Hanna Barbera, A History of the Animators

Paper Summary:

The author of the paper relates the history of the Hanna Barbera animation studio. The writer examines the studio's founders and their activities prior to the founding of the studio and the factors that influenced the founding of the Hanna Barbera studio. The author then goes on to describe the development of the studio, the animation productions that brought the studio to the public eye and notable productions over the course of time. The paper's writer also examines animation techniques used by the studio and innovative use of sound, lighting and special effects. The paper concludes with an overview of the company's position today.

Outline:
Brief History of Both Hanna & Barbera and How Each Evolved as Animators
How They Met or Joined Forces
What Profession Were They in Before Becoming Animators?
How They Started the Company of Hanna Barbera
What Made Hanna Barbera a Success?
What Cartoons They Created
Process of Animation They Used
Special Effects, Techniques, Lighting, & Sound Effects That Were Used
The Position of the Company Today
References

From the Paper:

"When MGM closed its animation unit, Hanna and Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Inc., their own production company. The company was known for its magical formula of producing low cost cartoons that focused more on humor, story and characters than on action. The company gained success with the production of 'The Flintstones'. In the year 1980, the company started operating globally by distributing the work through its international network. The Hanna Barbera Company was staffed with the members of MGM animation unit. In order to keep Hanna Barbera productions a secret to the MGM officials, the show 'I Love Lucy' was anonymously promoted. Hanna Barbera made $40000-$60000 for Tom and Jerry shots as compared to $2700 given by Screen Gems for a cartoon having duration of 5 minutes. This forced them to think about earning more profit by reviving the whole cartoon concept. They shifted the focus from visual action, which was followed at MGM, to dialogue and story. They made cartoons which were cheaper by limiting the amount of drawings. However it was not a fruitful solution to remain competitive in the industry. Then the introduction of voices to the cartoons was intended to gain the interest of the audience. In 1957, Daws Butler and Don Messick gave voice to the characters of Ruff and Ready. This enabled the company to produce shows in less time, thereby increasing the sales and enriching the development of the shows. Later the company was sold to Great American Broadcasting in 1987 when there was a slow growth witnessed, and later Turner Broadcasting purchased it in 1991. Turner Broadcasting later merged with Time-Warner Inc. In 1992, Turner started 24-hour cartoon network with Hanna Barbera cartoon series. (History of Hanna Barbera Cartoons Inc)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Austen, Jake. TV A-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol. Chicago Review Press, 2005.
• Gerber, Louis. Tom and Jerry Directed by William Hanna & Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby. <http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo15/tomandjerry.htm
• Inkblot Communications. History of Cartoon Network. 2007. <http://www.historyofbranding.com/cartoonnetwork.html
• Limited Animation. 21 January 2008. <http://everything2.com/index.pl?node+Linted%20Animation>
• Mallory, Michael. How 'Scooby-Doo' Works. <http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-scooby-works3.htm

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