Slashdot Mirror
William Hanna Dead at 90
shaniber writes "Animation pioneer William Hanna, co-creator of such classic cartoons as
The Jetsons and
The Flintstones, has
passed away this week. ABCNEWS is also carrying
the story." Besides giving me Tom and Jerry and The Jetsons, I think the thing that I respect most about Hanna is the fact that a show like Space Ghost Coast to Coast was allowed to take their characters and do something truly unique with them. He even lent his voice to the show in one episode. Not a lot of people would be willing to allow one of their creations to be twisted like that, but the original Space Ghost was one of my childhood staples, and C2C stands in a class all its own proving that creativity isn't dead on TV.
"stands in a class all its own proving that creativity isn't dead on TV" Well....it is now.
Hanna and Barbera were pioneers who took animation beyond "moving comics" and made it great. Their classic serieses such as Tom & Jerry still outshine the animation of today. William Hanna will be missed.
On a similar note, Space Ghost is possibly the funniest and most original show on TV today. Thank you, Mr. Hanna, for letting it be created.
The "Space Ghost" mentioned here is usually not the original series, but Cartoon Network's homegrown Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which is a show that cannot be easily described but can be very, very funny. Check it out, Sundays at midnight EST.
The rest were an unfortunate result of the times. WB and HB cartoons through the 60s, 70s, and much of the 80s were junk.
It wasn't until the latest batch of toons from WB (Tiny Toon Adv., Animaniacs, Batman, etc) and from the now Time-Warner (PPG, Dexter's Lab, etc) that we're starting to see actually funny and well-written/drawn toons.
Jeez, why did my submission of this story (with the SAME headline) get rejected TWO days ago? I suppose that's Just Another Slashdot FAQ. :-)
* 2000-12-18 12:41:29 P2P Piracy? Piffle! (articles,news) (accepted)
* 2001-02-05 18:40:20 Using XML-RPC with Perl (articles,news) (rejected)
* 2001-03-23 12:58:25 William Hanna dead at 90 (articles,news) (rejected)
But, I'm not bitter...
but if you look at the cartoons revolving around the time HB made most of his cartoons, the other cartoons REALLY sucked. I mean really. They're terrible.
So, in your opinion, the classic Chuck Jones Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc.) were terrible? *Those* were HB's competition in the early days.
I have fond memories of the original show. Yes, it may have been a silly superhero in space show, but it was a lot of fun when I was a kid, and the design work on the show was top-rate and still holds up quite well, much like the original Johnny Quest.
Besides, when the chips are down, nothing saves your bacon like a monkey sidekick...
Because I liked the original, I have a correspondingly virulent hatred of the Coast to Coast bastardization. Especially when they reshow the original episodes with a laugh track. It's not that they're making fun of Space Ghost. That wouldn't bother me so much. It's that they're just mining Space Ghost for source material to make a really cheap Max Headroom ripoff (the talk-show Max Headroom, not the actual show).
I've seen PowerPoint presentations that had more animation than SG:CtC! If they were creating actual animation for the show, that would be something, but they're just capturing snippets and reusing them over and over and over again. It just galls me on an artistic level.
It doesn't help that I don't like campy humor.
Jon
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
William Hanna was an visionary in his field, who deserves to be remembered among the likes of Walt Disney. My happiest childhood memories were at the Hanna Barbera Land theme park in Houston, something that William Hanna had a direct role in creating. (Unfortunately, the theme park was torn down a few years ago to make room for a run of the mill water park.) I supposedly even met William Hanna once, but I was three at the time. :) Thanks to Cartoon Network his legacy will be passed on to yet another generation. May he live on forever!
I'm quite disappointed at the denunciation of William Hanna, of all things!
People often forget that between 1957 to the early 1970's, Hanna-Barbera produced a surprisingly good amount of animation. Besides The Flintstones, who could forget the Jonny Quest or the groundbreaking series Wait Till Your Father Gets Home?
