Preserving a Saturday Morning tradition and a legendary animation studio? Ans: Warner Archive
There are two names in the entertainment business, one that is keeping the dreams and fantasy from the 60's alive with all the cartoon fanfare that made up that era and dominated the American Television sets on a Saturday morning. And one that actually produced 80% of that programming over 4 decades. Taking the best care to maintain these childhood memories of several generations Warner Archive DVD/Bluray division has been restoring animated series from that era for almost a decade, celebrating 9 years. With the utmost care and this no small feat. We are talking a library a 1000 fold many times over. But to appreciate what they have accomplished we have to transcend the very barrier of time itself to the origin of the very source. Has everyone got their bowl of Lucky Charms? If so, without further ado it's time to take a trip in the Way Back machine.
Yes, that's right Mr Peabody's wonderful time machine. Although there was another time traveler making his debut in this same era but that was across the sea, in another country and that's whole other story. We are heading to a time when America was setting its sights on the moon. When the Ford Mustang first roared its engines, the Beatles were invading the US(not the insect) and in full swing on the music scene. Hot Wheels and Matchbox die cast cars were popping up in boy's pants pockets,
Barbie accessories dominated a little girls shopping list and Hula hoops were popular with kids everywhere. Famous Monsters of Filmland was the reading choice of the day stashed under your bed for late-nite reads along with a batch of Marvel comics offering up the likes of The Fantastic Four, the Amazing Spider Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, and The Avengers from Stan Lee's Bullpen and DC was flying high with the Justice League of America, Aquaman, Brave and Bold- Batman paired up with a DC all -star, Superboy and the Teen Titans. Kool-aid and Funny Face were the drinks of choice.
Above: It's time to coll off with Kool Aid
And how many of you remember your moms baking a cake with Kool Aid poured into hole in the cake made with toothpicks and then a whip cream frosting...hmmm.hmmm...good cake.
TV Dinners were flying off the shelves- if you were Swanson you were well on your way to becoming what is referred to as a "household name".
It was good to be a kid in the 60's. The average youngster was up somewhere between 6 - 7 am (et), prepping the cereal bowl and mixing up some Tang or getting ready to down a big. tall glass of OJ. For at 7 am the local network affiliates were starting there line up with My Wizard, Speed Racer and Woody Woodpecker right before the major network shows were beaming across the airwaves at 8 o'clock. So you wanted to make sure you had your 2nd bowl ready to go...a little Honeycombs or Trix went along way.
For this was back in the day-it would be the 1960's - 70's and primarily 64' thru 74', it would be the prime years for "kids" programming on "Saturday" mornings. I put Saturday in quotations because there were, during this time period, some daily/weekly strip or syndicated children's programming and also some series that popped up on Sunday mornings as well. But the bulk of it resided on the first day of the weekend. There was one animation that was single handedly responsible for Saturday Morning programming for kids and mostly on the animated side. It's a name that would become synonymous with kids television and Saturdays for decades. Hanna- Barbera.
We all owe them and all their creative talent for the joy that they have brought into our lives either with a smile, out right slapstick & tomfoolery and edge of your seat adventure. In fact if it were not for Hanna- Barbera there very well may have not have been cartoons to help us survive the weekends knowing that school would be starting all over again come Monday morning. Our escape to other worlds of fantasy might have been limited to live action shows like Howdy Doody and Captain Video and reruns of theatrical run animation…with nothing new to indulge our young imaginations. Hanna- Barbera were able to produce thru a newly developed animation process a less expensive product and still be entertaining and not take away from the wonder & the charm of finished cartoon. Thru the use of limited cells, Hanna -Barbera proved that it was practical, profitable and highly entertaining, And less we forget that with Hanna-Barbera the writing and the story is what matters. This is the team that gave the world one of the most popular cartoon duo's in film history- none other than Tom and Jerry. Over the course of 15 years these two characters earned MGM-Hanna-Barbera 13 Academy Award nominations and 7 Oscars. How's that for a cat and a mouse?
Above: Bill and Joe displaying some of their Oscars
In the mid to late 50's MGM announced that it was shutting down its' animation department, something that some of the other movie studios were also doing . The thought was that there was enough of a stockpile of cartoons- that there was no need to create any new works. They would simply re-release the older titles and also there was the TV medium. It was during this time that Hanna and Barbera, who having realized that there was a magic, a chemistry between the two of them-that they worked more than well together. It was as if they were meant to be partners. If any two people could be any more suited to not only work together but who genuinely respected and really liked each other, it was Joe and Bill. MGM's decision was the catalyst to the formation of one the most respected, admired and more often than not numerous attempts by other studios to copy/duplicate the genius of two of the most talented men in the animation business. I think what set them apart was they had tremendous faith in each other and they were not afraid to take chances- to break the barriers of trying to animate for Television.
