December 14 1957-2007...50 Years of Hanna Barbera!

Small Screen Specials, Series and Direct-To-Video
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December 14 1957-2007...50 Years of Hanna Barbera!

Post by AH3RD » December 14th, 2007, 3:40 pm

The Ruff & Reddy Show debuted on The NBC TV Network.

It was the very first foray into television animation for William Denby Hanna and Joseph Roland Barbera, having previously spent 18 years churning out Tom & Jerry cartoons for MGM. Hanna-Barbera Productions, Incorporated would leave an indelible mark on cartoon history, with Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Top Cat, Jonny Quest, Hong Kong Phooey, Jabberjaw, Wacky Races, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Devlin, Valley Of The Dinosaurs, Super Friends, Josie and The Pussy Cats, Jeannie, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., Grape Ape, Mumbly, Dynomutt, Captain Caveman, Richie Rich, Pac-Man, and so forth.

Hanna passed away in 2001; Barbera in 2006. However, their legacy continues to live on in the hearts of animation fans worldwide. :D :) 8) :lol: :wink: :o

BEGINING THE NEXT 50 YEARS OF HANNA-BARBERA
(DECEMBER 14, 1957-DECEMBER 14, 2007)

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Post by Daniel » December 15th, 2007, 3:16 am

Blah, vague title! :x A more appropriate name could've been "Happy 50th Anniversary, Hanna-Barbara productions!" -- Yes, minor nitpick, sorry. :)

Regardless, nice to the see this getting attention. Wish WB would've done something to commemorate this event, like y'know, release The Ruff & Reddy Show, or at the very least air special marathons on Boomerang.

Anywho, happy anniversary Bill and Joe, thanks for the memories!

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Post by Ben » December 15th, 2007, 11:07 am

You're right, Danny boy! Title change ahoy!

Also, don't forget Rand's three-part historical HB retrospective:
http://animated-views.com/2006/hanna-an ... on-part-1/

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Post by Daniel » December 16th, 2007, 7:40 pm

Haha, Danny boy. ;)

Yah, read those when they were first posted, great pieces!

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Post by eddievalient » December 18th, 2007, 12:24 pm

It's nice that most of the really good HB toons are out on dvd, but there are still a few that need to be put out there (Banana Splits, Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, Swat Kats and Jabberjaw come to mind and I wouldn't mind seeing Challenge of the GoBots, if only to compare it the the original Transformers series).
The Official Lugofilm Ltd Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bartsimpson83

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Post by Ben » December 18th, 2007, 12:27 pm

One banana, two banana, three banana, four... :)

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Post by Daniel » December 18th, 2007, 2:40 pm

That show scares me.

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Hanna-Barbera's 1975 Tom & Jerry Show

Post by AH3RD » March 3rd, 2008, 3:56 pm

Regardless of how many negative posts, criticisms, rants and insults of it that come out of the woodwork, Hanna-Barbera's 1975 version of Tom & Jerry shall always hold dear to me! To each his own...

I've been a fan of it ever since 1979, when they first aired locally in my hometown, N'Awlins, every Monday-Friday afternoon @ 3:30 on ABC (now Fox) affilliate WVUE-TV Channel 8, on The Tom & Jerry Hour. It was a mixed bag of T&J cartoons, theatrical (1940 to 1967) and TV (1975 to 1977). This was how I first learned of these made-for-TV T&Js from H-B. The theatricals were great, but I (being a child of the 1970s) somehow grew more attatched to the 1970s version. Sometimes WVUE aired the main title sequence from The Tom & Jerry Show separately from the 48 7-minute T&J stories, sometimes they aired the end credits.

I later read in Stuart Fischer's book Kids' TV: The First 25 Years that they originally aired in 1975 on The (New) Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show. I remember thinking, "Ah! So that's where they came from!" This is also how I learned of The New T&J's originally pairing with The Great Grape Ape, which I only discovered via repeats on ABC Sunday Mornings! (Yep, I missed out on the original run on ABC, and I had just come into it.)

