‘Hanna-Barbera, the Recorded History: From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids’ (review)

Written by Greg Ehrbar
Preface by Leonard Maltin
Foreword by Tim Matheson
Published by University Press of Mississippi

Even as a kid growing up in the early sixties, I could easily identify Hanna-Barbera music, voices, and sound effects, but I never could have guessed there’d someday be an entire book about them…and that it would be utterly fascinating!

Hanna-Barbera—The Recorded History, From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids is that book, written by Greg Ehrbar and published by The University Press of Mississippi, “the scholarly publishing agency of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.” I’m betting neither Bill Hanna nor Joe Barbera could ever have foreseen that, either!

We open with a Foreword from actor Tim Matheson, one of whose earliest roles was as the voice of Jonny Quest in the Hanna-Barbera prime time series that has become a major cult favorite over the years.

The book next has the estimable film and animation historian Leonard Maltin deliver a “Personal Note” to the readers, followed by an introductory piece by the author himself and then…we’re off!

Most of the 28 chapters that follow focuses on a certain era or on certain characters or shows. Of necessity, though, even though the book deals mainly with the music and audio effects used by the company, we also get a general history of the animation output of H-B. as well as at least a partial history of the children’s records industry of the time.

Bill and Joe were still a long way away from their own successful company when they created Tom and Jerry cartoons for Fred Quimby and MGM but we start there, detailing just how the Oscar™ winning cat and mouse duo came to be, the music of Scott Bradley that led to their widespread success without any character voices, and their debut in recorded form.

Most of the chapters that follow utilize essentially this same format, introducing the reader to scores of names behind the music of the cartoons and related projects—some familiar (Mitch Miller, Hoyt Curtin) but many new to me. Extensive credit is also given to the brilliant voice actors, who sometimes weren’t the same on records as they were in the cartoons themselves!

To me growing up, the voices of Daws Butler and Don Messick literally defined Hanna-Barbera. It was odd to hear their voices anywhere outside of an H-B cartoon. Both men are covered extensively herein, along with Janet Waldo, John Stephenson, Alan Reed, and all the other great vocal talents. Mel Blanc, without whom the animation industry would have been lost, was never a major player with H-B until The Flintstones, but he cemented that tie with the great Barney Rubble so he gets coverage here, too.

All of the TV cartoons, classic or forgotten, are touched on, as are the company’s feature films including Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear and Charlotte’s Web.

My favorite parts of the book, though, are the many that cover the Hanna-Barbera records for children. As a kid, for some reason, my parents only ever bought me one of these, the Laurel and Hardy 78, and I didn’t even know who Laurel and Hardy were at that time. Not sure what they were thinking. In recent years, I’ve been discovering things like Yogi Bear and The Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad, Dr. No-No or Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in Songs from Mary Poppins online and they’re great fun! Now, I know how they came to be, as well!

There’s even coverage of Cincinnati’s Kings Island amusement park which, when it opened in 1972, was owned by Taft Broadcasting, which also owned Hanna-Barbera at the time. My family went there a couple times a year and even though at age 13 I was technically too old for the kid-based Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera rides, it was my favorite section of the park.

This whole book is just flooded with information that’s new to me about shows and projects I thought I was already completely familiar with. From the sound effects of Ruff ‘n’ Reddy to the songs of The Banana Splits and the Catanooga Cats, it’s all here, meticulously researched and well-documented by Greg Ehrbar. Hanna-Barbera—The Recorded History, From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids is one of those books I didn’t know I needed…but I did!

Booksteve recommends.