Hanna-Barbera: History and Key Facts

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( bar-BAIR-ə; also known simply as Hanna Barbera, and formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.) was an American animation studio and production company which operated from 1957 until its absorption into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. The studio was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of Tom and Jerry and former MGM Cartoons employees, along with film producer George Sidney. Initially headquartered at Kling Studios in Los Angeles from 1957 to 1960, the company later moved to Cahuenga Boulevard until 1998, and finally to the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks from 1998 to 2001.

Hanna-Barbera was known for producing a vast array of animated series, including Huckleberry Hound, all iterations of The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, Super Friends and The Smurfs. However, by the 1980s, the studio's dominance declined as the market for Saturday-morning cartoons weakened, and weekday syndication grew in importance. Hanna-Barbera was acquired by Taft Broadcasting in 1966 and remained under its ownership until 1991, when Turner Broadcasting System purchased the company. Turner used Hanna-Barbera's extensive back catalog to help launch Cartoon Network in 1992, giving a new platform for the studio's classic animated properties.

After William Hanna died in 2001, Hanna-Barbera ceased to exist as an independent studio and was fully integrated into Warner Bros. Animation. Despite this, the Hanna-Barbera brand continues to be used for copyright, marketing, and branding purposes on many of its classic animated properties now managed by Warner Bros.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Hanna-Barbera by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.