I decided that the 1970s T&J was my sole favourite, from its first airing on WVUE to its reairing in the 1980s on WNOL-TV Channel 38 (now a CW affilliate) and Superstation WTBS, which, on Tom & Jerry And Friends, showed 7-minute 1975 T&J cartoons framed inbetween main and end title sequences! I also realize that a huge number of serious animation fans have and continue to liken New Tom & Jerry to New Coke, calling it a cheap imitation of the originals, and thus giving them a bad rep over the years. I don't think it's all the 1975 version of T&J so much; I think a great many 'toon fans have prided themselves on being hooked on the originals and declaring any version out of that scope as inferior.

Hence my web presence, The New Tom & Jerry Info Site, which I launched in March 1997, to show all and sundry that there was someone out there who took interest in them and, to a degree at least, put an end to all the bad press they've been getting. Until January 2004 (so far), Boomerang from Catoon Network has done the 1975 T&J's justice by showing them periodically on Boomerang Saturdays (1976, 1977 and 1978). They neglected to show them in April 2004 during the weekly Friday T&J marathons; they seem to be limited to the 1940-67 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatricals, Filmation's 1980-82 version (The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show) and that 1990-93 Fox revival Tom & Jerry Kids (that grey stripe between Tom's eyes was not his best feature, imho!). But CN more than made up for this with the addition of the 1975 T&Js to their rotation in May 2005.

Like I said, to each his own. Everyone here has his/her favourite version of Tom & Jerry; mine is and shall forever remain H-B's "black sheep" 1975 made-for-tv version. Just because a Tom & Jerry cartoon, be it old or new, is nonviolent does not mean it cannot be watched and enjoyed. (I mean, check out the sports-themed New T&Js! And Spike! And Hoyt Curtin's jazzy underscore!) In the days of political correctness, this was the only way Hanna-Barbera could return Tom & Jerry to TV, and that's exactly what they did! But then, PC-ness has nothing to do with my enthusiasm for this series.

So, if you will, sing along!!! :D :) :o 8) :lol: :P



Set your dial for a while!
Have a laugh, wear a smile!
It's The Tom & Jerry Show!
You'll begin with a grin
When you first tune us in
On The Tom & Jerry Show!

Introducing that world-famous cat...Tom!
And that magnificent mouse...Jerry!

(instrumental solo)

Lots of zing, lots to sing!
Everything's gonna swing!
So, get ready - here we go!
Big or small, short or tall,
You will all have a ball
On The Tom & Jerry Show!

Image


Which version of T&J do you fancy? :?:

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Post by Ben » March 3rd, 2008, 5:22 pm

There are a giant heap of such shows that I've either forgotten seeing first time around or never got the chance to see and I refuse to pass judgement on any of them until I see 'em with my current eyes.

These may or may not be any good, but if they were done with good intentions (unlike Tom & Jerry Kids!) then I'm sure to find some merit in them!

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Post by Whippet Angel » March 3rd, 2008, 6:42 pm

Sounds interesting... I don't think I ever got a chance to see that one either.

I enjoy all of the old T&J shorts, with the exception of the ones from the Chuck Jones era. Never really cared for his take on the cat & mouse duo... :?

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Post by droosan » March 4th, 2008, 7:09 am

The background 'chase' music in this TV show was super-wacky fun, if nothing else! 8)

Actually, I quite liked this version of Tom & Jerry as a little kid, in the 1970's .. but even then, I recognized the original M-G-M shorts (which, on my local Maryland station, were run in a separate half-hour block; usually just before, or just after, the 'new' TV version) as being superior; even though I was far from understanding exactly 'why', at the time. I was even less-able to comprehend (at that age) that the T&J cartoons I'd preferred were originally made for movie theaters, when my dad was only a youngster! :o

Nevertheless, I did, as I said, enjoy the 1975 The Tom & Jerry Show, as well .. it definitely holds a bit of childhood 'charm', for me. :)

I dig the Chuck Jones T&J shorts for the mod space-age Maurice Noble layouts & backgrounds .. as well as the unique pacing, and bizarre situations/themes Jones placed the duo within.

I even like the Gene Deitch T&J shorts .. because they're simply bizarre! Practically surreal .. (Calypso Cat actually gave me a memorable nightmare, once).

But the Hanna/Barbera-directed M-G-M theatrical Tom & Jerry shorts, from the 1930's through the 1950's, are the best; nearly as pure and perfect a cartoon series as ever was .. IMHO.

