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Hanna-Barbera was originally formed as a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1944 by Tom and Jerry creators and directors; William "Bill" Hanna & Joseph "Joe" Barbera and live-action director George Sidney as "H-B Enterprises" in order to produce sponsored films and later television commercials. In 1955, Bill and Joe later became the co-heads of the MGM animation department after producer Fred Quimby retired. After MGM shut down its animation studio in 1957, H-B Enterprises became Hanna and Barbera's full-time job. The same year, H-B struck a deal with Columbia Pictures Corporation to syndicate the cartoons on television in conjunction with Columbia's television division Screen Gems until 1966 and co-produced several cartoons in the early 1970s until 1974 and by Columbia Pictures Television from 1974-1975.

The company was renamed to "Hanna-Barbera Productions" in 1959 and was later acquired by Taft Broadcasting in 1966; Taft was later renamed to Great American Broadcasting in 1987 after a buyout; it would then be renamed to Citicasters in 1993 before finally being absorbed into Jacor Communications in 1997, who in turn was acquired by ClearChannel Communications (now iHeart Media) in 1999. In 1991, the studio was purchased by Turner Broadcasting, initially with help from the Apollo Investment Group. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera both went into semi-retirement, yet continued to serve as ceremonial figureheads for the studio. The same year, the company was renamed to "H-B Production Co." and renamed again as "Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc." in 1993.

In 1992, Turner launched the Cartoon Network, which had been built around reruns from the Hanna-Barbera and the Turner Entertainment Co. cartoon libraries (pre-1986 MGM, pre-1948 WB, and Associated Artists Productions cartoons). The same year in 1994, Turner turned Hanna-Barbera towards primarily producing new material for its Cartoon Network when Cartoon Network Studios was organized as a division of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.

On October 10, 1996, Turner was bought out by Time Warner. With William Hanna's death in 2001, Hanna-Barbera was folded into Warner Bros. Animation, and Cartoon Network Studios became a separate company and assumed production of Cartoon Network's output. Joe Barbera remained with Warner Bros. Animation until his death in 2006.

Today, Hanna-Barbera still survives as an in-name-only unit of Warner Bros. Animation for distribution and marketing of properties and productions associated with Hanna-Barbera's "classic" works. However, not all cartoons co-produced by Hanna-Barbera are owned by Time Warner such as the following: Jeannie and The Partridge Family 2200 A.D. (Sony Pictures Television), The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Laverne & Shirley in the Army, Amigo and Friends, The Little Rascals: The Animated Series, and the 1970 Harlem Globetrotters cartoon (CBS), Gravedale High (NBC), Capitol Critters (Fox), Pink Panther and Sons, The Adventures of Sinbad Jr., and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (first season co-produced by H-B and the second season was co-produced by DIC & MGM Television), and most of the theatrical library. Warner Bros. has no rights whatsoever to any of these series listed.

1st Logo (December 3, 1957-March 26, 1960)[]

Hanna-Barbera

Nickname: "The H-B Boxes"

Logo: Over a yellow background sit two boxes, one red and one blue, joined together unevenly. There's an "H" in the red box and a "B" in the blue box. The text appears as "an HB PRODUCTION".

Variants:

  • On later shows, the background is dark green, the "H" box is lavender, and the "B" box is red. The text appears as "AN HB ENTERPRISES CARTOON". Sometimes the letters appear smaller.
  • An extremely rare variant of the original variant has the H-B Boxes, but the text is extended out to read "Hanna-Barbera".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Rare.

  • The original variant only appeared on The Ruff & Reddy Show. It is intact on home media releases of the series.
  • The later variant is more common however. It can be seen on early episodes of Yogi Bear, Pixie & Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Huckleberry Hound, and the Quick Draw McGraw short "Scary Prairie" among other shorts.

Editor's Note: A fairly simple, but a fine start for Hanna-Barbera.

2nd Logo (September 29, 1959-August 27, 1991)[]

Logo: It's only in-credit text saying “A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION”, either at the beginning of a short or at the end of a show. This practice continued well into 1987, years after H-B introduced an in-credit logo for its shows.

Trivia: The right half of the 1959 logo of "A Hanna-Barbera Production" became the logo for the US version of the Boomerang network from April 1, 2000 until January 19, 2015 (international versions used this logo).

Variants: While the style of the wording varied from show to show, here are the variants below:

  • October 11, 1960-August 7, 1962: “HANNA-BARBERA” is in a “scrawly” font used for crediting the two producers on latter-day MGM shorts and many of the original H-B Productions series. Used mainly on early shorts, in a pale turquoise (or electric blue) “splotch” on a yellow (or pink) background. The font would vary on some H-B shorts of the era.
  • mid August 1962-September 1967: “Hanna-Barbera” is in a '60s-esque “cursive” font commonly known as “Tabitha”. Used within a similar “splotch” device, but is also seen at the end of several 1960s series such as The Jetsons and Top Cat.
  • September 29, 1959-June 5, 1963: The entire wording is in a bold, all-caps font, usually Franklin Gothic Condensed. Seen at the end of many 1960s series, most notably Jonny Quest, The Flintstones, Atom Ant, and Secret Squirrel.
  • August 31, 1961-October 13, 1968: “HANNA-BARBERA” is in a bold, “tubular” font most similar to the latter-day Filmways logo. it's usually seen on 1977-1986 series. The last new shows to use this variation of "HANNA-BARBERA" were season 1 of Pound Puppies, the 1986 version of Jonny Quest, and season 1 of The Flintstone Kids, among shows.
  • April 27, 1963, February 29, 1964, August 1, 1964-September 30, 1967: On some 1960s cartoons such as Birdman and Space Ghost, the text said "A HANNA-BARBERA CARTOON" at the end of some episodes, but seen at the end of every end-title credits.
  • October 14, 1967-September 20, 1969: On the first season of the short-lived series Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, there's in-credit text that reads as "Produced by Hanna Barbera Productions, Inc. in association with Orion Television Entertainment and Nelson Entertainment" with a copyright stamp to Orion Television Entertainment and Nelson Films, Inc. below.
  • December 15, 1990-March 9, 1991: There is also a small rectangle or square with a caricature sketch of the characters inside that accompanies the copyright with the in-credit logo on most shows. This practice began in the late 1960s and would last until 1987 on most shows.
  • March 16-August 27, 1991: On Lucky Luke, the text is chyroned onto the background with a Taft byline as well as in-credit listings for Gaumont and FR3.
  • November 2, 1982-March 29, 1991: During the credits roll of the 1982 ABC Saturday Morning Pac Preview Party, there's an in-credit notice for "HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTIONS" with the 1981 Taft byline under it.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening or closing theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Very common. It's still preserved on all H-B shows from 1959-1991, as it’s in the credits.

1966–1974, 1976, 2002–2009[]

Hanna Barbera logo 1966

3rd Logo (September 10, 1966-September 7, 1969)[]

Nicknames: "The H-B Box", "Zooming Out/Fading In H-B Box", "H-B Box of Doom"

Logo: On a black background, three small orange rectangles appear, the outer two stretching down, the one in the center extending up, then they stretch, break up and multiply to become an orange box containing a large, black stylized “HB” cutout. Then, the box grows to become an orange background, the black HB zooms out, disappears, and then it cuts to black words reading “a hanna-barbera production” with the “a” in a black box (supposedly formed from the black HB, since it zooms out to that spot). Finally, a yellow stylized “HB” (using the same style as the black one) slowly fades in.

Later Variant: There’s another version from 1968 featuring nearly the same starting animation, with the rectangles moving the directions they’re supposed to extend instead of stretching before they actually do, but when the black zooming “HB” disappears (it doesn't move off its path), it cuts to a red “HB” with the text already on it in blue, with the small “a” box colored dark blue and the letter in yellow. It features a byline reading “a division of Taft Broadcasting Company” next to a small Taft logo in dark blue text on the bottom.

FX/SFX: The rectangles appearing and forming the H-B logo, the zoom-out.

