Ed Benedict, who was a layout artist for MGM (under Tex Avery) and Hanna-Barbera, and who created the designs for the characters that became "the modern Stone Age family" in 1960, died last month of natural causes in California at the age of 94.

See Jerry Beck's "CARTOON RESAERCH" webpage, under "Cartoon Brew" (August 2006), for full details.....


:crying:

ANIMATION BLAST magazine #8 (published in 2002) did a fantastic 22-page
article about Ed Benedict, with lots of illustrations. Did you know Benedict
also drew record album covers for Colpix's Hanna-Barbera TV soundtrack LPs?
The company removed his trademark "EB" signature that he had placed on the
cover of HUCKLEBERRY HOUND THE GREAT KELLOGG'S TV SHOW, but he still
managed to slip in the names of his three children (Allan, Don and Ann) onto
the train. (In fact, I spotted those names back in the sixties ... but didn't
learn their significance until some forty years later.) Benedict even did a
1963 concept drawing of Jonny Quest (needless to say, quite different from
the Doug Wildey design that was actually used).

...that issue of ANIMATION BLAST, 'tv star collector', but it must have been executed with love. I guess SOMEONE at H-B had to draw most of those Colpix "soundtrack" covers, even though they wouldn't credit WHO executed them {however, Hanna-Barbera Records ALWAYS gave credit on their artists' covers in the mid-'60s, including Paul Julian's work}. Funny that Benedict didn't like the way the studio animated his designs.....and I guess they didn't like his original concept of Jonny Quest, either. Very rare to find a talent like his..in ANY medium.

:crying:

As much as I like Benedict's designs for H-B's funny animal characters, I have
to agree with the choice of Doug Wildey to design Jonny Quest which was (I
think) the first serious animated adventure series (at least the first successful
one). Had they gone with Benedict's drawing, the show would have definitely
gone in a totally different direction (with more of an emphasis on comedy than
adventure). But that wasn't what Joe Barbera was looking for. JONNY QUEST
only ran for one season in prime-time. But in this age of SPIDER-MAN and
JUSTICE LEAGUE, perhaps JONNY was just a bit ahead of its time.

..."JONNY QUEST" was on for only one for one season in prime-time because of a slight disadvantage: its competition. When it premiered on Fridays at 7:30pm(et) in the fall of 1964, "RAWHIDE" was in its seventh season on CBS (and still going strong)...and its NBC challenger, "INTERNATIONAL SHOWTIME" starring Don Ameche [filmed circus acts around the world], was also a "favorite" with viewers. In mid-season, ABC swapped days and times with "JONNY" and "THE FLINTSTONES". They managed to revive Fred's sagging ratings, but on Thursdays, "JONNY QUEST" fell victim to the one-two punch of "THE MUNSTERS" on CBS, and "DANIEL BOONE" on NBC.

Possibly Ed Benedict's designs would have caused "JONNY" to veer towards more comedy and "traditional" Hanna-Barbera elements.....

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