Monday, December 3, 2007

Is it alright to like Hanna Barbera?

Still working away on Parasite's Delight. I am trying to get myself used to the production schedule I have set.

My recent discovery of Top Cat has, as usual, led me to looking up other Hanna Barbera cartoons, as well as their history. I find that I gyrate more towards the TV characters from the late 1950's and early 1960's. Those characters include such charmers as Top Cat, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quickdraw McGraw, Wally Gator, and of course, the Flintstones. However, I have also found that Hanna Barbera is blamed for the decline in the quality of commercial animation. This is particularly true in their 1970's stuff, which I have never been enthusiastic about (the Smurfs, Scooby Doo spin-offs).






I wish I knew where this came from. I want a larger version.

I love animation that has a lot of posing and acting (or what many call classical animation). I feel like I might be criticized for liking HB cartoons. But if there's anything I go for, its characters. No matter how they are drawn or animated, I like fully formed personalities. I see no reason not to like all different forms of animation. I even like stuff that hasn't lasted very long, and even some considerably unsuccessful stuff.



I am excited about the early stuff, because I find the characters to be quite appealing. I love charming characters, possibly because they have qualities I don't have. These same characters were reused in gang of 1980's Saturday Morning cartoons. Those shows, unfortunately, are too humiliating to watch, have terrible coloring (fast food coloring) and have infantile humor. But considering the financial trouble HB was going through at the time, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising. I believe those bad cartoons could have been great with the same characters, but just with better coloring and more inventive plots. I don't mind seeing these great characters over again.



I have been working on my technique lately, although they are less a priority than my film. Here I jotted down some expressions for practice. I just thought I'd share it. I am hoping to get more of my thesis up here, although not everything is as complete as the last clip I posted.

6 comments:

Katie Crops said...

Hey Emmett, in the case of hanna barbera there is a lot of ying and yang I think because this is a studio that needs to be looked at from two positions as a company that needed to put out work and as a studio that changed the way we watch cartoons on tv. There is a fair amount of shit they put out but I really appreciate the kinds of characters they were making and the design I don't see a good enough reason to say it's wrong to like HB.

-also I love love love those expressions you doodled Keep it up!

Emmett said...

Thank you, Katie! Sorry to respond so late.

L* said...

Hello mister, you're right, you see the not only the technique of animation, but the design that this has generated. Celebrities like Herculoids and Space Ghost. a hug for your career

Jacqui said...

Hi! I'm Jacqueline from Argentina and i really liked your drawings! You are talented! Make the most of it!
XOXOX
Jacqui

kiroga said...

I also love the old drawings mainly of hanna barbera. check out this cool site that www.hannabarberashow.blogspot.com

Marcelo said...

Hi! Very good post, man! I'm from Brazil, and I've been writing about HB in my blog (whose title is a phrase from Yogi Bear!): http://maisespertoqamaioriadosursos.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/um-cara-hanna-barbera/
Unfortunately, it's in Portuguese...
Good luck in your work!