Music/Sounds: It features four glockenspiel notes and then three brass-band/accordion notes mixed with three glockenspiel chimes.

Availability: Near extinction. The mid-'60s version is still kept on its only use with some TV shows, the 1967 NBC live action/animated special Jack and the Beanstalk, whenever someone decides to show it but it's still retained on VHS prints and the DVD from Warner Archive. The 1968 version is only seen on the live action/animated TV series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and is preserved on the DVD set from Warner Archive. This logo is not intact on the Boomerang streaming print of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Editor's Note: This logo seems pretty advanced for 1966, but it's rather primitive and abrupt for Hanna-Barbera's first animated production logo. Though for a company that was known for producing limited animation cartoons on tight budgets, it's understandable.

4th Logo (September 7, 1968-March 27, 1974)[]

Nicknames: "The H-B Box II", "The Zooming H-B", "(Zooming-In) H-B Box", "H-B Box of Doom"

Logo: On a black background, a large, stylized orange “HB” begins to zoom right up at the viewer. When it nearly engulfs the screen, the background suddenly becomes yellow-orange and the "HB" turns darker. On top of the “HB”, the words “a”, “hanna-barbera”, and “production” all appear in black, with the "a" contained inside a square the same color as the background.

Trivia: H-B used these and the 1969 logos using the box design during this period.

Variants:

  • For a short period, Taft’s corporate logo, alongside a byline reading “a division of Taft Broadcasting Company”, appear. This appears to coincide with the logo being used “standalone”, with its own music. Box logos that are appended to the ends of shows and have the show’s music playing usually do not have the byline. However, there are some exceptions, such as The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't, which featured the logo attached to the end of the credits with the end of the show's theme playing under it, but features a Taft logo and byline; and The Funky Phantom and Yogi's Ark Lark, which feature the "standalone" variant of the logo (with its own music), but no Taft logo or byline.
  • Starting with the release of Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire, the "Scooby All-Stars" logo was phased out and replaced with a recreation of this logo. The H-B now zooms-in much more smoothly before cutting to the finished logo. This was seen on all 2002-2009 made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies, though beginning with Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra Doo, it now simply ends with the Warner Bros. Animation logo, as all made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies were produced at Warner Bros. Animation..

FX/SFX: The “zooming” H-B, and a sudden “jolt” from the black background to the orange background.

Music/Sounds: A whimsical flute/xylophone jingle, ending with a held-out muted trumpet stinger. It was written by then Hanna-Barbera musical director Ted Nichols, used only when the logo wasn’t attached to the end of the show and had the show’s end credits music playing over it. You can hear this at the end of the Dastardly & Muttley, Penelope Pitstop, and Josie and the Pussycats closing title tracks on the European H-B music CD “Tunes from the Toons: The Best of Hanna-Barbera".

Music/Sounds Variant: On the Boomerang streaming service's print of Yogi's Ark Lark, the 1970-1974 version of the Screen Gems "S from Hell" logo music plays under this logo, possibly due to poor editing/plastering.

Availability: Uncommon.

  • It was last seen on most episodes of Wacky Races on Boomerang (it is plastered with the All-Stars "Comedy" logo on the DVD release and the Boomerang streaming service) and the bylineless version was also seen on The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Super Friends, the TV movie Yogi's Ark Lark, The Flintstone Comedy Show, and most episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies on DVD (though on the Boomerang streaming service, some episodes have it, others plaster it with the modern Warner Bros. Television logo, and some cut off before the logo appears).
  • The stand-alone variant was also originally seen on The Harlem Globetrotters 1970 animated series and season 2 of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (the former was retained on TV Land airings in the early 2000's with the 1995 silent Paramount Domestic Television logo following, the latter is available on DVD and Blu-ray).
  • Some episodes of Josie and the Pussycats have this plastered over with the 1979 bylineless version of "Swirling Star" and the 1994 "Comedy All Stars" logo on DVD and the Boomerang service.
  • This logo is also seen on the Warner Archive released DVDs of shows such as the two 1973 animated series, Speed Buggy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids. This was also recently spotted on The Adventures of Gulliver episode "Little Man of the Year" with the Taft byline.

Editor's Note: Another fairly abrupt Hanna-Barbera logo, and with the animation being more in-your-face, but is still bound to be very memorable to Hanna-Barbera cartoon fans. The 2002 remake is smoother, albeit cheap looking, but is strange to see it appear after something not resembling a Hanna-Barbera production (even if it features their characters).

5th Logo (September 13, 1969-September 11, 1971, January 10, 1976)[]

Nicknames: "The H-B Box III", "Multiplying Rectangles"

Logo: It starts off with the formation of the HB box from the 3rd logo (1st variant), but instead of the box zooming out, it turns capri while the background turns red. Then, “a hanna-barbera production” in denim blue and the Taft byline/logo fade in. The “a" in the HB box is on top of a denim blue box with an orange outline.

Variants:

  • There is a rare variant in which the box zooms out instead of fading to the already formed logo, a la the initial 1967 version. There is no Taft byline/logo as well. This was seen in Where's Huddles?
  • On Boomerang reruns of the Scooby-Doo episode "Go Away Ghost Ship", the logo is sped up.

FX/SFX: The “multiplying rectangles”.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • An airing of The Scooby-Doo Show episode "Hang in There Scooby-Doo" on the Australian version of Cartoon Network used the "Swirling Star" music due to an editing error.
  • On Romanian dubbing prints of Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines, the logo is silent.

Availability: Uncommon.

  • This logo was available on scattered H-B shows as well as the original first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
  • Prior to 2004, this logo was nearly impossible to find, mainly due to chronic plastering. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! suffered this as well, first with a blacked out 1979-era or sometimes a blacked out 1983-era "Swirling Star" logo, then with the 1994 "Comedy" variant of the "All-Stars" logo when re-ran on TBS in 1995 and finally the “Action” variant of the “All-Stars” logo in 1998.
  • This logo can be found on a few Hanna-Barbera DVD box sets, most notably Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons, which means the logo is now more common than it was prior to the DVD release (it is also preserved on the Blu-ray release, followed by the modern WB Television logo, but is cut on the Boomerang streaming service's HD prints of the series).
  • This is also spotted on DVD and Boomerang releases of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, with the 2003 WB Television logo playing the 1994 theme in low tone following it.
  • This was also originally seen on the short-lived The Cattanooga Cats but was plastered over with the 1988 "CGI Swirling Star" logo when it was rerun on Boomerang.
  • It was also seen on Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines when last rerun on Boomerang, but strangely, the logo has been cut out on the DVD release and the Boomerang streaming service.
  • The variant can be found on the Warner Archive DVD of Where's Huddles, but Boomerang airings plastered this logo with the 1988 "CGI Swirling Star" too.
  • Oddly enough, it appeared on a 1976 episode of The Scooby-Doo Show, as seen on a 1990 USA Network broadcast.

Editor's Note: An improvement over the previous H-B "box" logos, as it's less in-your-face and the animation is smoother, though the blue "H-B" makes the blue text hard to read.

6th Logo (September 7, 1974-May 14, 1983)[]

Hanna Barbera logo 1974

Nickname: "Rainbow H-B"

Logo: We start on a pattern of five columns, each filled with the words “HANNA-BARBERA”. The words are colored so that they form a rainbow pattern. Suddenly, the words start disappearing, from the top starting on the 1st column, and from the bottom starting with the last column. The words disappear until one last “HANNA-BARBERA” is left, which enlarges and “morphs” into a skewed, stylized H-B, filled with a rolling rainbow pattern with numerous “HANNA-BARBERA”s in it. Below, the words “HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTIONS, INC.” appear.

Trivia: This logo is used on backgrounds of the end titles of The Scooby-Doo Show (blue) and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (red).

Byline: In 1982, the logo does not enlarge. In this version, a Taft Broadcasting byline, sans logo this time, appears. Some post-1988 prints of H-B shows from this particular period have the Taft byline blacked out.