The Flintstones was groundbreaking in many ways, despite its obvious homage to The Honeymooners. Many of the episodes before Pebbles was born dealt with surprisingly adult subjects for its day. Wait Till Your Father Gets Home was another series that tackled surprisingly adult subjects, sometimes almost as edgy as All in the Family (which came out almost the same time).
I will miss Bill Hanna. He and Joe Barbera created a lot of classic cartoons, that's to be sure.
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
Fortunately, there were some real gems that Hanna-Barbera managed to produce every now and then.
Remember The Flintstones before the birth of Pebbles? Despite the obvious homage to The Honeymooners there was some really good episodes, and often dealt with surprisingly adult subjects for its day.
Or the original Jonny Quest? Really nice artwork, and really good writing, too.
Or the groundbreaking Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, which came out almost the same time as All in the Family? This series often was almost as edgy as the famous CBS sitcom in regards to subject matter.
I do agree that H-B did produce a lot of mediocre stuff, but you have to admit that H-B could also produce very good shows, too.
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
While SGC2C is slightly amusing in the offhanded way, it is important to remember that many people here and in the larger portion of the population seem to believe that Cartoon Planet (the show that featured SG, Zorak, and Brak exclusively) is in fact the same show, even though it is not. SGC2C is a "talk show", and while it has featured such characters as Brak, Tanzit and SG's grandfather (with the voice of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, OH YEAH!), the principles are SG, Zorak and Moltar. I have personally only seen 3 episodes with Brak in it, so I am uncertain as to why people confuse him as being a part of this show.
Of his small appearances on C2C, Brak has never sung one of his funny songs that have reached cult classic status. When you reminisce about getting high and watching SG, you are thinking about Cartoon Planet. When you start singing "Don't Touch Me" for no apparent reason in the middle of traffic, you are paying homage to the classic from Cartoon Planet.
AFAIK, C2C is still in production, considering that two weeks ago, the second episode (most are only 10-11 minutes long, while this past week had a full 22 minute episode that was truly bizarre with Conan O'Brien) had a guest appearance by Brak where someone told him he was on the wrong show, and he stated that "That show's not on anymore!" The attempt to recreate the magic of Cartoon Planet with Brak Presents the Brak Show starring Brak! failed because the irreverence just wasn't there. I think the pitch went something like "It's like you take Cartoon Planet and C2C and you throw it in a blender and the result is this." It was in fact just that, a giant mess that didn't work.
So, please for the love of god, look closely at the Musical Bar-B-Q CD and notice that these songs are indeed from the wonderfully erratic Cartoon Planet, the likes of which have never been recreated on either C2C or BPTBSSB.
ALL HAIL BRAK!!!
Nothing today makes you laugh quite like the old HB stuff did..?
...
Ever heard of The Family Guy?
Apparently it wasn't interesting enough when the story was new...
2001-03-23 16:27:28 Cartoon Legend William Hanna dies (articles,tv) (rejected)
...you have to bear in mind; if it wasn't for Mr. Hanna (and Barbara, too), we probably wouldn't have cartoons on television.
::steps down off soapbox::
I forget where I read this...an interview with the late Don Messick, I believe (Don was Scooby-Doo, BooBoo, Baba Louie, etc.). Hanna and Barbara suggested to MGM (back in the '50s) the idea of running cartoons on television. MGM basically turned around and told them they were crazy; said it would never sell and it would never work, because cartoons were too expensive and too big of a production deal to run on TV.
Hanna and Barbara replied, "Fine, we'll do it ourselves."
They left MGM and started their own company; just them, a few guys (mainly writers) from Warner Bros., and Messick and Daws Butler (both were in the army together; HB contacted Daws about doing voices for their cartoons and Daws asked Messick if he was also interested...the rest is history).
Thus HB put television's first cartoons on air. They developed ways of making the cartoons less expensive to produce (recall the same frames often repeated several times in same episodes of Yogi Bear, QuickDraw, etc.), while still managing to make them appear better than many of the TV cartoons being produced--using some of the same methods--by other studios at the time.
