Preserving a Saturday Morning tradition and a legendary animation studio? Ans: Warner Archive
There are two names in the entertainment business, one that is keeping the dreams and fantasy from the 60’s alive with all the cartoon fanfare that made up that era and dominated the American Television sets on a Saturday morning. And one that actually produced 80% of that programming over 4 decades. Taking the best care to maintain these childhood memories of several generations Warner Archive DVD/Bluray division has been restoring animated series from that era for almost a decade, celebrating 9 years. With the utmost care and this no small feat. We are talking a library a 1000 fold many times over. But to appreciate what they have accomplished we have to transcend the very barrier of time itself to the origin of the very source. Has everyone got their bowl of Lucky Charms? If so, without further ado it’s time to take a trip in the Way Back machine.
Yes, that’s right Mr Peabody’s wonderful time machine. Although there was another time traveler making his debut in this same era but that was across the sea, in another country and that’s whole other story. We are heading to a time when America was setting its sights on the moon. When the Ford Mustang first roared its engines, the Beatles were invading the US(not the insect) and in full swing on the music scene.
Hot Wheels and Matchbox die cast cars were popping up in boy’s pants pockets,
Barbie accessories dominated a little girls shopping list and Hula hoops were popular with kids everywhere. Famous Monsters of Filmland was the reading choice of the day stashed under your bed for late-nite reads along with a batch of Marvel comics offering up the likes of The Fantastic Four, the Amazing Spider Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, and The Avengers from Stan Lee’s Bullpen and DC was flying high with the Justice League of America, Aquaman, Brave and Bold- Batman paired up with a DC all -star, Superboy and the Teen Titans. Kool-aid and Funny Face were the drinks of choice.
Above: It’s time to cool off with Kool Aid
And how many of you remember your mom’s baking a cake with Kool Aid poured into hole in the cake made with toothpicks and then a whip cream frosting…hmmm.hmmm…good cake.
TV Dinners were flying off the shelves- if you were Swanson you were well on your way to becoming what is referred to as a “household name”.
It was good to be a kid in the 60’s. The average youngster was up somewhere between 6–7 am (et), prepping the cereal bowl and mixing up some Tang or getting ready to down a big. tall glass of OJ. For at 7 am the local network affiliates were starting there line up with My Wizard, Speed Racer and Woody Woodpecker right before the major network shows were beaming across the airwaves at 8 o’clock. So you wanted to make sure you had your 2nd bowl ready to go…a little Honeycombs or Trix went along way.
60’s & 70’s Commercials-
For this was back in the day-it would be the 1960’s — 70’s and primarily 64' thru 74', it would be the prime years for “kids” programming on “Saturday” mornings. I put Saturday in quotations because there were, during this time period, some daily/weekly strip or syndicated children’s programming and also some series that popped up on Sunday mornings as well. But the bulk of it resided on the first day of the weekend. There was one animation that was single handedly responsible for Saturday Morning programming for kids and mostly on the animated side. It’s a name that would become synonymous with kids television and Saturdays for decades. Hanna- Barbera.
We all owe them and all their creative talent for the joy that they have brought into our lives either with a smile, out right slapstick & tomfoolery and edge of your seat adventure. In fact if it were not for Hanna- Barbera there very well may have not have been cartoons to help us survive the weekends knowing that school would be starting all over again come Monday morning. Our escape to other worlds of fantasy might have been limited to live action shows like Howdy Doody and Captain Video and reruns of theatrical run animation…with nothing new to indulge our young imaginations. Hanna- Barbera were able to produce thru a newly developed animation process a less expensive product and still be entertaining and not take away from the wonder & the charm of finished cartoon. Thru the use of limited cells, Hanna -Barbera proved that it was practical, profitable and highly entertaining, And less we forget that with Hanna-Barbera the writing and the story is what matters. This is the team that gave the world one of the most popular cartoon duo’s in film history- none other than Tom and Jerry. Over the course of 15 years these two characters earned MGM-Hanna-Barbera 13 Academy Award nominations and 7 Oscars. How’s that for a cat and a mouse?