Variants:

  • A rare variant has been seen on only a couple of TV movies of the era, such as the live-action telefilm The Gathering. Mainly nicknamed "Solid Rainbow H-B", it was a still shot with more solid colors (yellow, orange, red, pink, violet, blue) and segmented lines running inside the design. It's also horizontal and the byline is still intact.
  • There exists a variant in which the words in the end result don't move with the rainbow pattern.
  • An extremely rare variant features the "H-B", in a more straightforward stencil font, more towards the top of the screen and a large lime green/olive-brown "77" in the same style underneath. There are no "HANNA-BARBERA"s in either figure. The variant begins with this design cascading and forming on-screen, followed by several "starbursts" appearing, and the whole scene then gives way to four small circles that join together and zoom in to become a giant rotating circle, surrounded by a string of flashing live-action lights. Within the circle appear several (fairly obscure) Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters: Precious Pupp, Mumbly, Atom Ant, Winsome Witch, Squiddly Diddly and Chief Winchley, Pa Rugg from The Hillbilly Bears, and Secret Squirrel. The circle and lights then disappear, and (to the beat of the sound effects in the music) a starburst "explodes" several times before the "HB77" logo forms again onscreen. At the bottom for much of the animation is a byline for "Dolphin Productions/New York", with Dolphin Productions, a New York-based company that incorporated the first computer-generated effects in TV logos and advertisements, being the production company behind this variant. This logo was only used in 1977 and was created as an interstitial for the Hanna-Barbera programming block "HB '77" that aired on Rede Globo in Brazil that year. Another variant is rumored to exist with an "HB 78" logo.

FX/SFX: The Scanimate “rainbow” effects used in both the columns and actual logo; the words being “wiped” away.

Music/Sounds: Usually just the end theme of the show. None for the TV movie variant. The "HB '77" variation has instrumental bits of the theme to the 1975 Tom & Jerry Show, complete with the sound effects heard in that show's intro sequence.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • Some repeats would have the 1968-1974 theme, which seems to be synchronized perfectly with the logo.

Availability: Uncommon.

  • It's usually preserved on Hong Kong Phooey, The Super Friends Hour, Clue Club, Jabberjaw, Challenge of the Super Friends, Dynomutt: Dog Wonder and more, most of the final season of The Scooby-Doo Show, most 1980-82 episodes of The Richie Rich Show, and some episodes of Yogi's Space Race whenever someone decides to show them; however, on some prints of the latter, the credits cut off early or they are plastered over with the 1991 "CGI Swirling Star", the same case was on Boomerang airings of Galaxy Goof Ups.
  • This was plastered by the 1984 Swirling Star logo on USA Network's USA Cartoon Express on such shows as Jabberjaw, Jana of the Jungle, Hong Kong Phooey, Clue Club and The New Fred & Barney Show.
  • It is also available on DVD releases of Hong Kong Phooey, seasons 1 & 3 of The Scooby-Doo Show (also available on Blu-ray, with the modern WB TV Distribution logo appearing after it), Dynomutt: Dog Wonder, and the Warner Archive release of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.
  • This logo was also seen on the 1st season of The All-New Popeye Hour.
  • Was also seen on The Tom & Jerry Show (1975) before the 1973 MGM Television logo (it is blacked out on the Boomerang streaming service's prints of the series).

Editor's Note: A bit more advanced than Hanna-Barbera's "box" logos, though there is still a bit of their usual cheesiness when you slow down the final "HANNA-BARBERA" changing into the H-B graphic. In fact, the animation on this logo is so simple, that when Warner Bros. Animation revived the HB name, this logo was remade in modern form.

1983–1997, 1998-2002[]

Hanna-Barbera (1979)

7th Logo (September 17, 1983-May 20, 1986, July 17, 1989, June 7, 1990)[]

Nicknames: "Swirling Star", "Twisting Star", "Taft Swirling Star", "Rainbow Twist", "H-B Swirling Star"

Logo: On a black background, a white star swirls down from the top, leaving behind a rainbow trail. It then settles into the center of the screen as it twirls, occasionally shrinking and twisting, forming a circular trail. It then twists into the middle of the circle and comes to a stop. The words “Hanna-Barbera Productions” in Belwe Medium font appear below.

Trivia: Basically, this is the Taft swirling star as seen on the Taft International Pictures logo, only rainbow colored. The logo was designed by Saul Bass.

Bylines:

  • September 17, 1983-September 8, 1984: “A TAFT BROADCASTING COMPANY” (in a white font)
  • September 15, 1984-May 20, 1986: “A DIVISION OF THE TAFT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY”
    • In 1984, the 1982 byline was altered/amended with "A DIVISION OF" over "THE TAFT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY".
    • In 1985, the 1982 byline appears in a large yellow font, and the logo appears smaller in this version.
  • June 7, 1990: "A GREAT AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY"
  • Post-1988 prints of H-B shows from this era often have the Taft byline blacked out.

Variants:

  • In 1990, a special version of this was used at the end of Jetsons: The Movie. This features the same animation, but “Hanna-Barbera” is written in the familiar cursive “script” font, first introduced in 1987 and the animation freeze-frames very shortly before the original animation ends. This variant also features a Great American byline, and is the only H-B logo to do so.
  • Beginning in 1984, Hanna-Barbera created an opening logo to use at the beginning of some of their shows. It’s the same as the closing logo but it fades in during the middle of the animation. The text is changed, “Hanna-Barbera” is larger, and a small yellow “PRESENTS” is shown below. This opening variant (the version with the regular music) can still be found at the beginning of every episode of The Smurfs on Boomerang.
  • There is also an extremely rare still opening variant seen on the 1986 feature film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords and at the end of the 1984 Hanna-Barbera feature film Heidi's Song, in which there is a large "A Hanna-Barbera Production" byline and the logo is tiny in size.
  • On an older print of one episode of The Scooby-Doo Show, the logo is moved up a bit so that the Taft byline cannot be seen.
  • A rare variant is seen on the 1989 VHS Top Cat: T.C.'s Back in Town where the Swirling Star plays as usual, but it ends with the letters "HB" in black on top of the star itself and the star itself zooms in to make way for the words "HANNA BARBERA", which zooms out from the center to flash in multiple colors before ending in a red color. The music accompanying it is score music from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
  • On the TV special A Yabba-Dabba-Doo Celebration: 50 Years of Hanna-Barbera, an I.A.T.S.E. bug appears below the logo.
  • On an earthquake preparation video made for the Los Angeles Earthquake Preparation Program, the text on the bottom says "Hanna-Barbera PRESENTS" with the text below in a Helvetica font. The white star then suddenly zooms in and engulfs the screen, and flashes to the video's introduction. At the end, the "Swirling Star" is smaller and the text says "A HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTION FOR CITY OF LOS ANGELES EARTHQUAKE PREPARATION PROGRAM".
  • Another dark/deteriorated variant was seen on a recent Boomerang airing of the 1987 Smurfs episode "The Smurfs' Time Capsule", where the trail was almost entirely invisible. Only the star and the text could be seen.

FX/SFX: The star and residue trail. Cel animation effects.

