The Hanna-Barbera Essays

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When I was made President of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992 the wolves came out of the woodwork. Insults started hurling in my direction immediately:

“The animation is so crummy.”

“They ruined the business.”

“How come the same tree keeps showing up in the backgrounds?”

What a crock!

Huckleberry Hound and The Flintstones were two of my favorite characters of all time, and along with Yogi, Magilla, Quick Draw and the others for me the studio had defined a silver age of cartooning. It annoyed me to no end the conventional wisdom though otherwise.

It took me a while to realize that throughout the history of the company, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera had spent their time producing cartoons and pretty much ignored their image, the result being that their competitors defined what the world thought of them. It was past time for a change.

When Bill Burnett joined the company as Creative Director, his first assignment was to write a series of essays which would define some of the unique qualities that made Hanna-Barbera a special place that made special cartoons. He did an incredible job and we used his essays whenever we could to re-position people’s thoughts about the studios.

Ted Turner sold the company before we could get more than a handful finished. Here they are; I hope they’ll explain some of the reasons I care so much for Hanna-Barbera.

The Hanna-Barbera Essays
Written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996