Above: Bill and Joe displaying some of their Oscars
In the mid to late 50’s MGM announced that it was shutting down its’ animation department, something that some of the other movie studios were also doing . The thought was that there was enough of a stockpile of cartoons- that there was no need to create any new works. They would simply re-release the older titles and also there was the TV medium. It was during this time that Hanna and Barbera, who having realized that there was a magic, a chemistry between the two of them-that they worked more than well together. It was as if they were meant to be partners. If any two people could be any more suited to not only work together but who genuinely respected and really liked each other, it was Joe and Bill. MGM’s decision was the catalyst to the formation of one the most respected, admired and more often than not numerous attempts by other studios to copy/duplicate the genius of two of the most talented men in the animation business. I think what set them apart was they had tremendous faith in each other and they were not afraid to take chances- to break the barriers of trying to animate for Television.
Above:Doug Wildey illustrations for the episode-The Lizard Men-one of the most popular adventures of the entire run of Jonny Quest and it packed a tremendous amount of action and suspense
On a single episode of a particular series one may not realize just how many people are involved or how many positions of cast and crew it actually takes to bring one story to life ..from layouts to production and in between. Here’s a rundown of just one such episode from Jonny Quest- The Robot Spy which has a lot of science fiction elements and a bit of James Bond thrown in for good measure plus good ol’ Dr Zin-Dr Quest’s arch nemesis. Always makes for a dynamic action adventure. This reflects the production years 63–64 and this is with using less cells. We start with Director(1), then camera crew(4), Film Editor(1), continuity directors(2), writer(1), story director(1), voices(8), music(1), animation(4), animation direction(1)supervising art director(1), story supervision(1), layout (3), backgrounds(3), Production Supervision (1), technical supervision(1), ink-paint supervision(1), camera(5), film editing(1), sound direction(1): total # of cast and crew for one 21 minute episode- 42 talented people worked together to create a complete & intact “in the can” story. A lot more than I even thought. It takes to produce one episode.
Hanna & Barbera even though multi-talented always surrounded themselves with people who their own right were geniuses. artists, animators, directors, writers, voice artists and composers. Alex Toth, Doug Wildey, Hoyt Curtin, Mel Blanc…the list goes on. However, there is one individual who survived an ordeal at a young age. I am referring to Iwao Takamoto. One that I hope we never see happen again. World War II. Many forget that all Japanese Americans were gathered together and placed in internment camps shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Iwao and his family were among the people that were in these camps until the end of the war.
Join me next week as I bring part 2 of this ongoing series with regards to Hanna Barbera and Warner Archive as we discuss Iwao Takamoto and Hanna Barbera …
Caio for for now —remember “be Dangerous and Diabolik” !
Chris at Reviews on the Edge
Links-
Warner Archive- below a link to Warner Archive Shop. Check all the latest including some of the most iconic non-animated fare.
Recently released on Bluray:
The Thin Man- Starring William Powell and Myrna Loy and Asta. Dashiell Hammett’s iconic characters are brought to life in a brilliantly double entre laden script featuring some of the most fun an adult could have at the cinema. Witty one liners and a “who done it “ that will have you guessing right up to the last piece of celluloid.
Powell and Loy have what you call screen chemistry. Loaded with charm and very risque humor. Nick and Nora Charles investigate a very quirky set of suspects a most dysfunctional family. Nick is a retired detective who has been managing his father-in-laws business affairs.
An incredible cast of characters and a excellent bit of casting in the supporting roles. Caesare Romero(Batman 60’s TV- Disneys’ Dexter Riley film series), a young Maureen O’Sullivan(pre Tarzan days), Edward Ellis, Edward Brophy( known for his cop n gangster roles). Too many to list.
The thin Man upon release garnered several OSCAR nominations including Best Picture . The Thin Man was added in the US National Film Registry IN 1997. This is bestowed upon cinema that is considered culturally, aesthetically or historically significant.
Released in 1934, this comedy -mystery had the benefit of being a pre-Code. Prior to the Haye’s Code- censorship. This aloud for all the jokes featuring the witty banter and implied sexual connotations. It also featured Nick and Nora with a glass of something in their hands or sipping from throughout the film. Try counting how many times by just the Charles themselves. The average person would be snockered probably within the first 20 minutes. The film also was the spark for 5 more in the series. All of them worthy of tribute.
The production crew behind the scenes insured nothing but an instant classic for the times and beyond with Cinematography by James Wong Howe and marvelous direction by W.S Van Dyke.
So please make sure this is on your list of must haves ….It is one of my all time favorites and proudly in my personal collection.