Music/Sounds: Best described as “futuristic synthesized music". We start out with ascending and descending chimes mixed with a "whoosh" sound with each revolution of the star. When the star stops, the entire thing culminates in a somewhat gentle, but abrupt, acoustic guitar and bass chord as the chimes finish in the background. This was written by Hoyt Curtin.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • The opening variant used a sweeping chime sound, though 1980s Jetsons episodes feature a rendition of the Jetsons' doorbell (the “Meet George Jetson” piece of the theme rendered in chimes).
  • The 1990 variant used a majestic version of the "Meet George Jetson" theme, in the style of The Simpsons theme song (or more precisely, Danny Elfman).
  • On VHS releases of 1985 episodes of The Greatest Stories: Tales from the Bible, the logo is silent.
  • Some shows have appeared with the first variant with a blacked-out byline, but with the music from the 4th logo. This was chiefly used to update the logo on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, but has spread to other shows as well, including post-1988 reruns of Casper's First Christmas and was also spotted on an episode of Josie and the Pussycats. This instance also happened on the 1985 The Smurfs episode "The Adventures of Robin Smurf" and another instance on a 1989 U.S. syndicated rerun episode of The Smurfs. This variant was sort of common, but became rare when Warner Bros. updated the prints of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in 1997, and tacked on the 1994 "Action All-Stars" logo.
  • On a 1984 Canadian VHS tape of The Three Musketeers, the logo is silent; however, when the logo freezes, a note from some other cartoon theme song plays, then the ordinary synthesizer music begins.
  • On The All-New Popeye Hour on The Family Channel (later Fox Family and ABC Family, now Freeform), some reruns of the 1982-84 episodes would have this logo and the music on it played in sped-up mode due to time compressing.
  • On 1986 releases of The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible, early '90s prints of the 1978 Godzilla cartoon, and Boomerang airings of CB Bears, the ending of the show's theme is heard over the logo.
  • There is a high-toned variant that was seen at the end of one U.S. Boomerang rerun episode of The Super Globetrotters, due to the U.S. Boomerang's prints of The Super Globetrotters airing in PAL format, but on the Warner Archive DVD releases, this is played in the normal tone.
  • On the 1986 theatrical re-release of Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, the film's opening music cue plays over the "presents" variation of the logo. At the end, the standard version of the logo plays silent.

Availability: Common in its “unaltered” form, though many prints still have the logo's Taft bylines blacked out or bylineless.

  • Currently seen on The Smurfs on Boomerang, and was also shown on Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, the first two seasons of The Snorks, The Yogi Bear Show, some episodes of Josie and the Pussycats, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space (intact on episodes 6 and 8 on The Warner Archive DVD release), season 1 of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (with the 2001 low tone WBTVD logo following, intact on HBO Max's prints but with the 2003 WBTV following instead), 4 episodes of Galaxy Goof Ups, some 1983 episodes of The Richie Rich Show, a few existing 1980s syndicated remastered episodes of Top Cat, the 1985-1986 season of The Jetsons, and the short lived The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo when last rerun on Boomerang (though 13 Ghosts retained this logo on its DVD release and on the Boomerang streaming service).
  • The 1985 episodes of The Jetsons don't retain this on remastered prints due to plastering by the 1994 Comedy All Stars logo, but it's intact on HBO Max.
  • Very interestingly, this logo (w/ Taft byline) appears right after the "Zooming H-B" on the DVD releases of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and The Flintstones Comedy Show. It also recently appeared after the "Zooming H-B" logo on the former's episode "Focus Foolery" when last rerun on Boomerang as well.
  • The H-B Presents logo with the "Meet George Jetson" chimes is rare and so far it has been spotted on many The Jetsons episodes on the Boomerang streaming service and intact on HBO Max, and has also appeared on airings on Teletoon Canada.
  • The blacked-out byline version appears at the end of Boomerang and DVD prints of Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, plastering the next logo, and it is cut from the Boomerang streaming service's print of the film while the Warner Archive DVD release of the former plasters this logo with the 10th logo.
  • There are also some prints with this logo (with b/o byline) actually plastering the next logo.
  • The "A Hanna-Barbera Production" variant is extremely rare.
  • Sadly, this logo also plasters the Fred Flintstone logos on VHS releases of Tom & Jerry Kids, and has the Taft symbol being removed.
  • This was also seen on the 1985 TV special/pilot episode of Pound Puppies. The "presents" variant was also seen on Challenge of the GoBots and The Flintstone Kids, as well as the 1988 TV movie Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf and at least one episode of Wake, Rattle & Roll (odd for the latter three, considering the logo was no longer used by this point); it was also used as part of the intro for The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (the syndicated cartoon block).
  • The logo was also seen on some pre-Turner prints of The Scooby-Doo Show on Cartoon Network Australia.
  • It was also previously seen on season 1 reruns of Shirt Tales and plastered over with the "CGI Swirling Star" on season 2 reruns on Boomerang.
  • This version, the "CGI Swirling Star" and the 1994 "All Stars Comedy" logos below have plastered the H-B Rainbow logo on Boomerang's reruns of Laff-a-Lympics.
  • This was retained on early 2000s TV Land airings of The Fonz & The Happy Days Gang which followed the 1995 Paramount Domestic Television logo (said logo was silent except for 2 episodes).
  • It has also been seen on some episodes of Amigo and Friends.

Editor's Note: Perhaps Hanna-Barbera's most famous and memorable closing logo. It's still a favorite among people who grew up watching TV during this time, or watching Hanna-Barbera's shows on Cartoon Network in the '90s.

8th Logo (September 6, 1986-October 10, 1992: December 15, 1997: November 18, 1998-July 12, 2002)[]

Nicknames: "Swirling Star II", "CGI Swirling Star", "Twisting Star II", "Taft Swirling Star II", "Shining Star Twist", "H-B Swirling Star II"

Logo: An updated version of the previous logo, but now done in CGI. The trail is now metallic, and the star now realistically twists and turns and has a nice shine effect when the logo fully forms. The text and the respective company byline are in a different font and are slightly smaller.

Trivia: This version was designed by James Mahoney and Bennet Leeds at Black Lobster Digital Arts.

Bylines:

  • September 6, 1986-July 16, 1988: "A DIVISION OF THE TAFT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY"
  • September 10, 1988-1992: (Bylineless; Great American Broadcasting era)

Variants:

  • The 1988-1992 version often has the logo slightly enlarged.
  • On some shows, the bylineless version has the logo shifted up.
  • A still variant was seen on The Pirates of Dark Water and on 1992 episodes of The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible, with all names and bylines completely blacked out and replaced with "HANNA-BARBERA, INC." in a generic font. This also sometimes plastered the custom H-B logo at the end of Fish Police.
  • Sometimes, the regular 1986 version of this logo also carries a blacked out byline where the Taft byline usually is.
  • Copyright dates may be substituted for the "Hanna-Barbera Productions" text.
  • An out-of-sync version exists on a rerun of the season 3 The Jetsons episode "Crime Games"; the music comes in slightly too early on this variant, so the logo freezes and the text appears about halfway through the final note of the theme.

FX/SFX: Same as above, except with great CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • The closing theme of the show was used on shows such as recent reruns of Jana of the Jungle (due to plastering), the short-lived 1988 series The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, the final season of The Smurfs, The Flintstone Kids' Just Say No Special, and Cartoon Network and Boomerang airings of The Smurfs 1987 Christmas special "Tis the Season to Be Smurfy".
  • On Boomerang's prints of The Flintstone Comedy Show, the logo used the end theme of the show (carried on from the 1968 logo which preceded this variant), and halfway through, it cuts to the regular music already in progress.
  • On The Powerpuff Girls episode "Dream Scheme/You Snooze, You Lose" and the 1999 Dexter's Laboratory special "Ego Trip", two recordings of the same theme are playing simultaneously, making the music a little louder.

Availability: Uncommon.

  • The original version was last seen on most episodes of Galaxy Goof Ups, seasons 3 and 4 of The Snorks, post-season 5 episodes of The Smurfs, Fantastic Max, season 1 of Pound Puppies, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and The Pirates of Dark Water when rerun on Boomerang (though A Pup Named Scooby-Doo preserves it on DVD releases and the Boomerang streaming service) and used to be seen on some 1982 episodes of Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo (which plasters the 1982 "Star" and the Ruby-Spears logo) when aired on Cartoon Network in the late 90's to mid 2000s.
  • It can be spotted at the end of the Scooby-Doo TV movies Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987) (except for the Boomerang streaming service's print) and Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988); overseas prints of Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf retain this logo as well (it's plastered with the previous logo on domestic prints).
  • Also added to the end of some 1960s shows with no logo (very common in the past, but rather rare nowadays), and is sometimes seen at the end of shows that originally had an older H-B logo or one of the early 1990s in-credit logo variations, but that is rather rare as well, though this has recently happened on Boomerang reruns of the short-lived Cattanooga Cats. However, an instance of that was spotted on a May 8, 2010 airing of the pilot episode of Yogi's Space Race.
  • The version with the Taft byline still exists on The Flintstone Kids (which was plastered on the WBHV Saturday Morning DVD by the 1994 "Comedy" logo) and Popeye and Son.
  • This was also seen on S3 episodes of The Jetsons from 1987, as well as the 1986 revival of Jonny Quest which is intact on HBO Max.
  • It was also spotted on Yo, Yogi!, both when originally aired on NBC and when rerun on a foreign Boomerang channel.

