William Hanna And Joseph Barbera

With careers spanning eight decades, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were two of the most prolific animation producers in American history. In 1940, the two met at MGM and created Tom and Jerry, who would earn 14 Academy Award nominations and seven wins. The growth of television led to the founding of Hanna-Barbera's legendary studio that produced countless hours of cartoons, with beloved characters from Fred Flintstone, George Jetson and Scooby-Doo to the Super Friends and the Smurfs. Prime-time animated sitcoms, Saturday morning cartoons, and Cartoon Network's cable animation are some of the many areas of television revolutionized by the team. Their productions are critical to our cultural history, reflecting ideologies and trends in both media and society. This book offers a complete company history and examines its productions' influences, changing technologies, and enduring cultural legacy, with careful attention to Hanna-Barbera's problematic record of racial and gender representation.

Profiles the lives and careers of the animation team that created Tom and Jerry and a host of other beloved cartoon characters.

Traces the history of the animation art of Hanna and Barbera from their beginning in the 1930s to the present.

Describes how Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera became a team and explores how they created their most beloved characters and shows, including "Tom and Jerry," "Huckleberry Hound," "The Jetsons," and "Jonny Quest."

In September 1960 a television show emerged from the mists of prehistoric time to take its place as the mother of all animated sitcoms. The Flintstones spawned dozens of imitations, just as, two decades later, The Simpsons sparked a renaissance of primetime animation. This fascinating book explores the landscape of television animation, from Bedrock to Springfield, and beyond. The contributors critically examine the key issues and questions, including: How do we explain the animation explosion of the 1960s? Why did it take nearly twenty years following the cancellation of The Flintstones for animation to find its feet again as primetime fare? In addressing these questions, as well as many others, essays examine the relation between earlier, made-for-cinema animated production (such as the Warner Looney Toons shorts) and television-based animation; the role of animation in the economies of broadcast and cable television; and the links between animation production and brand image. Contributors also examine specific programmes like The Powerpuff Girls, Daria, Ren and Stimpy and South Park from the perspective of fans, exploring fan cybercommunities, investigating how ideas of 'class' and 'taste' apply to recent TV animation, and addressing themes such as irony, alienation, and representations of the family.

This is the story of the partnership of Hanna and Barbera. The book contains chapters devoted to five classic shows, including The Flintstones, Yogi Bear and Top Cat. Plus sections on the studio and artists, writers, directors and the voices that created some of the world's favourite characters.

The story behind the story of Tom & Jerry, Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, & more.

An insider's account of the wild and wacky teams that created cartoon classics for Warner Bros. and MGM Animation