WB Revives Hanna-Barbera

4/7/2021

A lot of crazy things have happened this past year with the pandemic, but I don't think anyone expected this announcement: Hanna-Barbera is being revived as an animation company! Hanna-Barbera Cartoons has been defunct as a company since 2001 and it was bought out by Warner Brothers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hanna-Barbera is being revived as a studio (though still owned by Warner Brothers) in Europe. Currently, the only project they have announced is an Amazing World of Gumball film, but that certainly is not to say that there won't be any Scooby-Doo projects created at Hanna-Barbera Studios in the future!

50 Comments

Shadowscooby

4/7/2021 12:04:41 pm

Wow that’s good for Hanna Barbera.

WildwindVampire link

4/7/2021 01:20:34 pm

I'm really surprised and excited that they revived this. Hopefully it means a potential Hanna-Barbera Scooby project in the works!

Becker

4/8/2021 12:17:19 am

They'd be stupid if they don't do something Scooby related in the next, let's say, 5 years. Scooby-Doo is Hanna-Barbera's biggest property after all.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 12:36:21 pm

I absolutely agree. I can't imagine they wouldn't do at least something.

whackman

4/7/2021 01:24:44 pm

I hoenstly hope they don't revive The Flintstones franchise. I dread to see yet another Flintstone series after Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs,it was a pretty bad series to tell you the truth.

WildwindVampire link

4/7/2021 01:37:28 pm

Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs was pretty awful, I agree, but I don't think that means the franchise should just die out. I think there's a good chance they could come up with something much better with different writers.

Becker

4/8/2021 12:24:04 am

Seth MacFarlane had a Flintstones show in preproduction last decade, but he decided to stop the production as he wasn't satisfied with how it was rounding up. I'd be interested to see a revival of Seth's idea for Flintstones, as it didn't sound bad to me.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 12:37:18 pm

I heard about that show! That could have been interesting depending on how it was executed.

Matthew Coleman

4/8/2021 01:53:39 pm

Even though Seth MacFarlane is currently with NBC-Universal, which is owned by Comcast, I’d like to see him do a project with Warner Bros. eventually!

Becker

4/8/2021 12:57:38 am

Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs was conceptually a disaster from the start. They tried something similar in the 90s, and it was just as terrible. But as long as they're doing an actual Flintstones show though, I think we're good.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:01:48 pm

By "something similar" do you mean Cave Kids?

Becker

4/9/2021 10:30:52 am

Yeah, it's more or less similar in some aspects

whackman

4/7/2021 03:00:53 pm

it's the voice actors which I am worried about when it comes to the Flintstones, I just don't think anybody could ever replace Alan Reed or Mel Blanc. I wouldn't mind seeing Yogi Bear or Top Cat revived thought.

I know the mexicans did some Top Cat movies, some years back
but they were not well received by people.

WildwindVampire link

4/7/2021 05:44:43 pm

I thought Henry Corden did a decent job as Fred personally. I'm sure they could find a replacement for Mel Blanc, though I thought Kevin Michael Richardson was not a good Barney at all.

Becker

4/8/2021 12:41:43 am

Corden was great as Fred, he really rivals Reed.
Richardson does a season 1 Mel Blanc voice instead of the more prominent Barney voice that we've been hearing since season 2. The higher voice is not really my favorite, I prefer Barney with the lower voice, which I think Frank Welker nailed when he was voicing Barney in the 90s.
That being said, Jeff Bergman (among others) does a good job as both Fred and Barney.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 12:57:10 pm

I loved Henry Corden too! Maybe one day I need to rewatch a season 1 episode alongside the WWE movie, because I just don't hear how he sounds similar to the season 1 voice even though I've seen the whole series, with the exception of some of The Flintstone Comedy Hour from 1972 (as I can't find it), Cave Kids (it seems like it's for preschoolers and I can't just bring myself to watch it) and Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs (watched one episode and it was just so awful. Kevin's Barney voice just sounds really irritating to me.