Editor's Note: It's a nice CGI re-imagining of the logo above, which was a good achievement for its time, but the end result doesn't look as appealing as the previous logo. While it never reached the popularity of its predecessor, it's a fairly remembered logo for people who grew up during this period or those watching Cartoon Network/Boomerang reruns of this era of TV programming.

1988–2001[]

Babera Hanna

9th Logo (September 10, 1988-December 5, 1992)[]

Logo: Basically, an in-credit variant of the 7th logo next to the cursive “Hanna-Barbera” logo. This is superimposed over the credits, like the earliest H-B logos.

Variant:

  • On the final two seasons of The Smurfs, as well as the opening credits of Jetsons: The Movie, there is no swirling star.
  • For the opening to Jetsons: The Movie, we see a series of CGI musical notes (the first four notes of the Jetsons theme), which turns around to reveal the cursive "Hanna-Barbera" logo and the words "A" and "PRODUCTION" fade in. Then, the camera zooms past the logo.

FX/SFX: None for The Smurfs variant. For the Jetsons: The Movie variant, a combination of CGI animation and 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show. On Jetsons: The Movie, it's the intro theme of the film.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the final two seasons of The Smurfs as well as on the opening credits of Jetsons: The Movie and season two of Tom and Jerry Kids (as a dual credit with Turner Entertainment Co., though Turner Broadcasting, the parent of TEC, who would ironically end up owning them in 1991) which is sadly plastered by the previous logo on VHS releases, but is preserved on Boomerang's streaming service. The Jetsons: The Movie version is the most widely available.

10th Logo (September 8, 1990-March 29, 1991)[]

Nicknames: "Happy Birthday Fred!", "The Flintstones 30th Anniversary logo"

Logo: Against a sky-blue background, Fred Flintstone, in a purple "caveman tuxedo", waves a 'magic cane' to make a box with the words “THE FIRST 30 YEARS” inside it appear next to him. He puts away the cane and proceeds to tap-dance in front of a purple baseball diamond-like shape. Above that in an arc is a sign reading “THE FLINTSTONES”, with "THE" in a small black triangle above the arc. Below is the Hanna-Barbera script logo in blue.

Trivia: This logo was created in celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Flintstones premiere back in 1960.

Variants:

  • One version (possibly only a print logo) used a background of animated TV static. It has Fred in a black caveman tuxedo, the Hanna-Barbera script logo in yellow and a red baseball diamond shape.
  • Home Video releases have the Hanna-Barbera Home Video logo in place of the normal logo.

FX/SFX: Fred tap-dancing, which is typical H-B animation of the time. The logo was designed by Scott Shaw and animated by Mike Kazaleh.

Music/Sounds: The ending of the show’s theme, or a synth instrumental of the Flintstones theme with a "zap" and a drumbeat.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was last seen on the first season of Tom and Jerry Kids on Boomerang, and it can still be seen on the Boomerang streaming service's prints of the show, but VHS releases plastered it with the 9th logo. More shows that carried this logo are Wake, Rattle & Roll (with the synth theme), and the first season of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures which can currently be seen on Hulu. Gravedale High also used this logo, preceding the 1986-96 NBC Productions logo.

Editor's Note: A pretty good way to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Flintstones.

11th Logo (February 12, 1991-December 4, 1993, September 24, 1995)[]

Logo: In-credit like the 9th logo. We see the words “H-B Production Co.” This could be in any font; in many examples it appears in the H-B script font or in a different script font.

Trivia: First seen on The Pirates of Dark Water, last seen on I Yabba-Dabba Do!. This logo also appears on The Simpsons episode "Radioactive Man" from season 7.

Variants: In addition to the fonts, there are many variants of this:

  • On The Pirates of Dark Water, there is only an opening variant that simply has the words "Hanna-Barbera" in a Maya blue medieval type font.
  • On seasons 3 and 4 of Tom and Jerry Kids, there is a dual credit with Turner Entertainment Co., the copyright owner of Tom and Jerry.
  • On the first season of the 1992 animated revival of The Addams Family, "H-B Production Co." is below a dark-colored "Hanna-Barbera" script logo, and the entire thing is surrounded by cobwebs on a black background.
  • On Fish Police, "Hanna-Barbera, Inc." is below the normal script logo (in a red/yellow gradient color) on an underwater background.
  • On Capitol Critters, "Produced in Association with" is above the HANNA-BARBERA, INC. script.
  • On Monster in My Pocket: The Big Scream, we see a clip, then the Hanna-Barbera script appears after the monster raises its hat with its antenna, the script moving closer with "H-B PRODUCTION CO." with electric trails on the Hanna-Barbera script.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show or none.

Availability: Very rare. The Addams Family variant was last seen when Boomerang reran the series every October, and is also seen on VHS releases of the show. It was also seen on I Yabba-Dabba-Do!, which also preserves the logo on Boomerang and VHS. Whenever The Pirates of Dark Water aired on Boomerang, the logo was removed, but it is intact on VHS releases of the series. The Fish Police variant was plastered with the "Hanna Barbera Inc." still CGI Swirling Star variant when Cartoon Network UK last aired the series many years ago. Capitol Critters also had this logo, but that show hasn't been seen since the late '90s, it can be also still seen on season 3 and 4 episodes on Tom and Jerry Kids on some DVDs, especially The Complete Seasons 1-4 DVD in Germany, and sometimes used during "Tom and Jerry Marathon" on Boomerang.

12th Logo (September 11, 1993-December 24, 1994)[]

Nicknames: "Character Portrait", "All-Star Prototype", "HB All-Stars"

Logo: On a colored background, we see a partial picture of a Hanna-Barbera character inside a geometric shape. Somewhere inside the picture is the “Hanna-Barbera” script logo.

Trivia: First seen on 2 Stupid Dogs, last seen on the final episode of SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron entitled, "Unlikely Alloys".

Custom Variants: This was customized for each show produced by H-B during this era, and is available on only that specified show or TV movie:

  • 2 Stupid Dogs: There are two variants for this show: the opening had Little Dog in front of Big Dog laughing in a red vertical rectangle, with the "Hanna-Barbera" text yellow and angled vertically on the right side (at 90-degrees clockwise), and "PRESENTS" is below the logo (all of this zooms in). This logo later zooms in to the show's opening. The closing however, has the rectangle tilted so that it puts the "Hanna-Barbera" text at an angle, "PRESENTS" is removed, and the rectangle is raspberry-colored. Both variants use a white background. On at least one episode of this show, the end logo was completely vertical and applause was heard.
  • SWAT Kats: A grinning picture of one of the Kats inside a light blue oval (T-Bone, opening variant; for season 1, it cross-fades into the intro; for season 2, it flashes with energy, then fades into a shot of T-Bone, in his civilian identity, working on a car using a blow torch) or vertical rectangle (Razor, closing variant). A yellow-green “Hanna-Barbera” is seen, slanted and near the top. The background is either a dark blue-black gradient on the opening variant, or a dark blue-light blue gradient on the closing variant.
  • Jonny Quest: A headshot of Jonny Quest in a vertical magenta rectangle. A green “Hanna-Barbera”, on an angle, is somewhere near the top. The background is dark turquoise.
  • The Addams Family: A headshot of Uncle Fester in a vertical pistachio-colored rectangle. A blue-purple "Hanna-Barbera", turned 90-degrees clockwise, is on the right. This is on a fuchsia background.
  • The Halloween Tree: A headshot of Mr. Moundshroud in a tomato-colored oval. A yellow "Hanna-Barbera" is near the bottom of the oval. The background is a gradient midnight blue (which seems vaguely similar to the one in the SWAT Kats opening variant).
  • Fred: A headshot of Fred Flintstone inside a purple rectangle. A blue "HANNA-BARBERA" on angle facing the top. The background is black.
  • Santa Fred: A headshot of Fred, in Santa hat and outfit, inside a blue rectangle. The background inside the shape is blue, with snow against it. A yellow "Hanna-Barbera", slanted down, is near the top. The background is green, red or blue.
  • Droopy, Master Detective: A headshot of Droopy inside a solid blue rectangle. A yellow "Hanna-Barbera" is on the side. This is on a black-blue gradient background.
  • Dino: A headshot of Dino the Dinosaur in a light blue rectangle. A yellow "Hanna-Barbera" is on the side. The background is dark blue.
  • Yogi Bear: A headshot of a grinning Yogi Bear inside a rose bonbon rectangle. A tangerine-yellow "Hanna-Barbera" is on the side. This is on a solid blue background.
  • The Jetsons: A headshot of George Jetson with a huge smile inside of a pistachio-colored rectangle with a pink "Hanna-Barbera" on its side. The background is hot pink.

