“Hidden Talents”

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Fred Flinstone, designed & drawn by Ed Benedict

The whole world knows the names of Hanna and Barbera.  But what about the names Takamoto, Hazelton, Singer and Benedict?

Stumped?  Don’t feel bad.  Hardly anyone recognizes the names of these inspired animators who toiled beside Hanna and Barbera for decades, inventing and refining the television cartoon.

So join me as I tear away their veil of anonymity and blast the limelight on these Hidden Talents!

Meet Iwao Takamoto, head designer of Hanna-Barbera for over thirty years.  A Disney graduate whose mastery of design and layout has influenced every aspect of the studio’s work.  Television legend Fred Silverman once said of him, “As a designer, he’s simply the best in the business.”

Gene Hazelton’s story has intertwined with Hanna-Barbera’s for more than fifty years, ever since their  “Tom and Jerry” days at MGM.  That was Gene who created the initial storyboards for “The Jetsons” and designed the “Pebbles” and “Bamm-Bamm” characters for “The Flintstones.”

Ed Benedict celebrates six decades of animation wizardry, beginning with Disney, Tex Avery, and the earliest days at Hanna-Barbera.  He was the first designer of Ruff and Reddy, The Flintstones, and present-at-the-creation of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Quick Draw McGraw, and Pixie and Dixie.

Bob Singer was the inventor of the layout that allowed animators to use the same background for different scenes, thereby making television cartoons economically possible.

Four anonymous hard-working stiffs in the cartoon salt mines.  Four inspired artists inventing a new era in entertainment.  Four of Hanna-Barbera’s Hidden Talents.

“Hidden Talents”
Essay #10 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996

“The Brilliant Invention of the Five O’Clock Shadow”

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It’s been a well documented how Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera saved the dying art of animation by finding ways to make it possible on a television budget.  But here’s one aspect you probably never noticed or at least never understood.  The real genius behind limited animation is the need for a shave.  Yep.  Ever noticed how Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, George Jetson and Officer Dibble always seem to have a five-o’clock shadow?  Now look at the animal cartoon characters.  Yogi, Boo Boo, Quick Draw, Huck, Dino,  and on and on, all have muzzles or snouts of a different color.  Genius!  Why?  Think about this. How much of a TV cartoon is actual action and how much is characters talking?  And like they say, talk is cheap!

By giving the human and animals a distinct “mouth zone” Hanna and Barbera were able to have the characters’ head on a separate cel level and not have to re-draw it over and over.  The top cel level would contain just the mouth movements.  This enables countless dollars to be saved when characters are in dialogue scenes.  But once the action starts, all bets are off!

So next time you see a cartoon character who needs a shave, think about a world without TV cartoons.  Yikes!  Thank goodness for Hanna, Barbera and stubble!

“The Brilliant Invention of the Five O’Clock Shadow”
Essay #11 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996

“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

“Seven Oscars and Counting”

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They say that greatness is its own reward, but it doesn’t hurt to have seven Oscars, too.  On my desk are five pages (count ‘em, five) listing all the awards that Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera have won over the years, from their first Oscar in 1943 right through their two Emmies in 1994.  Fifty-one years of top honors, including more Oscars than any cartoon directing team in history.

Is your mind boggled?  Mine is.  Who else out there has been called up to podiums for more than half a century?  On top of Oscars, there are Emmies, including the first ever given to a cartoon show.  (That was way back in 1960 for “Huckleberry Hound.”)  Not to mention the Governors Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science, the Humanitas, Christopher, Golden Globe, Iris.  And on and on.

By the way, next time you’re in Hollywood, drop by Hollywood Boulevard and x Street and take a peek at The Joseph Barbera and William Hanna Hollywood Walk of Fame Star.  And please — step on it.

“Seven Oscars and Counting”
Essay #13 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996

“Laughing at the Future” by Joseph Barbera

When The Flintstones turned out to be a major success, Bill and I looked around for another idea that we could use to follow America’s favorite Stone Age family.  The obvious solution was to create America’s first Space Age family.  (One of my mottoes is “Why avoid the obvious?”  It’s a question I encourage all aspiring young cartoonists to ask themselves every day.)

And so, we invented The Jetsons. Although similar in their concepts, the two shows had opposite approaches to humor.  Where the Flintstones showed us how the foibles of modern society had roots in the Paleolithic period, the Jetsons warned us that things could get even worse for us in the future — or at least that they wouldn’t  get much better!  Fred’s backbreaking job of smashing rocks at Slate’s gravel pit reminded us that our own occupations weren’t all that bad.  And George Jetson’s complaints about getting sore fingers from pushing buttons seemed funny, considering how much easier he had it compared to those of us stuck in the 20th century!

