Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids

Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids

August 30th, 2024

Lauren Ashton

Hanna-Barbera is best known for its popular animated characters and numerous TV series. But the studio also created iconic sound effects and music that have become the soundtrack of our lives – powerful sounds that were created to guide the studio’s visual storytelling. These incredible elements added to their remarkable success – not to mention the memorable theme songs that are still well – loved and enjoyed by people of all ages worldwide. This is an unabashed plug for Greg Ehrbar’s outstanding new book: Hanna-Barbera, the Recorded History: From Modern Stone Age to Meddling Kids. The new tome, just published this week, details the story of Hanna-Barbera’s impact on full show business, revealing unseen aspects of the studio’s artistry, music, and historical significance.

An often overlooked aspect of the studio is its connection the the music industry. Author Greg Ehrbar highlights the collaboration between Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, and their talented colleagues while also sharing their impact on the recording industry as a whole. Throughout each page, readers will discover exclusive interviews, astonishing facts, and unknown anecdotes that were never published. Also, the book features the first expansive H-B discography ever, Ehrbar’s Hanna-Barbera, The Recorded History, easily secures a place in every animation, music, television and film buff’s collection.

From the evergreen animation of Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, the Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound, to countless other classic cartoons, Hanna-Barbera’s body of work continues to bring joy to people worldwide. In addition to its contributions, the groundbreaking studio employed thousands in the animation industry. Some of these artists were veterans of the Golden Age, some were rising stars, and others were those who would ultimately discover Blockbuster success at other studios in Hollywood.

Greg Ehrbar is a writer and author for television, advertising, publishing, and amusement parks. Some of his credits include material for Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney marketing, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Universal, and the Television Academy. As a two-time A two-time Grammy Award nominee and Addy Award winner, he has led discourse at institutions such as CalArts, Stetson, Florida Atlantic University, and the Norton Museum; appeared on CNN; and consulted for the BBC. His books include Mouse Tracks: The Story, of Walt Disney Records (with Tim Hollis) and Inside the Whimsy-Works: My Life with Walt Disney Productions by Jimmy Johnson (coedited with Didier Ghez), both published by University Press of Mississippi.

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Lauren Ashton

Lauren Ashton is a Los Angeles-based writer. She has also taught stop-motion animation and film history since 2020, and holds a BFA in Acting from The California Institute of the Arts. Lauren has previously worked with Walt Disney Imagineering, and since graduating from CalArts, she has worked at Spellbound Inc. (a YouTube Production Company), Gnomon School of Animation, and written plays and sketch comedy for various theaters.