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06-22-2008, 08:50 AM
The Hanna-Barbera Treasury: Rare Art And Mementos From Your Favorite Cartoon Classics
By Jerry Beck
Insight Editions
November 20, 2007
Hardcover
$45.00
by Randall Cyrenne, January 6th, 2008
I love Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I always have. Oh, not all of them, maybe— though I can find even the weak ones appealing. Growing up on the work of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera was a joyful thing to me. I used to race home at lunchtime from school to watch the reruns of The Flintstones, and naturally my Saturday mornings were filled with favorites from the H-B studio— Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, Jetsons, Super Friends… and so many more. My childhood experiences made me a lifelong fan and defender of the studio. I guess it’s the haze of nostalgia that partially blinds me to the weaknesses of much of their later output; but anyone who wants to argue against the value of their pre-1970 series will get an earful from me. The stuff they did up until (and including) the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is largely golden in my eyes. Those late 1950s and 1960s shows had uncommonly good writing, exquisitely sharp timing, and wonderful voice acting. Okay, there were a few lesser shows in there, but even when scripts got to feeling recycled, the other qualities were still present. Something may have faded in-between Huckleberry Hound and Magilla Gorilla, but I still find the majority of the H-B series from the 1950s and 1960s vastly entertaining. It probably helped that, just as the funny animal shows were getting stale, they switched over to superheroes and other concepts. Fortunately, this is the era where Jerry Beck decided to focus when writing his new book on Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Ironically, the time period covered by this book ends just a year before I was born, so my own knowledge of these shows comes from reruns, books, and DVDs, but I know these are the classics. Beck begins with the theatrical Tom And Jerry shorts that Bill and Joe did at MGM, before moving on to Ruff And Reddy and the successive TV cartoons, up to the original Scooby-Doo.
Beck has compiled what the cover describes as a scrapbook, filling the pages with wonderful photographs and replicas of artwork and memorabilia. This is not a book to give the reader a complete look at the Hanna-Barbera legacy, but there are other books out there that can do that for you— at least if you read two or three of them (I think we’re still waiting for the authoritative text on the subject). In The Hanna-Barbera Treasury, Mr. Beck does offer a history of the creators and information about the spotlighted shows, but the real reason for getting this book is for the pretty pictures. I don’t mean to slight Mr. Beck’s writing here, but much of the information he provides can be found elsewhere (or viewed on DVD), although those less well versed on the studio will certainly find this a fount of information. And, even for those that have read the Bill and Joe autobiographies, or other studio histories, the tons of photos in the book will still be a marvel.
By Jerry Beck
Insight Editions
November 20, 2007
Hardcover
$45.00
by Randall Cyrenne, January 6th, 2008
I love Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I always have. Oh, not all of them, maybe— though I can find even the weak ones appealing. Growing up on the work of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera was a joyful thing to me. I used to race home at lunchtime from school to watch the reruns of The Flintstones, and naturally my Saturday mornings were filled with favorites from the H-B studio— Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, Jetsons, Super Friends… and so many more. My childhood experiences made me a lifelong fan and defender of the studio. I guess it’s the haze of nostalgia that partially blinds me to the weaknesses of much of their later output; but anyone who wants to argue against the value of their pre-1970 series will get an earful from me. The stuff they did up until (and including) the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is largely golden in my eyes. Those late 1950s and 1960s shows had uncommonly good writing, exquisitely sharp timing, and wonderful voice acting. Okay, there were a few lesser shows in there, but even when scripts got to feeling recycled, the other qualities were still present. Something may have faded in-between Huckleberry Hound and Magilla Gorilla, but I still find the majority of the H-B series from the 1950s and 1960s vastly entertaining. It probably helped that, just as the funny animal shows were getting stale, they switched over to superheroes and other concepts. Fortunately, this is the era where Jerry Beck decided to focus when writing his new book on Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Ironically, the time period covered by this book ends just a year before I was born, so my own knowledge of these shows comes from reruns, books, and DVDs, but I know these are the classics. Beck begins with the theatrical Tom And Jerry shorts that Bill and Joe did at MGM, before moving on to Ruff And Reddy and the successive TV cartoons, up to the original Scooby-Doo.
Beck has compiled what the cover describes as a scrapbook, filling the pages with wonderful photographs and replicas of artwork and memorabilia. This is not a book to give the reader a complete look at the Hanna-Barbera legacy, but there are other books out there that can do that for you— at least if you read two or three of them (I think we’re still waiting for the authoritative text on the subject). In The Hanna-Barbera Treasury, Mr. Beck does offer a history of the creators and information about the spotlighted shows, but the real reason for getting this book is for the pretty pictures. I don’t mean to slight Mr. Beck’s writing here, but much of the information he provides can be found elsewhere (or viewed on DVD), although those less well versed on the studio will certainly find this a fount of information. And, even for those that have read the Bill and Joe autobiographies, or other studio histories, the tons of photos in the book will still be a marvel.