at ABC
Kevin Sandler / 2021
Hanna-Barbera: The Cartoonists Who Own Saturday Morning
John Mariani / 1979
The Smurfs
Gerard Baldwin / 2015
Hanna-Barbera: Will Heidi's Song Be Its Snow White?
John Canemaker / 1981
Yabba Dabba Crew: Working with Hoyt Curtin at Hanna-Barbera
Jeff Bond / 2001
Fred Seibert on Cartoon Network
Jesse Kowalski / 2017
Brian Levant on The Flintstones Movie
Kevin Sandler / 2021
Joseph Barbera: An Animated Life
Scott Shaw! / 2007
Suggested Resources
Index