Becker

4/9/2021 11:13:59 am

You can listen to the voices here: https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/voice-compare/Flintstones/Barney-Rubble/

Mel Blanc has 2 samples, as he had 2 Barney voices, one for season 1, and the other for everything starting with the second season of the original show. KMR's approach is definitely that of the season 1 Blanc voice, but he also puts a bit of his own spin on. This is surprising in many ways: 1) that type of Barney voice has not been done by anybody else other than KMR in the last 60 years out of all of Barney's voice actors since 1961; 2) the fact that the producers and directors actually decided to go with this less iconic Barney voice in all of the big Flintstones productions since 2000; 3) the fact that KMR can even do such a voice, he's a lot more known for lower voices.

I don't hate KMR's Barney voice, but I can't say I'm really a fan of it either. Blanc's season 1 voice was better than KMR's.

Personally, Frank Welker (who voiced Barney in the 90s) was actually the best replacement for Mel Blanc as Barney. Welker's Barney voice compared to Blanc's is as great as Corden's Fred compared to Reed's! I don't understand why they didn't keep Welker. It's like they just dropped Welker (along with BJ Ward as Betty) when Henry Corden and Jean Vander Pyl retired from their roles at the turn of the century, and HB/WB went with an all-new cast for the characters, starting with the On the Rocks movie in 2001 (and that cast is still the same one 20 years later).
What do you think of Welker, Wildwind?

WildwindVampire link

4/10/2021 02:19:37 pm

Thanks! I didn't realize they had samples on Behind the Voice Actors. Listening to them side-by-side, I agree KMR is definitely trying to sound like Mel Blanc from season 1. I still don't love his spin on Blanc's season 1 voice though, personally. I also prefer the season 2 and beyond voice for Barney better than season 1 in general. It is really interesting though that they decided to ask KMR to do Barney's season 1 voice rather than his season 2 & beyond voice, which has kinda become the mainstream voice for Barney over the years. I wonder if they were going for a classic vibe to the film similar to how Guess Who is trying to be like Where Are You.

Yes! I love Frank Welker's voice so much. I wish they would have kept him beyond just those few films. I Yabba Dabba Do and Hollyrock a Bye Baby were such great movies and one of my favorite Flintstone movies of all time (I'd say my all-time favorite is the Rockula one followed by The Man Called Flintstone). Do you have any favorite Flintstones films?

Becker

4/10/2021 05:48:34 pm

I'm not sure which Flintstones movie is my favorite, but I think it would probably be The Man Called Flintstone, cuz it's just such a fun classic and very nostalgic. I also like The Jetsons Meet Flintstones, a crossover I always wanted to see since I first saw both of the shows. It's just so cool seeing the Jetsons and the Flintstones interacting with each other.

Out of the string of films from the early-to-mid 90s, including the live-action movie, I Yabba-Dabba Doo!, Hollyrock-a-bye Baby, and the 2 Christmas movies, I would say I Yabba-Dabba Doo! is my favorite one, even though I enjoy pretty much all of them. And I actually prefer Viva Rock Vegas to The Flintstones 1994, even though I'm not really a big fan of either.

Side note – On the Rocks is very bizarre and weird to say the least lol. And WWE: Stone Age Smackdown is a nice and inoffensive, if slightly bland, novelty of seeing these characters at the forefront again after almost 15 years (and the designs are a lot more appealing and neat than On the Rocks lmao). To be fair, if it takes a gimmick such as WWE stars crossing over with a bunch of cartoon characters in the mid 2010s to bring back some life into a franchise like this, I'll take it.

I hope the fact that the Flintstones being in the new Space Jam movie, which also includes the Scooby-Doo gang, Captain Caveman, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, specifically the Scoob! versions of all of them (which means Space Jam 2 is connected to the HB animated cinematic universe) means that we will get more of the Flintstones in films in the future, likely inside of this universe.

It's kinda hard to dislike a Flintstones movie honestly, similar to how it is with Scooby-Doo (even though some of the more recent DTVs have been doing their best to prove that wrong lol)

WildwindVampire link

4/11/2021 11:12:45 am

Yeah, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones is amazing! The Man Called Flintstone is definitely the most cinematic of any of the Flintstones movie while staying the most true to the source material (I don't feel the live-action movies did).

What was the second 90s Christmas movie? I only remember the Flintstone Family Christmas.

Yeah, On the Rocks was super bizarre. I've only seen it once and never had the urge to watch it again lol. I agree about the WWE movie being very inoffensive and definitely brought some life back into the franchise, but it wasn't my favorite.

