Hanna-BarberaThe animators behind the name Hanna-Barbera Productions are William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Many baby boomers grew up thinking that a lady by the name of Hanna created all of those cartoon legends. Rarely did we see one name without the other, and, unlike Walt Disney and Walter Lantz, they kept a low profile and allowed their characters to speak for them. Hanna and Barbera first teamed up at MGM. The first product the duo created was the animated short "Puss Gets the Boot." This cartoon featured two characters who would later become known as "Tom and Jerry." Over seventeen years, the Tom and Jerry series won seven Academy Awards and fourteen nominations in total.  When MGM closed its animation studio in 1957, the two animators struck out on their own and built their own studio. The team concentrated their efforts on TV. Their company became Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1959. The first characters they created were Ruff and Reddy, which never got beyond minor league status. The second creation, Huckleberry Hound in 1958, was a home run with both the audience and critics. The cartoon won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming. Characters like Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Huckelberry Hound, Top Cat, Auggie Doggie and Daddy Doggie, Quick Draw McGraw, Fred Flintstone and George Jetson were as well known as any flesh and blood TV star. One of their characters, Scooby-Doo, ran for seventeen years, a record for an animated series at that time. In 1960, Hanna-Barbera Productions broke new ground with the introduction of the 30-minute animated sitcom, the Flintstones. The "stone-age" show ran in prime-time. It was an overwhelming success and had a six season run. The Flintstones was based on the 1950's TV classic, the Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason. It was reported that Gleason considered suing for copyright infringement, but decided against it because he didn't want to be known as the guys who had Fred Flintstone kicked off TV. Most of Hanna-Barbera's cartoon shorts were written with both children and adults in mind, but the Flintstones was primarily written for adults. Characters like ""Rock Granite (Cary Grant), "Stony Curtis" (Tony Curtis), and "Ann-Margrock" (Ann-Margret) were parodies of 1960's movie stars that most children didn't know. Season One and Two were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes, and the characters even endorsed the product. Like most sitcoms of the era, the Flintstones had a laugh track. In 1962, Hanna-Barbera found an easy way to recreate the success of the Flintstones. They created a "space age" family, the Jetsons. It ran on Sunday nights for two seasons. In 1991, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera became members of the Television Academy Hall of Fame. In total, Hanna-Barbera produced 300 animated series, with more than 3,000 half-hour shows. William Hanna died in 2001 and Joseph Barbera died in 2006. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were responsive to "through the mail" autograph requests. They also signed autographs at trade shows and entertainment industry events. They signed the photo on this page at a Video Software Dealer's Association Convention in the early 1990's. A signed photo of a grouping of their cartoon creations, like the one pictured, retails for about $100. Those are more common than standard posed photos of the animators, which list for about $250. Signatures of both animators on a card or page is worth about $100. Documents or letters signed by both are worth about $150. Signatures of Joseph Barbera (who usually signed "Joe") sell for about $50. Signed photos list for about $150. Signatures of William Hannah (who usually signed "Bill") sell for about $25. Signed photos list for about $75.
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