Above:Doug Wildey illustrations for the episode-The Lizard Men-one of the most popular adventures of the entire run of Jonny Quest and it packed a tremendous amount of action and suspense
On a single episode of a particular series one may not realize just how many people are involved or how many positions of cast and crew it actually takes to bring one story to life ..from layouts to production and in between. Here's a rundown of just one such episode from Jonny Quest- The Robot Spy which has a lot of science fiction elements and a bit of James Bond thrown in for good measure plus good ol' Dr Zin-Dr Quest's arch nemesis. Always makes for a dynamic action adventure. This reflects the production years 63-64 and this is with using less cells. We start with Director(1), then camera crew(4), Film Editor(1), continuity directors(2), writer(1), story director(1), voices(8), music(1), animation(4), animation direction(1)supervising art director(1), story supervision(1), layout (3), backgrounds(3), Production Supervision (1), technical supervision(1), ink-paint supervision(1), camera(5), film editing(1), sound direction(1): total # of cast and crew for one 21 minute episode- 42 talented people worked together to create a complete & intact "in the can" story. A lot more than I even thought. It takes to produce one episode.
Hanna & Barbera even though multi-talented always surrounded themselves with people who their own right were geniuses. artists, animators, directors, writers, voice artists and composers. Alex Toth, Doug Wildey, Hoyt Curtin, Mel Blanc...the list goes on. However, there is one individual who survived an ordeal at a young age. I am referring to Iwao Takamoto. One that I hope we never see happen again. World War II. Many forget that all Japanese Americans were gathered together and placed in internment camps shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Iwao and his family were among the people that were in these camps until the end of the war.
Iwao Takamoto
Left: Iwao "hard" at work - Iwao always had a smile on his face...
Born of Japanese immigrants in Los Angeles, California-1925-Iwao was more than an extremely bright student, he was exceptional academically. When the war came(WWII) he and his family ended up in an internment camp for Japanese Americans-Manzanar. Although not an ideal situation-he started to draw and during his time there sparked a chance meeting with two gentlemen who were both involved in the film business as studio art directors. The Two liked his drawings and asked him if he had considered drawing as a career.
After the war when the internment camps were dismantled Iwao keeping what the two studio art directors had said decided to take his work-sketchpads, drawings- to Walt Disney Studios. The amazing thing is Iwao had never taken art or drawing classes or attended an Art School-in fact he did not even possess a professional portfolio. Yet after only 15 minutes into his interview he found himself working for Disney. He was that good-naturally.
Iwao started with Walt Disney Studios in 1947 and stayed with them thru 1960.During that time and started as an assistant animator within the short film division-first under Bob Carlson. Then moved to feature films assisting legendary Milt Kahl. Iwao was able to gained a lot of experience as well sharpen his skills during this period with his work on Lady and The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. All three films became instant classics.
When 1960 rolled around Walt had decided to cut production output on thr animated films and release one every other year. This left just enough work for the top animators so he made the decision to leave. He started with Hanna Barbera shortly after that and became one of the top designers and creative personal behind such classic and iconic cartoon series ever produced. including Scooby Doo, Where Are You, Wacky Races and directed the full length Charlotte's Web(1972)... far too many to mention. Within a decade Iwao became a household name in animation as a producer and a director and worked thru the 90's. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement by Japanese American National Museum in 1996 plus ASIFA(International Animated Film Society) bestowed upon him the Winsor McCay Award for Lifetime Achievement. The year previous he was overseeing the design for the live action/CGI Scooby Doo. All this from a guy who never took one art or drawing lesson.
Additional notes of talent in Hanna Barbera's bullpen are listed below:
Peter Alvarado-Layouts & Character Drawing. Peter worked on H-B New Adventures of Huck Finn, ABC Saturday Superstar Movie 1972-1973
Edward Benedict -HB main character designer and layout artist. Edward was associated with Pixie Dixie,Quick Draw McDraw, The Flintstones,Top Cat, Dastardly and Muttley, Hong Kong Fuey. He was a recipient of 2004 Winsor McCay Award - Lifetime Achievement.