I honestly haven't even watched Space Jam 1 yet, which I need to. I have a friend that keeps trying to get me to do it, so I probably just need to check it out one of these days haha.

I agree it's very hard to dislike a Flintstones movie. The only ones I don't like were the live-action ones and On the Rocks, though the latter is more just being too weird to be enjoyable than me actually hating it.

Becker

4/11/2021 01:10:21 pm

The other Christmas movie is A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994).

The main reason I enjoy Viva Rock Vegas over the first live-action film is that I think the casting for the 4 main characters is overall better, except for Wilma. And Fred is as good in both of them. But yeah, they're both pretty mediocre, if a bit ironically enjoyable.

You should give Space Jam a watch, it's worth a shot. You should also watch the 2nd live-action/animated Looney Tunes movie – Looney Tunes: Back in Action. I would say Back in Action is actually better than Space Jam, as it has a better grasp of the characters (and the voice actors are better, especially Joe Alaskey as both Bugs and Daffy). You could watch both of them leading up to Space Jam 2.

On the Rocks feels like a parody of The Flintstones.

Becker

4/11/2021 04:42:13 pm

I mean Fred's equally good in both

WildwindVampire link

4/12/2021 09:14:31 am

Oh, duh. How did I forget that one lol that's one of my favorites! The other Christmas movie is A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994).

Okay, good to know. I'll have to check that Back in Action out too.

It really did feel like they were trying to parody the franchise. Kind of like Night of the Living Doo which came out the same year ironically.

Becker

4/12/2021 10:44:28 am

Night of the Living Doo and The Scooby-Doo Project were a lot better at the parody aspect though.

WildwindVampire link

4/12/2021 12:44:44 pm

Agreed. On the Rocks felt like a very bad parody of the franchise.

Becker

4/8/2021 12:30:23 am

I'm not worried when it comes to voice actors honestly. I never really got this whole thing with not being able to watch something cuz of the attachment to a different actor.
And even then, there have been plently of Fred and Barney voice actors since Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, it's not something new. Henry Corden has even voiced Fred more than Alan Reed, and quite a good amount of people prefer Corden.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 12:54:50 pm

I really disliked Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney, but other than that, I have no other issues with any of the voice actors.

Bigscoobydoofan

4/7/2021 05:39:06 pm

I have an idea for fun fact of the week!

The iCarly episode 'iBelieve in Bigfoot' is very similar to a Scooby episode; it's even referenced!

Everyone at the main characters' school are talking about whether bigfoot is real or fake, so Carly, Sam and Freddy invite an expert to talk about it on their show.

Later, while camping in the woods, they do find bigfoot but it turns out to be the expert who was fooling people into believing that bigfoot existed for money or something.
This kinda sounds like General Stall from BCSD's plan too.

WildwindVampire link

4/7/2021 05:43:17 pm

That's a great fun fact idea! I will post that soon! Thanks :)

Bigscoobydoofan

4/7/2021 05:44:21 pm

Yay! Yw!

Shadowscooby

4/7/2021 06:31:57 pm

Yah we should talk about references of Scooby Doo from other shows and franchises. There is quite a few.

Greybishop

4/7/2021 08:50:09 pm

Re-opening Hanna-Barbera is a fantastic move. There are a bunch of properties in their stable that would be great if rebooted in the modern era. Obviously it's also good news for us Scooby fans since it would be natural for them to use Scooby as an anchor for the studio. I wouldn't be surprised to see them crank out a computer animated series with an all new cast.

I'd also vote to reboot/update a bunch of HB properties:

The Jetsons is simply screaming for a modern, computer animated reboot. While I prefer Scooby done in traditional cel animation, The Jetsons would probably be better served by a Pixar type approach.

Space Ghost is one of my fond first loves and it too would be great as a computer animated series.

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio is mocked in Harvey Birdman and the new Birdgirl show, but pair a reboot with Space Ghost for a great superhero hour.

Valley of the Dinosaurs was a great show that only ran one season. It could be updated and revamped into something special.

Galtar and the Golden Lance got lost in the He-Man craze and only lasted one season. It is EASILY the best fantasy cartoon HB ever put on the tube and in the era of shows like Game of Thrones and Vikings, it could be a huge hit if they rebooted it properly.