Yes, they went to hell in the '70s and '80s, but we obsessive fans try not to think much about that. ^_^ Folks, try remembering Mr. Hanna for all the good he's done for us, and not the bad...and bringing [sometimes quality] cartoons to television was one of those things. Both Hanna and Barbara were truely pioneers in the field of animation, including but not limited to American.
Thank you.
-miyax
Back in the late 1970s I worked at the NYIT Computer Graphics laboratory on Long Island. At the time the Graphics Lab was among the world's best CG research facilities (its founding director, who I still work for, is now president of Pixar.)
The main focus of our research was a system for doing cartoon animation. In 1978 or '79 Bill Hanna, then approaching 70 years old, came out to see what we were up to, and seeing exciting possibilities for his cost-driven business, put together a team led by Mark Levoy, a Cornell graduate student (who I believe we recommended to him, and who is now a CS professor at Stanford) to build what would be the first commercially successful computer animation system, which Hanna-Barbera used to produce The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, etc. throughout the '80s and '90s.
-Tom Duff
NPR had an interesting story on Hanna on Morning Edition. Look for the story titled Classic Cartoonist Dies (4th story from the bottom of the page). It's in real audio format.
Hanna died when an anvil dropped on his head.
Lets face it: a lot of Hanna-Barbera TV shows were crap. In fact, the sheer number of bad shows they produced far outweighs the good ones. Also, the fact that they weren't alone in producing crap (as the following list shows) doesn't mitigate the fact that they DID spew a lot of crap. And no, it's not just limited animation: Jay Ward was a genius, and the worst episode of Rocky & Bullwinkle was better than the best episode of anything Hanna-Barbera ever produced.
;-))) & Frankenstein Jr.
And now, a short but woefully incomplete list of real crap:
Alvin & the Chipmunks
All the cartoons on the Bannana Splits (Huck Finn, etc.--though all were better, I think, than Danger Island)
The Beatles (good music, lame show)
Clutch Cargo
Cubey (An animated Rubik's Cube. Hands down winner for dumbest animated show idea ever.)
Davey & Golaith (Heavy-handed moralizing R Us. I was amused when Mad TV finally made the same Son of Sam connection (named David, talking Dog, messages from God) I had years ago.)
Every animated version of a live action TV show EXCEPT the animated Star Trek
Grape Ape
The Harlem Globetrotters
He Man and the Masters of the Universe (right there with Clutch Cargo at rock bottom)
Hercules
Hong Kong Phooey
Huckelberry Hound
The Marvel Superhero show with The Hulk (Hey, The Jetson's theme was "Ode to Joy" compared to the Hulk theme), Submariner, etc.
Mighty Mouse (the old ones, not the new ones)
Mister T
Mr. Magoo
MUSH
My Favorite Martian
Pac Man (and all the other frigging video game shows)
Pebbles & Bam Bam
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
Pinky and the Brain AFTER they added Elmyra (and whoever came up with THAT bright idea deserves hot pincers plucking out their eyes for all eternity)
Planet of the Apes
Scooby Do after the second or third season (at least once they started their "guest star" phase. And whoever came up with Scrappy Do deserves bamboo up his fingernails for, oh, say 1000 years (after all, he didn't ruin a classic))
The Smurfs ("And I said 'Shrink, I wanna kill'...")
Snuffy Smith (This bit hard. Was there ever a time the strip it's based on didn't suck?)
Space Ghost (original, not Space Ghost Coast-toCoast, which rules (to use a technical term
Yogi Bear
(And these are just shows I've seen, or at least remember seeing commercials for. There's a pretty frightening list at:
http://www.coolstuffvideos.com/cartoons3.html.
Or do a Power Search at the IMDB. I've never seen The Three Robonic Stooges, but I can only imagine how mind-numbingly bad it must be...)