Wesley Hazelton Sr- designed Pebbles and Bamm Bamm
WillIam Hicks-H-B LATE 1950'S-90'S-Drawing- Quick Draw McDraw, Secret Squirrel, The Wacky Races, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Josie and The Pussycats, and Theatrical Film- The Man Called Flintstone. William was also a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award Winsor McCay
Alex Lovy- Animator/Director-Started with Walter Lantz Studios...directing Woody Woodpecker shorts-helmed storyboards-earned 2 Oscars nominations, worked thru the 80's-started H-B 1959...as Producer/Story Director-Jonny Quest, Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel, Frankenstein Jr/Impossibles, Dastardly and Muttley, Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Harlem Globetrotters and co-wrote The Man Called Flintstone
Charles Augustus (Nick) Nichols-24 years at Disney-Academy Award Winner helmed the Pluto cartoons and director of Grand Canyonscope- 1954 filmed in CinemaScope starring Donald Duck-Joined H-B in 1962, October-animator, Director of Animation-Herculoids/Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor and Animation Supervisor for Jonny Quest, The Man Called Flintstone, Harlem Globetrotters, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
Warner Archive-just one of many of Warner Bros DVD/Bluray labels. But one with distinction. It has been the home of lost and rare Warner Bros, MGM and Lorimar Film/Television classic fare for several years. They also are responsible for special editions and the Hanna Barbera Classic Collection. And this is where we start our coverage on this wonderful library of fantastic and entertaining animation that entertained so many kids and families on the late 50's, 60's and 70's during primetime, week day afternoons and Saturday mornings.
Hanna-Barbera made their entry into animated programming with Ruff and Reddy and Huckleberry Hound and then quickly followed by the highly successful Quick Draw McGraw as their third series and it made its way into syndication in 1959 and ran for 3 seasons. A cartoon show featuring a no nonsense U.S. Marshall and quick witted and loyal deputy who set out to tame the west and their tow. Protecting from all sorts of would be robbers, unsavory characters and desperados. It was also where Hanna-Barbera put into effect a unique format. 3 cartoons per episode- The main star that the show was named after would be aired first with 2 supporting characters headlining a 7 -minute story to follow. This format was mastered over the years and carried on thru most of the 60's and into the early 70's. However more and more 30 minute blocks featuring one storyline would become the more dominant production during the 70's thanks to a dog named Scooby Doo- the 30 minute mysteries.
Warner Archive over the last several years has been releasing the Hanna-Barbera treasure trove of animation. There are 2 of their most brilliant concepts that I share with you here and are more than likely to be part of your fondest memories if you were home afternoons in the 60's and camped out on a Saturday morning. One is Secret Squirrel and the other the newest and more recent DVD release of Peter Potamus- The Complete Series.
Peter hails from the early 60's and offers one of the more unique hero/adventurers in cartoon history. This was part of the weekday afternoon airings for the syndicated markets and that is when I caught Peter Potamus originally as I recall which makes me about 4 years old at the time so I didn't have to run home from school to catch this hilarious and smart show which provided some very clever ways of weaving some historical characters from time to time within the context of the series upon occasion.
Peter Potamus is not just any animal hero, no dog, cat or mouse. This guy is the hippest hippo and a purple one at that. Sporting a yellow safari pith helmet. Peter has the coolest mode of transportation- a time traveling balloon with a boat for the gondola. A get out of trouble hurricane holler which can blow the roof off a building or even give the balloon an extra boost when the occasion calls for it. He is a charmer as the opening and closing credits reveal as the gondola makes its thru the skies of various cities and towns as the local ladies hang out their windows and all gaze dreamily at our her as he floats by. His best friend and sidekick So So is a monkey. So So also is usually the voice of reason.
Below: the old hurricane holler...give it to him Peter
Peter was always a short hop from adventure with just a spin on the magic dial mounted in their gondola and they are either transported to any place in the world or some unique period in history. One episode may find him either rescuing Caesar from jumping off a pyramid with a rock attached to his foot trying to end his sorrow over Cleopatra and Peter having to play cupid or discovering a pirate’s treasure on a deserted isle and proclaiming it and the isle for himself. Not realizing the place was not deserted but the real owner of the loot or booty was a pirate who had only left the island to return to his ship because he forgot a shovel. So So had tried to explain to Peter that the treasure was not theirs ... Our wonderfully resourceful purple hippo has implemented the old "I'm proclaiming this land in the name of" myself and So So. Since no one is around that makes anything on the island ours. Well we all know where this is heading. Our would be adventurers are soon to be tasting the end of a sword and maybe the plank. but you'll have to tune in to find out what happens next.
