Hanna-Barbera

Hamton dresses as Barney Rubble while trick-or-treating in Night Ghoulery.

Pinky and Brain dressed like Pixie and Dixie.

Wile E. Coyote's collection of skinned Hanna-Barbera characters.

Hanna-Barbera was a prolific animation studio which, between 1957 and 1998, produced scores of animated television series and specials, as well as a few forays into theatrical films. The company took its name from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who first teamed as co-directors of the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts for MGM. When MGM closed its doors, Hanna and Barbera struck out on their own, producing limited animation television product which came to dominate network Saturday morning slots for decades. Their earliest series was Ruff and Reddy, followed by Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo, amongst others. One of their more notable successes in the 1980s came from licensing a group of popular Belgian comic characters for a long-running animated series, The Smurfs.

In 1990, Hanna-Barbera was one of several companies which collaborated on Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, with the Smurfs sharing screentime with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Though the studio itself no longer exists, having been absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 1996, its extensive sound-effects library is still in wide use. Many references to Hanna-Barbera have been made in WB Animated Universe cartoons, especially following the merger.

In 2008, Tom Ruegger pitched an animated series titled Mixed Nutz, which would've featured the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters starring alongside the Looney Tunes characters in various spoof comedy segments, ala Animaniacs. Despite positive reception from most of the executives, however, Mixed Nutz was officially rejected by Sam Register after he became executive in charge of Warner Bros. Television Animation.

Appearances

• In The Big Game XXVII: Road Runner VS Coyote, Fred Flintstone is briefly seen in the audience watching the game. The pregame show is also sponsored by Slate Rock & Quarry, while the halftime show is sponsored by Spacely Sprockets from The Jetsons.

References

Tiny Toon Adventures

• "The Acme Bowl" - One of the rival teams that Acme Looniversity's team is shown losing to at the start is the Santa Anna Barbarians, a group of barbarians who resemble Fred Flintstone.
• "Pledge Week" - Babs does an impression of Yogi Bear.
• Night Ghoulery - During the intro sequence, Hamton dresses as Barney Rubble.

Animaniacs

• "Back in Style" - Yakko, Wakko and Dot appear in parodies of Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo.

Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain

• "Patty Ann" - Pinky asks Brain why Fred Flintstone keeps ordering giant ribs every week when they keep tipping his car over. At the end of the episode, Brain explains that it's an end title and Fred doesn't actually order ribs every week.
• "The Cat That Cried Woof" - At the start of the episode, when Pinky and Brain are running from Mr. Pussy-Wussy, Pinky is wearing a red vest and Brain is wearing a blue bow-tie, akin to Pixie and Dixie. Pinky remarks, "That cat hates us meeces to pieces, doesn't he, Mr. Pixie?", referencing Mr. Jinx's catchphrase.

Duck Dodgers

• "MMORPGed" - While attempting to transform back to his normal form, Dodgers briefly changes into Muttley from Wacky Races.

Connections

Several voice actors and crew members for the WB Animated Universe series have also done work for Hanna-Barbera shows.

• Jeff Bergman voiced Fred Flintstone in many Cartoon Network ID spots in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as in The Flintstones On the Rocks, The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown, and the character's guest appearances on Johnny Bravo and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. He has also voiced Barney Rubble in the Fruity Pebbles cereal commercials since Mel Blanc's death.
• Mel Blanc was the original voice of Barney Rubble and Mr. Spacely.
• Nancy Cartwright had voice roles on Richie Rich, Shirt Tales, and other 1980s HB series.
• Michael Maltese was the writer for The Huckleberry Hound Show.
• Don Messick was the voice of Bamm-Bamm Rubble from The Flintstones, Boo Boo from the Yogi Bear cartoons, Astro from The Jetsons, Mr. Twiddle from Wally Gator, Dr. Benton Quest and Bandit from Jonny Quest, Zorak and Moltar in the original Space Ghost, Falcon 7 from Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Muttley from Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, and Papa Smurf.
• Rob Paulsen voiced Corky in The Snorks, Hadji in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, and Dick Dastardly in Yo Yogi!
• Frank Welker has voiced Fred Jones on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and its spinoffs, Dynomutt, Jabberjaw, Bandit in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, Puppy and Hefty Smurf in The Smurfs, and many others.