...and let's get Pirates of Dark Water a proper ending, please?

I'd also love to see them do a "Friends of Scooby-Doo" show where they give some love to all their other mystery solving gangs. Say 3 or 4 episodes for Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Speed Buggy, Funky Phantom, Jabberjaw to make up a "season" of cartoon mystery mayhem.

But what do I know?

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:01:17 pm

I agree Scooby would be perfect to start their rebooting of classic HB properties. It'd be fun to have a Jetsons reboot!

I've not heard of any of those other shows other than Pirates of Dark Water, which I agree needs a proper ending!

A Friends of Scooby-Doo show would be great! Would you want it to be specifically mystery solving gangs or just an HB crossover show in general?

Greybishop

4/8/2021 07:20:09 pm

If you've never had the pleasure of seeing the original Space Ghost, you're missing a classic early 70s touchstone. As a kid I preferred the Superfriends since I was (and still am) a little nuts about Batman, but Space Ghost was cool even if he didn't have a comic book I could get my hands on.

Anyone who grew up with He-Man should check out Galtar and the Golden Lance. It's awesome. As a swords and sorcery fan I can't believe I missed it back then but when I stumbled on it a few years ago I was pleasantly surprised how good it is and hugely disappointed it only went the one season.

As for the my "Friends of Scooby-Doo" idea, I think there are enough mystery solving gangs + sidekicks to warrant a series. They could even go old school Saturday and do a sort of variety show with a 22 minute feature with one of the mystery teams and then split another 22 minutes between a couple of shorts using anyone they want. It'd be a super way to bring some of their more obscure properties back. I'd tie it all together by having Scooby characters intro the various features and clips to give it that real 70s Saturday morning feel.

It'll probably never happen, but I'll happily take a commission if it does...

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 08:38:11 pm

I've heard of all those of course but I've never seen Space Ghost, Super Friends or He-Man!

I like that Friends of Scooby-Doo idea. Sounds super similar to an idea (minus the mystery solving groups - it was just HB characters in general) my scriptwriter friend Bradford N. Smith just pitched today...I hope something like that gets picked up by WB!

Scooby dooby Doo

4/7/2021 10:30:15 pm

This is great, and a GUMBALL MOVIE??? I love Gumball too!

Becker

4/8/2021 12:14:52 am

Cool! I would imagine they're working on shows like Jellystone and Velma, which are currently in production, and they're HB properties.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:03:12 pm

I forgot about Jellystone! Looking forward to seeing how that comes out.

Bigscoobydoofan

4/8/2021 12:10:33 pm

BF EPISODE ON DRIVE THE TITLE CARD LOOKS SO COOOL

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:02:47 pm

It does look super cool! :)

Bigscoobydoofan

4/8/2021 01:11:34 pm

Did I just spoil myself looking at the literal credits?

Yes, yes I did.
:(

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:19:39 pm

I watched the credits too haha.

Bigscoobydoofan

4/8/2021 01:21:23 pm

Oh so you know who the villain is too? Lol!

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 01:21:51 pm

Yeah, I have a guess. Haha

Bigscoobydoofan

4/8/2021 01:33:04 pm

At least I'm not alone here.
Next time, I'm staying far away from even watching the cold open to these turkish episodes XD!

Matthew Coleman

4/8/2021 01:55:47 pm

When I saw the news on this, I was very thrilled to see one of my favorite studios that had been defunct for 20 years be brought back to life by Warner Bros.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 02:35:33 pm

I couldn't believe it either! At this point, I didn't think they'd revive Hanna-Barbera after so many years.

whackman

4/8/2021 04:23:48 pm

The Flintstone Comedy Hour, was also know as the The Flintstone Comedy Show. a few episodes can be found on public torrent sites. here is a link.

https://ibit.to/torrent/The-Flintstones-Mega-Pack-BG-Audio-2b97c8/
the episodes are in english.

WildwindVampire link

4/8/2021 04:59:29 pm

I've seen a few of these from Boomerang, but it looks like this has a few I haven't seen. Thanks! I'll check these out!

Carson Maitland - Smith link

4/13/2021 05:45:31 am

Long Live Hanna-Barbera 💜

WB Revives Hanna-Barbera

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