Rounding out the series and giving Peter and So So support are 2 funny shows Breezly (Bruin) and Sneezly (Seal)- the first a polar bear bent on various mischievous hijinks concerning attempts to sneak into the local Army Camp all the while trying hard not to be caught by Colonel Fuzzby. The anchor episode each week was Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey who are 3 inept guards who bear more than a striking resemblance to man's best friend - the canine. And do their utmost to provide protection for the King.
Below: It's time to take a Quick break!!
By the mid Sixties H-B had conquered the weekday afternoon crowd and prime time with hits like The Flinstones, Jonny Quest and The Jetsons. So what next-well the logical step the weekends. I mean who else could rescue those kids that lived for Saturday and Sunday. Those munchkins who had to let off some steam from working their brains all those hours "slaving" behind a desk practicing writing their alphabet in cursive for what probably seemed like an eternity. Not to fear it's 1965 and Secret Squirrel is here.
Secret Squirrel was part of a slew of cartoons that helped launch Saturday Morning programming. With a real driving home of the notion that this was the kid’s domain. He actually debuted as part of a prime time special entitled The World of Atom Ant/ Secret Squirrel which was used to promote both of Hanna-Barbera's newest shows for its 1965 Saturday lineup. Secret and Atom were the main stars which was an hour show with both stars supported each by 2 other cartoon shorts. It was set up in such a way that it could be split into 2 half hour blocks. Everyone from the animation house, cereal & toy companies to the networks pulled out all the stops to get the word out. Heavy marketing campaigns including full page ads in was placed in every comic book produced during the mid- 60's thru the 70's.This was a serious business.
Secret arrived right at the height of the James Bond craze. 1965. Not only was the British spy popular here and of course the United Kingdom but across the globe. Ian Fleming's character helped spawn countless imitations and spoofs as well as launch the Euro Spy genre. So why not an action comedy cartoon about a somewhat bumbling spy and his assistant sidekick? And why not a squirrel who is a master of disguises and his partner Morocco Mole is ...you guessed it a mole? Well thank Hanna-Barbera again for assembling a top notch crew to do just that. From Mel Blanc, Henry Corden, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl and the great Paul Frees in the voice department. Our previously discussed Iwao Takamoto as part of the Layout team. Ken Spears in Editing. To name a few and Ted Nichols providing a spectacular theme and music score with just the right cues for the action vs the comedic moments. Which by this time Ted was the music director in charge for all of HB's Television and Film production. Hoyt Curtin who was the previous director and had put his stamp of talented genius on The Flintstones and Jonny Quest had parted company with the company.
Secret Squirrel was nothing short of the coolest agent this side of Bond and Matt Helm. And all the while putting a tongue in cheek spin on the cloak and dagger genre. Dressed in a bulletproof trench coat and a fedora hat with mini cannon tucked underneath. And he had everything from a car that not only could fly but folded up into a lightweight briefcase at the touch of a button. So remember that for the next time you can't find a parking space. And speaking of convenience what's an agent to do when he's all tied up and no place to go. Well resort to your handy dandy wrist watch/mini flamethrower always ready when you need to get yourself untied from no uncertain doom. And for the record if you listen to his theme song during the opening credits of the show much of his incredible arsenal is mentioned as is the fact that Secret is a master of disguise and expert in martial arts-judo and Jiu Jitsu. As you can see our hero makes a very formidable for to any would be criminal or foreign power trying to relinquish any valuable asset, resource or invention of any kind from the United States government or any of our allies.
Secret Squirrel had an ingenious and clever group of writers which resulted in some of the most creative ideas for a cartoon show. Scripts that were aimed not only at a younger audience but the older crowd with characters that paid homage to some of the greatest screen persona in screen history. Goldfinger, Mr Gutman from The Maltese Falcon, Roger Morley, Alfred Hitchcock, Get Smart and anyone who ever held the title Chief and was in charge of handing out special assignments for possible no return cases. This show embraced every bit of what being a secret agent meant with more than tongue in cheek and had fun right along with the viewer. Imagine major villains with names like Yellow Pinkie who just happens to look a lot like Goldfinger and sound like Sidney Greenstreet. And his "partner in crime" with a voice patterned after Peter Lorre and an accent from the Middle East. Paul Frees at his best.