-------------

That's quite a nifty Tom & Jerry Show website you've put together, AH3RD..! Thanks for sharing .. :)

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1975 (belated)

Post by AH3RD » September 22nd, 2008, 8:53 pm

A whole new Funshine Saturday was dawning on The ABC Television Network.

Image Image

Previous-season's hit Hong Kong Phooey and new arrival Speed Buggy (from CBS) were back for a whole new season of repeats.

Image

Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi played 2 time-travelling futuristic androids who land on present-day Earth and inexplicably invite a young boy and his babysitter to check out the interior of The Lost Saucer.

Image

Ink-and-paint renditions of Gilligan, The Skipper, and the rest of The Shipwrecked 7 returned for a second season of new animated hijinks on The New Adventures Of Gilligan.

Image

Match Game 75 regular Charles Nelson Reilly donned a crocodile outfit and made sport of kiddie TV fare in the delightful, short-lived romp, Uncle Croc's Block.

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A fastidious feline and a messy mutt put Neil Simon's award winning play (and adjoining 1968 movie and hitherto canceled ABC primetime sitcom editions) to shame as The Oddball Couple.

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And a legendary cat-and-mouse duo would put to rest a 35-year feud (if only temporarily!) and join forces with a 40-foot purple ape and his beagle buddy to forge what would be Hanna-Barbera Productions, Incorporated's only new entry for the 1975-1976 fall season: The New Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape Show.

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1976 (belated)

Post by AH3RD » September 22nd, 2008, 9:19 pm

ABC-TV welcomes a 120½-minute trifecta of new series from Hanna-Barbera Productions:
  • The Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show (8:00 AM [EDT]) – The Mumbly Cartoon Show, a new H-B comedy-mystery revolving around the exploits of a snickering plainclothesman detective hound, Mumbly (voiced by the late Don Messick and patterned loosely after Muttley of Wacky Races [CBS, 1968-70] and Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines [CBS, 1969-71] fame) and his schlocky stooge, Shnooker (voiced by John Stephenson), is added to run with 2 reruns each of Tom and Jerry and Grape Ape. The 60-minute show ran for 2 months until The Great Grape Ape parted ways with the cast at midseason and left behind Tom & Jerry and Mumbly (whose main title theme was almost identical to T&J, which was natural, since they ran together) in the half-hour Tom & Jerry/Mumbly Show.
  • Jabberjaw (9:00 AM [EDT]) – capitalizing on the previous year’s summer blockbuster, Jaws, this 30-minute entry concerned a witless Great White shark, Jabberjaw (voiced by Frank Welker, in a style which combined the mannerisms of Jerome “Curly” Howard of The Three Stooges and comic Rodney Dangerfield [“No respect!”]), which played drums in a teenage rock band called The Neptunes, living in a oceanic world 100 years in the future. Created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears.
  • The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (9:30 AM [EDT]) – to the first new installments of Scooby-Doo since 1973 are added half-hour exploits of animated derring-do (another Ruby-Spears creation) concern The Blue Falcon (voiced by Laugh-In alumni Gary Owens), a blue-caped and -cowled superhero and his robotic Doberman, Dynomutt Dog Wonder (voiced by Frank Welker, in a manner that somewhat recalled Bullwinkle J. Moose), not unlike the heroic ilk of Batman and Robin but with a more comical twist. (The hourlong series becomes The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show at midseason in November when an extra half-hour is added to accommodate Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! repeats.)
Almost a full month before, on August 14, CBS got the jump on The Alphabet Network by replacing the soon-to-be-defected Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! with a new H-B series which in a way took on the exact same theme: Clue Club.

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Post by Ben » September 23rd, 2008, 8:34 am

Not quite sure where these last two posts fit in the grand scheme of things, but they feel like they might belong in AH3RD's other HB thread. Whaddayathink, Dan?

EDIT: I've gone ahead and merged these posts into one. Dan, can you keep an eye out and add anything newly posted of this type in here?

AH3RD - please continue to post, but please add those posts in this thread, thanks. :)

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Post by Daniel » September 23rd, 2008, 1:53 pm

Sure thing!

LOVE Jabberjaw! I espicially love the music video that airs on Boomerang:



So awesome!

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