As a youngster in the 1970s, Mike Henry, the executive producer and co-creator of "The Cleveland Show," Fox's upcoming animated spinoff of its hit "Family Guy," would have a "Yabba-dabba-doo" time sitting on shag carpet in the living room of his childhood home watching Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as "The Flintstones," "Scooby-Doo" and "The Jetsons."
"It's all I watched as far as animated stuff goes," says Henry, who also supplies the voice of Cleveland, among other characters on the show. "I have two kids, and it's still great to be able to watch 'Scooby-Doo' with them."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, August 28, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
Hanna-Barbera: An article in the Aug. 21 Calendar about Hanna-Barbera Productions said the company was the first to produce animated shows specifically for television. Hanna-Barbera was the first to do it on a large scale, but the first cartoon for TV was "Crusader Rabbit," produced in 1949 by Jay Ward and Alexander Anderson.
Hanna-Barbera, says Henry, "laid the foundation for people being fans of animation. . . . All the people, I am sure, who have created all the current animated shows grew up watching these shows. Our shows wouldn't be there without them kind of pioneering the medium."
Paying tribute to these pioneers, the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills is currently celebrating the legacy of the late William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with "Yabba-Dabba-Doo! A 70th Anniversary Salute to Hanna-Barbera," offering screenings of their older cartoons, such as "Magilla Gorilla" and "Jonny Quest" as well as more recent shows, such as "Johnny Bravo," through Sept. 27. The Paley is also hosting an exhibition of art from their productions and a panel discussion at 4 p.m Saturday featuring veteran layout artist Jerry Eisenberg ("The Flintstones") among others.
Hanna and Barbera met at MGM in the late 1930s; in 1940 they jointly directed the animated short "Puss Gets the Boots," which was nominated for an Oscar and led to the creation of "Tom and Jerry," about a mouse who always outwits his feline buddy. Those cartoons were nominated for more than a dozen Academy Awards, winning seven.
When the movie studios' cartoon departments folded in the 1950s because of television, the duo founded Hanna-Barbera Productions. HB became the first company to produce animated shows specifically for the small screen. Among their first big successes was "The Huckleberry Hound Show." They went prime time in 1960 on ABC with "The Flintstones," their prehistoric spoof of "The Honeymooners."
By the late 1960s, they were one of the most prolific TV animation studios. Among their successful series were "Atom Ant," "Augie Doggie," "Josie and the Pussycats," "The Jetsons," "Jonny Quest," "Top Cat" and, of course, "Scooby-Doo."