I'm leaving out things that Weren't Very Good (Josie and the Pussycats (in or out of Space), Popeye and even (urp) the D&D animated show) but which didn't seem as unremittingly awful as the above. In any case, even though I'm not a Jetson's fan, it was clearly superior to all the above...
Any other candidates?
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Come on, even though the Flintstones was a Honeymooners rip-off it was still funny as hell. When was the last time an animated show was run primetime on a weekday and came in #1?
Mr. Praline : It's not pinin,' it's passed on! This Hanna is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late Hanna! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch he would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians! It's hopped the twig! It's shuffled off this mortal coil! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This.... is an EX-Hanna!
(pause)
Owner : Well, I'd better replace it, then.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
You might want to re-read that, sport. It says "Educational Division", meaning that there was a animation group that made short films for classroom use.
Widely distributed? Probably not.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
Too bad it isn't alive enough to actually be running new episodes on Cartoon Network.
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
...sucked but I liked it (as 12-years olds do). I used to run competitions with my cousins using the 25-15-10 points system -- usually involving running, a couple of board games, and soccer penalty kicks. I liked to be the Really Rottens.
but some of the humor was situational, based on the absurdity of a modern technology based on dinosaur power.
[shrug] I should be so successful.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
No, no, no, no, no.
Chuck Jones no doubt was a great talent. However, he came on to T&J long after it had achieved classic status. In fact, Chuck Jones' take on T&J wasn't all that well received. They are classics in their own right, but in no way can Chuck Jones be credited with making T&J.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
So Sad.... Watch Boomerang, the other Cartoon network Station. It has Hanna-Barbera Cartoon 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I love it.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Fred: That's right, and then Daphne and I found a wooden trapdoor in the old abandoned mine
Daphne: Yes, but there was nothing under the trapdoor, except some circles in the dust.
Fred: Circles like... spools of film.
Sheriff: But what does it all mean?
Fred: Well, officer, it means that if you pull the hood off the lizard monster here, you'll find it's...
Sheriff removes lizard monster's hood. It's the old man from the derelict motel.
Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne: Old Mr Hannah!
Sheriff: But didn't he die??
Velma: Mr Hannah must have been planning to sell the film spools which were, in fact, old episodes of The Jetsons. He knew that, with the entire series being nothing more than a boring animated sitcom, they would be worthless unless they had historical value, and faked his own death to make them look valuable!
Old Mr Hannah: And I'd have got clean away with it too if it wasn't for you meddlin' kids!
Daphne: Hey, I liked The Jetsons!
Shaggy: Wait. Why did he dress up as a lizard monster?
Sheriff: Well, that about wraps this one up. Old Mr Hannah, you're going to jail.
Scooby steals Shaggy's giant sandwich. Everyone laughs. The End
--
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Bill Hanna was an amazing man. This comes from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bbshop/message/4774 from a listserv for America's oldest male singing society.
***
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 11:40:49 -0600 (CST)
From: Gary Stamm
Subject: [bbshop] Bill Hanna (1910-2001) A Barbershopper's Perspective
Most of you did not have the opportunity to personally know Bill Hanna, the
SPEBSQSA Honorary Life Member who passed away on Thursday, March 22. But
it's safe to say that he touched all of your lives through his "children":
Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, George Jetson, Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo,
Tom and Jerry, and many, many more.
I had the priviledge of working for Mr. Hanna from 1977-1982, an experience
I would not trade for anything. I was director of the educational division
of Hanna-Barbera Productions. We used the classic studio characters to make
educational filmstrips and films for schools. I had the priviledge of
working with top notch artists and voice actors on these projects. You all
know the thrill of perfectly locking a chord and producing a couple of
overtones -- a real goose-bump producer. Well, directing a recording
session with the "human" voices of Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear produced
even larger bumps for a guy in his 30s who had grown up with these icons.
But my six years at the studio had an additional benefit. During that time
I became well acquainted with Bill Hanna. It had been his idea to use the
characters in the classroom, and although this venture produced a very small
stream of revenue in comparison with the Saturday morning productions, his
personal interest in the project kept him in close contact with me. Mr.