Left-: some of Secret's gadgets
The comic moments in the series arouse from various sources. At times it would be a reflection on the ways Secret would enter the Chief’s(codename- Double Q) office. Sometimes via a drawer in one of the filing cabinets or popping out of the phone as it was being answered. The Chief would more than likely end up getting splashed, blasted or shocked with whatever method Secret devised. And would be left muttering how he and the world might be better off without Squirrels help all together. Something that was all too evident in the Get Smart series that was on the air during the same years. The fun was guessing on each episode where and how he was going to retrieve his assignment. Other times it would be the banter between him and Morocco about how to approach the villain to be apprehended. Morocco was usually the voice of reason and could predict that Secrets attempt would fail, at least his first attempt. But this is where all those crazy and at times outrageous gadgets would come into to play. One of the funniest and smartest episodes dealt with a master arch nemesis that was a brilliant inventor when it came to robotics. To carry off his latest scheme he needed Secret out of the way so he decided to discredit our hero by creating a several duplicates of him. And had the new and" improved" versions carry out crimes that would smear the squirrels good name and even ruin his relationship ship with Morocco. This particular episode has a clever take on Secrets skills as master of disguise. After Secret has exhausted just about every trick in the book trying to put an end to these evil duplicates he uses his abilities as a mimic blending in the faux squirrels and squash the plans of Dr Dangit. Chalk up one for our side and the Sneaky Super Service. The world is safe once more.
Secret Squirrel also dished out two supporting stories each week starring Squiddly Diddly and the Winsome Witch. The latter was truly the anchor for the series and kept me hanging on until the very end. An extremely funny take on witches and showing that not all are sitting around a cauldron plotting some malevolent consequences for the unsuspecting public. Winnie is a cute and most thoughtful witch in fact more so than most humans. But don't let that fool you into thinking that she won't lift her wand and speak some mystical incantations to turn you into a dragon or a dog...And she spent most her time helping someone be it some of the characters from the realm of fairy tales like Tom Thumb trying to get accepted into the Boy Scouts - one of my favorites with a really neat message that big or small everyone has something they can contribute and to not always judge a book by its cover. Tom is thought to be too small to be a scout and would actually be a danger to himself on campouts. Winnie not only helps give Tom the confidence in himself that he can make a fine scout but Tom actually ends up saving some of the kids from the very troup he is trying to join. He ends up preventing their being swept over a water falls to an almost certain doom. Another time she helps the Three Little Pigs protect themselves from the Big Bad Wolf. Winnie indeed had quite a reputation and even the government called upon her to help out to catch spies from time to time. So if you ever happen to be around Winnie while she utters Ippity Pippity Pow more than likely something or someone is about to change into something else- be it a six shooter to Witchcraft # 5 perfume dispenser for example in the episode entitled Sheriff Winnie when she is zapped by a bolt of lightning and ends up back in the old west.
The show had very smart writing and great art work. One of the funniest adventures found her not only back in the old west, but in a town populated by men only. Well this made Winnie the most popular girl around and so well liked that ...you guessed it they elected her sheriff and she drove out all the varmints and rascals out of town. As much as Winnie enjoyed being well liked and thought of, it got to point that she could barely breathe let alone grab some me time. So she did what any good decent self-respecting witch would do she cast a spell and summed up a stagecoach full of women and sneaked out of town and back to her cozy little cottage and her dog and Spooky her adopted son. Now that doesn't mean Winnie didn't date. For at the end of one episode after helping out a nice stewardess that had been so nice to her on her flight out to Hollywood by fixing the stewardess up with one of the leading men. Well every story has a silver lining and this is no exception for every good deed performed by Winnie usually resulted in turn with good fortune shining down on her. So as the stewardess ventured out on her date the Frankenstein Monster happened to be strolling by on the set. Winnie and Frankie -an instant attraction together and low and behold off they ride or is it fly on Winnie's broom into the moonlight. And as they headed out of sight Winnie commented " it just goes to show that there is someone for everyone."
Before we end this edition on the first in a series of articles on Hanna Barbera we have to take in one last adventure together. Well what could be better a journey back in time to 1967 when superheroes were king. While capping it off with a jaunt thru the cosmos to the planet Quasar. The home of :
Above: The Herculoids fan art
The Herculoids.
