I don’t know if you, my dear readers, know this or not, but I happen to be a fan of older cartoons.
In particular, those toons created by the animation juggernaut that was Hanna-Barbera Productions from the late 50s through to the early aughts.
So when I found out that the founders of the studio, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, had both written (or co-written) autobiographies in the mid-90s, I pounced at the chance to read them.
This is the story of Bill Hanna, in his own words.
This is your official 30 year autobiographical ***SPOILER ALERT***
Now, Joe Barbera actually released his autobiography two years before Bill got his published, so you may wonder why I started with Bill’s.
The answer is simple, in all of my years of appreciating and researching Hanna-Barbera and their various projects, I’ve always heard Bill was the laid back, strong, and silent half of the team.
Bill has always been sold as the normal one of the duo, who would rather hang out with the animators than celebrities.
So, with that in mind, I just kinda figured his story may not be as interesting or even, dare I say, boring.
I am more than happy to admit, I figured way wrong.
Bill, himself, confirms he is in fact the more low key of the duo in this book, but his story is far from boring, gang.
The structure of the early chapters of this book are rather curious.
Each of those first three or four chapters plays like the last act of an episode of TV: Everything seems wrapped up in a tidy little bow, but you’re on the fourth of 16 episodes, so you’re damn skippy there’s more to come.
It’s a weird false finish structure that the later chapters abandon in favor of a more themed essay format you’d expect from this type of book.
There are a plethora of great stories, one in particular of how, early on in his career at Harman-Ising, Walt Disney likely got a disgruntled and pride wounded Bill a healthy raise.
There are two main take aways, one of which is a bit of a disappointment I walked away from this book with.
The first take away is just how much affection Bill and Joe had for their first baby, or rather babies, Tom & Jerry.
He spends a lot of time talking about their time working at MGM, but particularly creating and developing Tom & Jerry from their rough origins as Jasper & Jinx to the legendary comic duo they have long been cemeted as.
It’s interesting and deeply insightful to hear how these dudes, in the wild west days of animation, took a cliche and turned it into an iconic team to rival Mickey Mouse and The Looney Tunes…which Bill also worked on in the early days of his career!
The same goes for The Flintstones, the first ever Prime Time animated series.
Bill makes it clear just how proud even, 36 years on, he and Joe are of coming up with this concept.
And understandably so, both of these series are undeniably all time greats.
The second take away is how little Scooby-Doo is talked about.
I will admit I have a bit of a biased view here, but I think this transcends that.
The Flintstones gets an entire chapter devoted to it, understandably so, as well as multiple other mentions.
The same goes for Tom & Jerry, again, understandable.
But Scooby gets a grand total of, maybe, three paragraphs across as many pages, and I can say that for a fact because there is an index in the back that only lists pages 143, 161, & 174 for Scoob.
Now, before you think this is just my fighting for my favorite through a biased lens, allow me to back up my sour grapes a bit!
While The Flintstones did have a nine year jump on the Mystery Inc. gang, giving the prehistoric family the chance to burn deeper into the minds of Bill & Joe, the show/franchise only lasted for six years before taking a five year break, which ended with The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm show.
Scooby-Doo on the other hand, from it’s 1969 debut, lasted for four years, took around a two year break, then ran for nine uninterrupted years.
Inarguably, Scooby was a huge and consistent hit for the studio, and arguably the biggest.
The only thing I can figure is that because the Scooby franchise was in the middle of it’s biggest break at the time that he wrote this book, it was a case of “out of sight, out of mind.”
Overall, this is book is a great look at the primordial days of animation from one of the legends that worked in and through the best periods of the industry.
He rubbed shoulders with all of the names you know and love, be it Walt Disney and Friz Freleng or Mel Blanc and Frank Welker, he knew them all.
Despite getting my hackles up for Scoob and the gang, this book is rich in detail about one of the most innovative and creative genres of entertainment and that alone makes it worth, it even if you have never loved what Hanna-Barbera did when they struck out on their own (how did you find this site if you don’t?).
Not to mention it’s all being delivered by one of the engineers of the industry as we know it today, that alone is worth it.
To all fans of Toons, snag yourself a copy and bask in it.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below, share this post around the net with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview, or hit up our LinkTree to find where else to connect with us.
Check out our books, with our original horror short story collection, The Camping Trip And Other Stories, our non-fiction book, Doomed: The Collected Essays And Reviews Volume 1, or our collection of original Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories, Brimming With Adventure: Thrilling Tales Of The Nerd Blitz!
Hungry for more of that great Nerd Blitz content, head over to Patreon.com/NerdBlitzPod and join at the $5 level to get instant access to numerous Podcasts, Reviews, Audio Dramas, and so much more!
And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