Hanna was a tough business man. It was his role to keep projects on
schedule and on budget. It was not uncommon to pass his office and hear him
barking out orders to someone, or even chewing someone out. But, I learned
that these were always justified, and I also learned that he was generous
and warm to those who did their job well and truly cared about what they
were doing.
Mr. Hanna had a number of interests. He loved boating and had a beautiful
cruiser that he took out on the ocean as often as he could. He loved to
take several days and cruise to Baja California where he would fish and
trade with the local residents. He was also a very staunch supporter of the
Boy Scouts. He himself was an Eagle Scout and credited Scouting with much
of his early development. Like anyone who was faithful to him, Bill Hanna
never forgot Scouting and repaid the organization in many ways.
Mr. Hanna was also a singer. He loved to sing the songs from his childhood,
so when he was introduced to SPEBSQSA and barbershopping in the 1960s, he
became enamored with it. Although he was a member of the Reseda, California
Chapter for a few years, his very hectic work schedule did not permit him to
be an active member.
During my years at the studio, however, I was able to help bring a little
barbershop back to his ears and voice. Once, his staff staged an impromptu
birthday party and invited my quartet to sing Happy Birthday. Mr. Hanna was
not content with one song, nor with simply listening. He insisted on
pushing out our lead and singing his favorite song, "Sweet Sixteen." We
ended up singing far longer than planned. We were surprised when he invited
us to dinner. We were all escorted to one of Hollywood's finer restaurants
where we were regaled with stories of the early days of the studio and how
"The Flintstones" had evolved.
Perhaps the greatest barbershop experiences with Mr. Hanna, however,
occurred on his boat. Mr. Hanna belonged to the South Long Beach Yacht
Club. Every Christmas season the club would have a parade of boats in the
harbor. The boat owners would cover their vessels with lights and
decorations and cruise the harbor for an assembled "audience" and judges.
One year Mr. Hanna had the idea of adding some live entertainment. Many of
the boats would hook up a tape player to a loudspeaker and play Christmas
music. Mr. Hanna went them one better. He had my quartet on board, as well
as a professional actor by the name of Frank Welker. Frank was the voice of
Freddy in the "Scooby-Doo" cartoons, but is also a wonderful impressionist.
Frank and the quartet took turns in front of the microphone. We would sing
a carol and he would do an impression of George C. Scott as Patton, Cary
Grant or dozens of other. At the end of the parade, Mr. Hanna's boat was
awarded the prize as the most entertaining boat.
The other real treat was the Big Billfish Tournament. I mentioned that Mr.
Hanna was a great supporter of Boy Scouts. In 1981 the Los Angeles Boy
Scout Council approached Mr. Hanna with a fund raising idea. Mr. Hanna's
friends at the yacht club would donate boats for a three day marlin fishing
contest off the coast of Catalina Island. The Boy Scouts would find
companies or individuals to sponsor a fisherman for $1,000. Since the
boats, meals and other ammetities were donated by the boat owners the
sponsorships would be pure donations for Scouting. Each boat was to carry
four fisherman. This magic number sparked an idea with Mr. Hanna. He came
to me and asked if I could get a quartet to agree to make the trip if he
would sponsor it. I had no trouble recruiting three of my barbershop
buddies to take a three-day, all expenses paid vacation around beautiful
Catalina Island. We were able to make the trip two years in a row, before I
moved to Kenosha. Both years, five boats (20 fishermen) caught no fish --
but who cared? We had fun, food, drink and beautiful weather. At night,
all the boats would moor together and everyone would gather on one of the
boats for a party. We were the hit of these nights, performing, leading
sing-alongs, and, of course, having Mr. Hanna step in the quartet for a few
numbers, including "Sweet Sixteen".
