Hanna-Barbera

If I haven't said it before, I will now. Thank goodness for blogs!

This blog entry was years in the making and I finally got down to business. I'm a fan of animation. I always have been when I think about it. I loved reading comic strips in the Montreal Gazette. Scholastic deliveries of books like Heathcliff and Marmaduke to my elementary school were near Christmas status and always well-received.



Like most kids, I loved cartoons after school and on weekends. I also loved the holiday cartoons like Charlie Brown Christmas and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I remember the odd prime-time Garfield cartoon that would air at night.



The pioneering cartoons like Disney, Merrie Melodies and Terrytoons must get their respect but I have a personal fondness for Hanna-Barbera's work. There is something in the quality of their animation that draws me in. If I had to describe it, there is a humanity that they applied to their drawings that is very tangible and the closest to their style is Looney Tunes. In my opinion, Looney Tunes was not as accurate. Take a look at how they drew Johnny Quest. I didn't care too much for Johnny Quest but I always respected the quality of the art.



Who didn't love all the Scooby-Doo shows and its variations? Flintstones was a staple on CFCF-12 here in Montreal for most of my life.



It would play at noon and I can imagine most children growing up after me watching it while eating lunch. Jetsons was not one of my favorites. It was probably too adult-oriented for my taste.



When I made trips to New York to see my family, I discovered that Hanna-Barbera made MANY more cartoons than Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Top Cat.  For some reason, Canadian television gave us a very limited choice of their work. I learned about Dastardley & Muttley, Space Ghost and Birdman later on in my life. Unbelievable! Hanna-Barbera were the ones who drew Sealab 2020, the predecessor to Sealab 2021.



I learned they drew Tom & Jerry a few years ago. Actually, I came to remember they drew them when I bought a couple VHS collections of their cartoons. I remember as a child the Tom & Jerry Show would start off the WPTZ weekday afternoon schedule that ended with Welcome Back, Kotter. I remember a number of Tom & Jerry cartoons, especially the Jasper one. 

I want to take this moment to pay tribute to Hanna-Barbera. Thank you for the decades of animation we have grown up with. I'd love to expose my children to their work to help keep the legacy alive for generations to come.