This year, as The Jetsons   are about to turn 34 years old, some of the show’s predictions about life in the future bear reexamination.  We are living in the future right now (from a 1962 standpoint) and it does look a little familiar.  Technology has created jobs undreamed of in 1962.  (George’s job at Spacely’s Space Age Sprockets is “digital index operator.”  Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound like a 90’s job title!)

Today, computers are in every business and in many homes.  And while they don’t make our lives quite as easy as they do for the Jetsons, they do cause some interesting futuristic problems.  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has become a major malady among 9-to-5 keyboardists.  (George was ahead of his time even with his health problems!)  Robots like Rosie don’t yet act as our maids, but robots build our cars and make increasing inroads in our daily lives.  The Jetsons magical food preparation device, the Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle, has almost come true in this age of microwavable instant meals.  And picture phones do exist today, even though they are not quite ready for the mass market yet. (Will they ever  get that right over at AT&T?)  Maybe we haven’t started walking the family dog on treadmills, but  how many people work out on treadmills in the gym or in their own homes?

Sadly those jet-powered flying machines that people in the 21st century use to get around town in have not yet materialized.  (We’re still waiting.  Make mine a red convertible.)  And we don’t yet live in mile-high bubble domes like in Orbit City.  (Not a bad idea though, considering the flood, fire and smog problems we’ve been having in L.A.)  But much of the Jetsons world is with us already.  Which is not to say that the original Jetsons episodes don’t still make for entertaining viewing.  In their future world, there is no depleted ozone layer, no disappearing rain forests, and no radioactive waste disposal problems.  You know, escaping into the world of The Jetsons seems like a better idea than ever.

“Laughing at the Future”
Essay #14 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996

“In Cartoons, Music Makes the Laughs Grow Louder” by Bill Hanna

Years ago, I got my start working for a cartoon production company run by Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising.  They were the creators and producers of the early Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.  It was no coincidence that those early cartoons (along with Disney’s Silly Symphonies) were named after forms of music. Why, the very name of the company—Harman-Ising—had a harmonious musical ring to it.

Music was our inspiration, our jumping off point, you might say.  I used to time out cartoon gags using musical bars and staves, because the timing  in cartoons is so crucial to getting the laugh.  “Timing” is a musical concept, really.  A seven minute cartoon can be seen as a short piece of music, with  pacing and dynamics that can almost be charted, like a musical score.  My love and understanding of music has served me well throughout my cartoon career, because it helped me nudge the laughter out of an audience.

Probably the most enjoyable part of producing cartoons at Hanna-Barbera has been writing the lyrics (and some of the melodies) for many of the main titles of our shows.  I did this while working with our main musical director for many years, Hoyt Curtin.  I believe that Hoyt Curtin is one of the two truly distinctive musical voices to have emerged in cartoons over the last 50 years.  (The other one is Carl Stalling over at Warner Bros.) Like Stalling, who used primarily symphonic orchestral arrangements, Hoyt called upon the dominant musical form of his day.  In Hoyt’s case, that meant the big band sounds of the ’40s and ’50s, which he translated into a series of themes and scores that are maddeningly catchy, effortlessly funny, and utterly unmistakable.  Thanks to him you can tell a Hanna-Barbera cartoon from across the street, just by hearing a few strains of music.

When it came time to write a theme song for one of our new shows, Hoyt and I would get to work.  The lyrics almost always came first.  I would compose the lyrics in my head, jot them down on a sheet of note paper, give Hoyt a call at his home, and recite them over the telephone.  Invariably, Hoyt would call me back within a day or so with a musical composition and sing the thing to me, complete with my lyrics.  Hoyt’s ability to create a bright, lilting melody to match my lyrics time after time was to me nothing short of astonishing.

Over the past 40 years I have attended hundreds of recording sessions, and have gotten to know and respect many talented musicians.  But Hoyt Curtin was the one I spent the most time with.  We worked together.  We sang together.  And we became good friends.

Even today, music plays an integral part in the creation of cartoons for me.  I recently wrote one more title for a short I created for the Cartoon Network.  It’s about a little duck called Hard Luck Duck who is always getting into trouble, and his best friend Harley, an alligator who rescues him.  If you get a chance to see it, listen for the music. And see if it doesn’t play a part in nudging a laugh out of you.

“In Cartoons, Music Makes the Laughs Grow Louder”
Essay #15 (of 15)
Original essay written by Bill Burnett, Creative Director, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, 1993-1996