I left the studio in 1982 and moved to Kenosha to begin another dream job --
working for SPEBSQSA. A few years later, I suggested considering Mr. Hanna
for Honorary Life Membership in the Society. Mr. Hanna had been very
supportive of the Society in the 60s and 70s. He hosted Far Western
District board meetings on his boat and contributed money to buy a series of
administrative training films for the Society. He also had a long
background in music. He dabbled with background music for his first job in
the animation industry at the Harman-Ising Studio. (How foreshadowing that
he was at Harman-Ising even before he was a harmonizer.) Mr. Hanna also
wrote the lyrics for many of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon shows, such as the
"Flintstones", "Yogi Bear" and others. In the 1960s the studio produced a
number of phonograph records. One of these was the story of how Fred
Flintstone put together a quartet to go to the national contest. Also, a
barbershop quartet appeared in the animated film, "Charlotte's Web".
Although the original story did not contain a foursome, Mr. Hanna thought
that the county fair scene deserved one. The committee liked the idea of
honoring Mr. Hanna and the Society Board approved. Mr. Hanna was delighted
at this accolade, and he and his wonderful wife Vi were forever grateful for
the honor bestowed on him by SPEBSQSA.
Just this past February two barbershoppers, Jim Graham who had served on the
Honorary Member Committee and Larry Gilhousen of the Harmony Foundation
staff, arranged to have a Singing Valentine delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Hanna.
Mutual Fun quartet made the call. Even though Mr. Hanna was suffering from
late stages of Alzheimer, he was smiling and attentive to the music. When
the quartet asked if he would like to sing one with them, Mr. Hanna's son
quickly explained that Mr. Hanna really was incapable. At that point Mr.
Hanna rose, gently pushed his son aside and began a clear rendition of
"Sweet Sixteen" as the quartet joined right in.
The Hannas made several generous contributions to Harmony Foundation over
the past 10 years. Last year the Foundation Trustees voted to name the
SingAmerica Endowment Fund in Mr. Hanna's honor. Hopefully, the
SingAmerica, SingCanada-Bill Hanna Endowment Fund will grow and help keep
singing alive in our culture far into the future. He would have loved that.
For those of you who wish to honor a very fine Barbershopper, a truly great
humanitarian, and a man who made us laugh at animals, cavemen and future
space-dwellers, please join me in making a contribution to Harmony
Foundation (6315 Harmony Lane, Kenosha, WI 53143 or through our website
www.harmonyfoundation.org). The first $250 will go to place Bill Hanna's
name on the Keep a Melody Ringing Memorial which hangs in Harmony Hall. The
rest will be placed in SingAmerica, SingCanada-Bill Hanna Endowment Fund so
that future generations can enjoy their voices singing, "Sweet Sixteen" and
perhaps hear an echo from the heavens.
Sing... for life,
Gary Stamm, Executive Director
Harmony Foundation
6315 Harmony Lane, Kenosha, WI 53143
I used to work for H-B. Whenever we had company parties, Mr. Hanna always insisted on being the one to serve the cake, and he took great pride in how quickly he could scoop up pieces of cake, put them on plates and hand them to people. He did this with a very fast, jerky motion as if he were a cartoon character himself. It was always a very funny sight. The somewhat gross part was that he used his hand to slide the cake onto the spatula, and always mutilated the cake and got frosting all over himself.
Regarding Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast, it should be noted that when that show was made, Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera were no longer involved in decision-making. That was a production of Turner Broadcasting, which owned H-B at the time, and it was produced in Atlanta without any involvement of the H-B studio.
As to whether H-B cartoons sucked, keep in mind that by 1960, animation in the United States had come to a complete halt due to high costs. Up to that time, most cartoons were shorts made to be shown in movie theaters before the feature, and both MGM and WB decided that they had enough cartoons in their archives that they didn't need to make any more. Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera were the visionaries who realized that people would watch a half-hour cartoon on television, and that the only thing that mattered was that it be funny. They used stylized, limited-motion animation rather than the slick style of MGM or WB because not only was it much cheaper, it was funnier too. That vision has guided the TV animation industry ever since.