Huck Shines in the Sunshine State
Not too long after The Huckleberry Hound Show debuted on the week of September 29, 1958, newspaper columnists began praising the series. An early thumbs-up for Huck and his gang came from the...
View ArticleDaws Butler: Living the Characters
Daws Butler once told interviewer Larry King that he did not do “voices.” He did “characters.” If anyone was the glue that held the Hanna-Barbera cartoons together in the early years, it was Daws...
View ArticleNot a Groupie For Loopy
Hanna-Barbera debuted two cartoon series in 1959. One is my favourite—the Quick Draw McGraw Show. The other is Loopy de Loop. I’m afraid I’m not a fan of Loopy. He’s a French-Canadian wolf who’s not...
View ArticleHe Was Hadji
Whenever Hanna-Barbera had kid characters in the 1950s, adults who had come from radio did the voices. Things changed when Jonny Quest came along in 1964. Someone made the decision to go with boy...
View ArticleJonny Quest is 60
Kids like to laugh. Kids like a bit of adventure, too. That’s why Jonny Quest turned out to be such a success. You’d think that a TV show that lasted one season was a failure. Maybe in live action it...
View ArticleQuick Draw McGraw at 65
My favourite Hanna-Barbera series first appeared on television screens 65 years ago today. The Quick Draw McGraw Show was Hanna-Barbera’s attempt to gently lampoon the types of shows popular on...
View ArticleFarewell to Elliot Field
The last of Hanna-Barbera’s voice actors from the 1950s has passed away. Elliot Field was 97. He died last Monday, the 23rd. Elliot was the afternoon drive jock at KFWB in Los Angeles when Joe Barbera...
View ArticleThe Many Bears of Yogi
If I say “Yogi Bear” to you, you’ll likely think of pic-a-nic baskets and “The ranger won’t like it, Yogi.” But that isn’t how Yogi started out. Warren Foster came to Hanna-Barbera in 1959 to take over...
View ArticlePresident Huck
How long have animated cartoon characters been “running” for the U.S. presidency? Well, Popeye and Bluto did. So did Betty Boop (as the crowd chanted her name to the “We Want Cantor” musical vamp)....
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