FX/SFX: Depends. The closing variants are still, but for the opening variants, it's the zooming in for the opening 2 Stupid Dogs logo or the cross-fade and/or flashing to the intro for the opening SWAT Kats logo.

Music/Sounds: A montage of sound effects from the company’s classic extensive library of sound effects (which, ironically, Hanna-Barbera was beginning to stop using around this time in their cartoons). It’s different for each logo. Sometimes the opening and closing themes of the show play over the logo instead. On SWAT Kats, for the intro variants, it has a heavy metal tune (the beginning of the intro), along with electrical noises during the 2nd season; the first season has a deep bass note. On the opening variant for 2 Stupid Dogs, a brief drumroll is heard, followed by alarm-like kazoos that begin the opening theme.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • The "Comedy" sound effect montage from the 14th logo is heard over this logo at the end of the TV movie Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights.
  • On Romanian dubbing prints of Droopy Master Detective, the logo is silent.

Availability: All the logos' rarity are different, but as a whole, uncommon:

  • 2 Stupid Dogs: Rare; it's preserved on the 2 Stupid Dogs DVD set from Warner Archive.
  • Jonny Quest: Rare, was last seen on all season four and five episodes of The New Adventures of Captain Planet when previously rerun on Boomerang. It was also seen on some prints of Jonny Quest from the early '90s.
  • SWAT Kats: Uncommon. It was last seen on reruns of said show on Boomerang, along with the VHS tapes and the DVDs from Warner Archive.
  • The Addams Family: Extremely rare. It's seen on original airings of the show on ABC and some VHS tapes of the 1992 animated adaptation of said show, and remains intact on some airings on Boomerang.
  • The Halloween Tree: Rare. It's only seen on the said special, which is available on VHS and DVD through Warner Archive, and remains intact whenever Boomerang re-airs the special.
  • Fred: Rare. It is known to appear on the 1994 VHS tape The Flintstones: Wacky Inventions and may have appeared on '90s prints of said show.
  • Santa Fred: Uncommon. The green variant is seen on The Town Santa Forgot, the red variant on A Flintstone Family Christmas, while the blue variant is seen on A Flintstones Christmas Carol, all of which are available on VHS and are available on the Boomerang streaming service.
  • Droopy, Master Detective: It was only seen on said show, but it can be found on Boomerang's streaming service with the logo intact.
  • Dino: Rare. It's only seen at the end of the Flintstones special Hollyrock-a-Bye-Baby, which is available on VHS.
  • Yogi Bear: Uncommon. It's seen on Yogi the Easter Bear and Scooby-Doo's Arabian Nights, the former airing on Boomerang every Easter, the latter airing on Boomerang occasionally, and both are available on VHS, DVD and the Boomerang streaming service. It was also seen on some prints of Yogi Bear from the '90s.
  • The Jetsons: Extinct. It was only seen on prints of said show from the early '90s.

Editor's Note: An interesting and memorable way to rebrand the cartoon studio starting in the '90s.

13th Logo (April 4, 1993-November 17, 1996)[]

Nicknames: “Animated All-Stars", "HB All-Stars II"

Logo: Up against a black background, a famous Hanna-Barbera character appears in a colored oval with the byline "H-B PRODUCTION CO." below in white. This was an opening logo used before a program.

Variants:

  • Muttley from Wacky Races and Dastardly & Muttley is seen in an orange oval and does his trademark snicker as the "Hanna-Barbera" script logo "writes" itself onscreen in copper letters.
  • Jonny Quest (utilizing some sort of arm device) is seen in a blue oval with the "Hanna-Barbera" script logo shining in copper letters.

FX/SFX: The character appearing and the text writing/shining. This was done by Hatmaker Films in Boston, MA.

Music/Sounds: We hear Muttley's famous laugh, and as the Hanna-Barbera script logo is appearing, we hear a small clarinet piece (an archival music cue from H-B's music library, written by Hoyt Curtin) On the Jonny Quest version, just the end theme to the special.

Availability: The Muttley version is seen at the start of the 1994 TV special Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights, which occasionally airs on Boomerang, but is cut on most home video releases and on the Boomerang streaming service. It also appeared on the Scooby-Doo: Bumper Edition UK VHS, the The Jetsons - The First Episodes Bulgarian VHS and at the start of the 1994 Flintstones special Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby. The Jonny Quest version was only seen on Jonny's Golden Quest, and was kept intact on a Boomerang airing.

14th Logo (September 3, 1994-November 28, 1997, February 11, 2001, November 3, 2002)[]

Nicknames: “All-Stars”, "H-B (Comedy/Action) Stars", "HB All-Stars III," "Kabong!", "The Annoying HB Logo", "The HB Logo of Plaster"

Logo: On a blurry white background with several colorful abstract shapes flying about, we see a clear square/oval that provides a “clear” view of the flying shapes; the square/oval has the Hanna-Barbera Script logo embossed in it at the top. Suddenly, we see some of Hanna-Barbera’s most famous stars running through the logo, as the square/oval begins to rotate. At the end, one of the stars ends up coming towards the logo, ending in a very extreme close-up of the star. A very small Turner byline (with Turner's own logo) appears in the lower right. Depending on the show genre, one of these two similar but very distinct variants of this logo is used; one for Hanna-Barbera comedy shows, and the other for Hanna-Barbera action shows. The stars, “music”, and logo shape differed depending on the logo. Here are the stars for each version of the logo, in the order that they appear:

  • Comedy: The "Hanna-Barbera" script logo is yellow and in a blue rectangle
    1. Fred Flintstone (as if running or sliding or something)
    2. Yogi Bear (grinning)
    3. Huckleberry Hound (diving or falling)
    4. Dino
    5. George Jetson (with a very classic “what?” expression)
    6. Elroy Jetson (flying in a pod; the same animation seen in the Jetsons opening sequence)
    7. Barney Rubble (very hidden, you have to look close to find him)
    8. El Kabong (Quick Draw McGraw’s Zorro-esque alter-ego)
    9. Scooby-Doo (with a weird “craning neck” animation)
    10. Fred (zooms towards the logo; extreme close-up of his face)
  • Action: The "Hanna-Barbera" script logo is sky blue and in a gray oval:
    1. Bandit (Jonny Quest’s dog)
    2. Atom Ant
    3. Jonny Quest (in his trademark black shirt)
    4. Dr. Benton Quest (Jonny’s dad)
    5. The Thing (yes, of the Fantastic Four, and H-B did a series of the Fantastic Four in 1967 in conjunction with Marvel Comics, even though H-B doesn’t even own the characters!)
    6. Zandor (firing an arrow)
    7. Space Ghost
    8. Birdman
    9. Zok, the Laser Dragon creature from The Herculoids
    10. Jonny Quest with kung-fu like outfit (another zoom; like he’s kicking into the camera)

Trivia: This logo was designed and animated by Fred Seibert. First seen on SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. Last seen on the Malcom and Melvin short "Babe He Calls Me". This logo also appears on The Simpsons episodes "Tennis the Menace" from season 12 and "Treehouse of Horror XIII" from season 14.

