Hanna-Barbera

After meeting at the MGM cartoon studio in 1939 at the end of America’s Great Depression, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera embarked on a partnership that transformed television forever. When MGM closed their cartoon studio in 1957, the pair joined forces with many of their colleagues and opened H-B Enterprises (rebranded as Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. in 1959).

Following the success of series like The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, The Flintstones and Top Cat, the studio moved to a sprawling new complex in Los Angeles in 1963. With a cartoonish façade inspired by the Space Age style of The Jetsons, this innovative hub of creativity produced some of the world’s best-loved television programmes, earning Hanna and Barbera the moniker ‘The General Motors of Animation’.

At the heart of American television for over four decades, Hanna and Barbera were awarded seven Academy Awards, eight Emmy Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2001, their studio was absorbed by Warner Bros. Animation and their characters continue to inspire children and animation artists worldwide.

Our Hanna-Barbera collection has been curated with the help of the art experts Ruth Clampett and Ari Goldman. Ruth is the founder and creative director of Clampett Studio Collections, which is the publisher of the Warner Bros. fine art programme. Ari is one of the longest-operating and most reputable vintage animation art dealers in the world, and also curates our Disney Vintage collection of original production cels, storyboards, drawings and model sheets from some of Disney's best-loved films.

The desirable series of rare original production drawings and limited edition graphics includes behind-the-scenes artworks and unforgettable scenes from the Hanna-Barbera studio’s award-winning television shows and animated short films. Handwritten character notes, model sheets, stills and title cards have been faithfully recreated by a specialist team using silkscreen, lithograph and giclée printing techniques.

Each of the artworks is signed by one or more of history's greatest animators, including William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Bob Singer and Iwa Takamoto. They feature either a Hanna-Barbera stamp or seal of authenticity, or a Clampett Studios stamp. Ruth adds: "This amazing collection of Hanna-Barbera art will never be created the same way again."

Firstly, a crucial frame of a character is drawn by hand onto a piece of paper by one of the animators before it is meticulously labelled according to its place in the sequence of the other frames that make up the cartoon. This iconic drawing, which is an artwork itself, is frequently labelled with directions to indicate the various complex movements occurring within just one moment.

This drawing is then traced by hand onto a sheet of transparent plastic, known as a cel, and painted in the vibrant colours we instantly associate with our favourite cartoon characters today. The pastel green of Yogi Bear's hat, sharp turquoise of Scooby-Doo's collar, and yellow fur of Top Cat all feature in these original production cels.

Once complete, the celluloids or 'cels' are placed in front of an equally detailed, painted background. These beautiful backgrounds are rare because less backgrounds were created than character cels as characters moved more in scenes than their surroundings. A selection of artworks in this collection are mounted against their original background, and you can find these by entering the title 'OBG' (original production background) in our search bar.

Finally, all these elements are moved by hand in front of a specialist camera and 'yabba dabba doo!', a decisive moment in a world-renowned cartoon is cemented in history. After many other processes, including sound effects and voice acting, the moments created by these early artworks travel to our screens.