“Who’s The Rarest Of Them All?”

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In a world of one-hit wonders, how do we judge an artist?  Armies of them seem to burst on to the scene for a brief magic moment, then vamoose into the void.  Only a few — a depressingly few, don’t you think?— manage to hang on for a lifetime of sustained excellence.  Then there’s the rarest of ‘em all — the artist who creates such an immense body of work, so studded with classic achievements, that he comes to almost personify his art form.  In mysteries, for example, think Agatha Christie.  In painting, Pablo Picasso.  In suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.  And in TV cartoons, Hanna and Barbera.

Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera have been creating classic cartoons for over fifty years now.  Together, they’ve invented some of the best-known characters in history and the largest cartoon library in the world.  Tom and Jerry , The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons , Huckleberry Hound, Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, Quick Draw McGraw… These are only a fraction of the classic characters who continue to cavort in Hanna-Barbera’s 3,500 half-hours of cartoon programming and more 350 series, specials and films.

In a world of one-hit wonders, Hanna-Barbera’s lifetime of achievement is a wonder unto itself.

“Who’s the rarest of them all?”
Essay #12 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996