Variants:

  • A still variant of the "Comedy" logo was also shown on the 1995 cartoon incarnation of Dumb and Dumber, with a small "In association with" text below; the New Line Television logo would follow.
  • Later episodes of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest had this logo bylineless.
  • A version of the "Comedy All-Stars" logo has a variant with the Turner byline strangely blacked out.

FX/SFX: Animation of various H-B characters inside the square/oval and background, the shape slowly turning, the shine on the shape, and byline appearing. This was done by Charlex Studios.

Music/Sounds: Like the last logo, classic H-B sound effects, but there is more than one used during the logo, and they are arranged to create a neat “tune”. The music differs depending on the logo:

  • Comedy starts off with the weird horn sound effect from The Flintstones and The Jetsons, as we hear the sound usually heard as an H-B character starts to run away playing underneath. Then we hear a "boing" sound, several comical "fighting" sound effects, and finally the "kabong" sound of Quick Draw McGraw/El Kabong's guitar broken and dent over someone's head.
  • Action features a 60s bass riff playing throughout. First, we hear a screeching sound like a cartoon pterodactyl might make, a jet flying, an elephant trumpeting, and finally a loud low-pitched gong.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • On the Romanian dubbing print of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "A Night of Fright is No Delight", the music from the "Zooming" logo is heard due to an editing mistake.
  • On the Polish dubbing print of The Addams Family episode "Little Big Thing/Little Bad Riding Hood/Metamorphosister", the music from the Turner Entertainment Co. "CGI Globe" logo (the short variant) is heard due to an editing error.
  • On recent Cartoon Network CEE airings of The Scooby-Doo Show, the music from the end credits plays for a few seconds, then it cuts to a high-pitched version of the "Swirling Star" music. This is due to a split-screen formatting error.
  • Most TV prints of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "Never Ape an Ape Man" have the Action variant appearing with the audio from the "Comedy" version, most likely due to an editing error.
  • On the Top Cat episode "The $1,000,000 Derby" and The Flintstones episodes "Bamm-Bamm" and "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes", the "Comedy" audio is low toned.
  • On a few shows, the closing theme was used, such as the Boomerang streaming service's prints of The Richie Rich Show.
  • On The Flintstones episode "The Big Move" and an overseas Boomerang airing of a pre-1997 un-restored print of a 1962 episode of The Jetsons, the "Swirling Star" sound was used over the "Comedy" version, both due to editing errors. However, Me-TV airings of "The Big Move" (before being issued an updated print by Warner Bros.) have only the first half of the "Swirling Star" music before the "Comedy" version's soundtrack is joined in progress.
  • On some Romanian dubbing prints of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, the music from the "Zooming" logo along with the 1994 Warner Bros. Television theme plays over the whole logo.

Availability: Common, due to the being the chief means of plastering, though not as bad as you might think; it was typically on “new” post-1994 prints of the most popular shows, mostly '60s shows that had an in-credit logo and Screen Gems logo/text.

  • In most cases, they match the right logo with the right show; the exceptions are the 1997 prints of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which replace the "H-B Box" and "Swirling Star" with the "Action All-Stars" logo; however, when TBS aired Where Are You! in 1995, the "Comedy" logo was used.
  • Warner Bros. still uses this logo today to plaster older H-B logos on certain newer prints.
  • The "Comedy" variant also appeared on Cartoon Network Pan-European prints of the 1992 animated revival of The Addams Family preceded by the 11th logo.
  • The "Action" variant also appeared on The Scooby-Doo Show in the 1978 episode "A Menace in Venice" by plastering the 1974 "H-B" logo on Boomerang.
  • The "Comedy" variant was also seen on 2 Stupid Dogs (season 2), and at the end of cartoons produced in 1995 (with the exception of the short Awfully Lucky), airing from April 28th, 1995 to December 7th, 1997 on The What-a-Cartoon Show (later rebranded as The Cartoon Cartoon Show).
  • The appropriate variants can also be spotted on some DVDs of H-B cartoons, such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Wacky Races, Valley of the Dinosaurs, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Funky Phantom, Josie & the Pussycats, Josie & the Pussycats In Outer Space (on all but 3 episodes), Sky Commanders, and the 1973 version of The Addams Family.
  • The "Comedy" variant also appeared on Boomerang and Me-TV reruns of The Flintstones (before MeTV was issued updated prints of that show by Warner Bros.), the 1980-81 version of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and on the Dr. Seuss special Daisy-Head Mayzie on VHS.
  • The "Action" variant also plastered the "CGI Swirling Star" on Boomerang reruns of the 1986 version of Jonny Quest; while the "Comedy All-Stars" variant also plastered the 1983 "Swirling Star" on a few episodes and on remastered prints of the 1980s version of The Jetsons and the 1969 "Zooming H-B" logo and the 2003 WBTV logo on Pan-European prints of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.
  • The "Action" variant was first used on SWAT Kats and the fifth season of The New Adventures of Captain Planet, and can be seen on the Warner Archive DVD release.

Editor's Note: The logo utilizes a nifty combination of 2-D animation (the characters) with cool 3-D elements (the H-B shape). Despite this, this logo can be considered annoying by some for plastering over previous (and even later) logos, a practice Warner Bros. continues to do today. Still, it's neat to see all the characters.

15th Logo (April 28, 1995-November 10, 2002)[]

Nicknames: "Character Portrait II", "HB All-Stars IV"

Logo: Like the 12th logo, a still of an H-B character in a shape, usually an oval. The character is always the one that has been featured in the show that has just ended, so there are quite a number of variations (some variations have 2 or more characters). The background is almost always white. Below the logo, there is usually a Time Warner byline.

Trivia: First seen as an in-credit logo on The What-a-Cartoon! Show, the standalone version was first seen on the short The Chicken from Outer Space, and first seen regularly on the premiere of Cow & Chicken. However, the Dino variant debuted in the back side of the studio's 1993 calendar; the Dexter variant debuted on the 1995 book, The World of Hanna-Barbera and an advertisement. It was last seen on The Simpsons season 14 episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation".

Bylines:

  • October 27, 1996-September 16, 2001: "A Time Warner Company"
  • September 17, 2001-November 10, 2002: "An AOL Time Warner Company"

Variants:

  • As noted above, each Hanna-Barbera produced original series for Cartoon Network from 1997 onward starting with Cave Kids (used in February 1997) had this logo, always with the cartoon’s star(s), the only exception was The Powerpuff Girls, which used an altered version of the 8th logo. This not only included the regular half-hour series but one-off shorts, previously called What a Cartoon!, that now fell under the Cartoon Cartoons banner (which are now no longer rerun on TV). Thus, there are a large number of variations.
  • Some of the very early logos had a different style byline. Appearing in an arc-like fashion below the logo are the words “Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. A Time Warner Company”. This was soon dropped. It was mostly used on Cow and Chicken (sometimes with the other byline), but also appeared on a few Dexter's Laboratory episodes.
  • Some H-B cartoons from this period had some animation to include Cartoon Network’s logo; the H-B logo would iris-out (October 27th, 1996-November 14th, 1999) or zoom out (November 21st, 1999-November 10th, 2002), and then a "shiny" version of Cartoon Network’s 1992-2004 logo would zoom in. Additional sound effects were used for this. Again, quickly dropped, as CN was putting a specially-created network logo after Cartoon Cartoons. In some cases, there would be a quick fade out before the CN logo would appear! This was only used during mid 1998-early 1999; it was retained on Boomerang airings of Cow and Chicken, usually with the byline variant (also appears on a few Dexter's Laboratory episodes (including the TV movie Ego Trip, where it appeared by zooming out of the top point in the "CGI Swirling Star") and at least one Johnny Bravo episode).
  • On the HD remaster of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, the Scooby variant mentioned below has the Time Warner byline missing and the oval centered.
  • On all episodes of The What-a-Cartoon Show, a headshot of Fred Flintstone looking upwards in a pale purple oval with rose-pink script is plastered onto the lower right corner of the opening sequence.
  • On a promo on the VHS of Tink The Little Dinosaur: Lights Out!, we can see Atom Ant flying while waving. The camera zooms out to reveal the oval, as the letters "Hanna Barbera" appear. We see the text "Look out for these hilarious Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters on home video." fade in.

List of series or shorts with characters:

  • Courage the Cowardly Dog (Pilot): The end of the What-a-Cartoon episode "The Chicken from Outer Space" has a head shot of Fred Flintstone inside of a purple oval on a black background, with the H-B script in bright turquoise. This was later replaced by the 1994 "Comedy All-Stars" logo.
  • Cow and Chicken (Pilot): A head shot of Dino from The Flintstones inside an orange oval with the H-B script in blue on a sky blue background. Under the logo is a copyright. On later airings, this logo was replaced by the 1994 "Comedy All-Stars" logo.
  • The Simpsons (Seasons 8-13): Two variants: seasons 8-10 has a close-up of Bart inside a dark orange oval with cerulean H-B script; seasons 11-13 features a head shot of the passed-away Maude inside a magenta rectangle with yellow H-B script.
  • Dexter's Laboratory (Season 2): A side profile of Dexter in a navy blue oval. The H-B script is medium red-violet.
  • Cow and Chicken: Again, two variants: seasons 1 and 3 has Chicken at the left and Cow at the right in an aqua oval with yellow H-B script (common on Boomerang); season 2 has Cow holding Chicken by his neck with apricot-colored script. The oval is also aqua.
  • Johnny Bravo (Seasons 1-3): Yet again, two variants: season one has Johnny in a purple oval with yellow H-B script; another features a close-up of Johnny in a sky blue oval w/lime green H-B script. The first one debuted at the end of the third episode of the first season on July 21, 1997. The later one only appeared on two episodes of the second season.
  • I Am Weasel: I.M. Weasel on the left giving a shy look and I.R. Baboon giving an annoyed/suspicious look on the right inside a jungle green oval. The H-B script is shocking pink.
  • Kenny & the Chimp: Kenny on the left and Chimp on the right inside a pale turquoise oval. The H-B script is pumpkin orange.
  • Foe Paws: Mamma Mia smiling in between Rolo with a surprised look, and Vivian glaring, inside a grasshopper-green rectangle. The H-B script is leyden blue.
  • King Crab: King Crab with his frustrated face is on the top contained in a white rectangle. The H-B script is federal blue.
  • Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? (Pilot): Robot Jones is tilted a bit inside a lime green rectangle. The H-B script is red. This was seen only on the pilot episode in 2000.
  • Thrillseeker: (from left to right) Joe, Otto and Ashley have excited looks on their faces in a pale blue oval. The H-B script is dark turquoise.
  • Uncle Gus: Uncle Gus stands in a ready-to-run pose inside a yellow vertical rectangle. The H-B script is white. The background is black instead of white.
  • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (Pilot): Grim appears in a black vertical rectangle. The H-B script is in dark green. Like the Robot Jones variant, it was only seen on the pilot episode.
  • Cave Kids: A head shot of Baby Pebbles Flintstone inside a sky blue oval. The H-B script is yellow. Although the series aired in 1996, the show originally used the 1994 "Comedy All-Stars" logo before it was replaced with this logo in 1997.
  • Tom & Jerry ("The Mansion Cat" short): Head shots of Tom & Jerry inside a malachite box on a periwinkle background. The H-B script is flamingo pink. This one has a more 3-D look to it.
  • Scooby-Doo: Scooby-Doo appears in a pink oval. The H-B script is turquoise. Like Uncle Gus, the background is black. This was used on the first four made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies produced by Warner Bros. Animation. There were no sound effects used. This was used from September 22nd, 1998 to October 9th, 2001. Also, notably, this was one of the two versions to feature the AOL Time Warner byline from 2001, as seen at the end of Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, the other one seen on the Dexter's Laboratory "Greatest Adventures" VHS.

FX/SFX: None. This was done by Hatmaker Films in Boston, MA.

Music/Sounds: A standard sound effect montage that was created for this logo, ending with H-B's weird “laughing” sound effect (performed by veteran H-B voice actor Daws Butler); the sound is first heard on the newer version of the 1996 Cartoon Network Studios logo, specifically the What-a-Cartoon! late 1996 produced shorts, such as Tales of Worm Paranoia, Zoonatiks, Snoots New Squat, Strange Things and newer prints of the two Malcolm and Melvin shorts produced in 1995 (the latter two had the 1994 All-Stars Comedy logo). The extended version has a synthesized whoosh sound as the H-B oval irises out, and the sound effect of the paper carrier on The Flintstones throwing the stone newspaper onto Fred's head. In 1999, the sound effect montage was switched to a different one that also incorporated classic Looney Tunes sound effects, possibly because of the Time Warner merger.

Music/Sounds Variants:

  • No sounds for the Scooby-Doo variant.
  • On one episode of Johnny Bravo, different sounds are heard.
  • The Dino variant from the Cow and Chicken pilot uses the audio from the "Comedy" variant of the 1994 "All-Stars" logo.
  • For the Tom & Jerry variant and on Uncle Gus, the end theme plays over the logo.
  • On the Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? pilot, chicken noises are heard.
  • On the first Simpsons variant, "bawk-bawk" chicken was heard.
  • On the promo variant with Atom Ant, we hear a wind noise and Atom Ant says "Come on, keep helping everybody!", then giggles.

Availability: Depending on the variant.

  • Dexter's Laboratory: Uncommon. It appears on season 2 episodes of said show when rerun on Boomerang and on season 2 DVD sets. It also plasters the Cartoon Network Studios logo on some airings of season 1 of said show.
  • Cow and Chicken: Uncommon. Both variants appear on said show which is available on DVD.
  • The Simpsons: Uncommon. The Bart variant appears on seasons 8-10. But I do know that the passed-away Maude variant appears on seasons 11-13.
  • Johnny Bravo: Uncommon. The first variant appears on season 1 alongside its DVD release, and the second one appears on season 2, both of which air on Boomerang on some occasions, but not currently.
  • I Am Weasel: Very rare. The show doesn't air often as a standalone show, and so this variant isn't easy to find. the Region 4 DVD release might contain it though.
  • Tom & Jerry: Extremely rare. It only appears on the 2001 short "The Mansion Cat" which airs on Cartoon Network and Boomerang on very rare occasions.
  • Scooby-Doo: It appears at the end of the first 4 of the made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies after the credits sequence, those being Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo and the Witches Ghost, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase.
  • Robot Jones: Extinct. It only appeared on the original airing of the Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? pilot. Reruns of the pilot don't preserve this and it's unlikely that the show will ever air again on TV.
  • Billy and Mandy: Extremely rare. It only appears on the original pilot for The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, which appears as a bonus on the season 1 DVD and was seen on recent CN airings (most notably on Cartoon Planet, where the logo along with the original credits were retained).
  • Cave Kids: Extinct. If Cave Kids ever re-airs on Boomerang or appears on the Boomerang streaming service, a print with the "Comedy All-Stars" logo is very likely to appear instead of this one.
  • Promo variant with Atom Ant: Ultra rare. It has been seen on the VHS of Tink the Little Dinosaur: Lights Out!.
  • Rest of the variants: Extinct. The rest of them were all one-shots that aired on What A Cartoon!. They are most likely to never air again after What-A-Cartoon! ended in 1997.

Editor's Note: Again, fairly simple, but sure to be memorable to anyone growing up with Cartoon Network in the late '90s and early 2000s.

See also[]

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