The Herculoids(1967) is a unique story concerning a family of planet protectors Zandor, Tara his wife and son Dorno. Protecting their home planet from alien invasions, slavers, home spun uprisings and self- appointed leaders bent on world domination. They are aided in their fight to preserve peace & freedom on Quasar by some trusted friends and allies who are a mixture of prehistoric/sword & sorcery based creatures. Tundro(combination 4 horned rhino/ceratop) who can shoot blasting rocks from a cannon horn and a body that is shielded like a tank. Zok a winged dragon that shoots laser beams from his eyes and tail. Igoo, a rock ape who is virtually indestructible and able to wade through molten lava. Even some with more futuristic powers like Gloop and Gleep- two "Shmoo" looking creatures one small and one tall who have "Plastic Man" type qualities that can bend, squish, enlarge and split into smaller versions of themselves. Gleep and Gloop are also impervious to most types of weapon blasts. In fact they can absorb/deflect energy blasts. Many times they can be found bending themselves around Zandor and family to shield them from certain harm.The adventures and stories well received with kids of all ages provided Hanna-Barbera the opportunity to stretch their sound effects library for there were countless explosions and ray blasts, rock falls crashes. Ten add in all the alien creatures & monsters like super strong and very large ants. And the Herculoids had to have been exhausted by the end of the season after all these attacks from outer space. Especially since each week we were treated to 2 12 minute stories.
They came along at a time when there was boom in dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were everywhere during the 60's. I was grabbing every book I could when I would hit the library that had anything to do with these real monsters. Kids could not get enough. We had the Flintstones., every toy store sold sets of prehistoric animals usually with a base map/volcano,
Sinclair Oil with their dino mascot printed on t-shirts, hats and they even put together and sponsored a tour of giant dinosaur statues that traveled from city to city stopping at various shopping centers across the country and I was lucky enough to have made that scene. Being at an age of somewhere between 6-8 I was mesmerized by the size of these enormous creatures.
The Herculoids had some of the best voice actors doing what they do best lending their incredible talents to the coolest beings in the outer realms of space. Making the introductions for each weekly adventure was none other than Paul Frees( ghost host with the most-voice of Disney's Haunted Mansion curator). Mike Road voiced Zandor who aside from his voice acting gigs was a Warner Bros television contract player-making appearances on The Wild Wild West, Maverick, Sea Hunt and others. But he most known for his voice characterization of Race Bannon on Jonny Quest.. He brought to his roles a very deep Baritone vocal element that resonated that lent itself well for any animated hero. A well annonciated actor and easily recognizable.
Behind the scenes of this smoking show was Ted Nichols with another awesome music score and opening title theme that really captured that way out premise and lent an erie, other worldly element and still giving a nod the action and excitement that was about to come. Couple that with the stupendous color on the inking end and eye candy layouts and you have one unique series that would pull you in and keep you coming back for more.
Alex Toth-cartoon character designer extraordinary
Alex Toth (1928-2006). a legendary character designer, animator, cartoonist, artist and comic book creator. Alex at the urging of a high school teacher enrolled in art school with the goal of working in the comic strip biz along with some of his boyhood inspirations Alex Raymond(Flash Gordon), Caniff(Terry and the Pirates) and Hal Foster(Prince Valiant). By the time Alex graduated in 1947 from School of Industrial Art the strips were starting to wind down and he decided to make a leap into comic books. He started out with his first gig for National/DC Comics working on the golden age characters of Green Lantern and Black Canary's first meeting with the Justice Society. Other DC series included The Atom, Flash and Doctor Mid-Nite. He also worked in the mid to late 50's within the war, romance and crime genres and also brilliantly illustrated Disney's Zorro comics.
Alex was hired by Hanna Barbera in the early 60's after Toth had manned the helm on the animated sci-fi show Space Angel. This led to Alex creating not only the Herculoids but the highly regarded Space Ghost series that helped launch the domination of super heroes on Saturday mornings for a solid 3 years, a hold that ended only due to the Coalition Against Violence on Television, Other series included Birdman and the ever popular Super Friends from the 1970's. The 70's also saw his venture into Creepy, Erie and The Rook for Warren Publications. His talent knew no bounds and many considered Alex a genius when it came to background design not just character development and he really shined when it came to details such as weapons and machines- no one could do airplanes better. His eye for detail to this day has very rarely been challenged. As each year of Toth's participation in the animation and comic industry continued so did his reputation. He remained active into the 80's within the animation field. His last venture in comics creating the cover for Batman: Black and White # 4 (1996). The comic book industry paid tribute to Alex in 1990 when he inducted in the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990. One thing to note in regards to Alex, being what people call a genius could be somewhat temperamental, a perfectionist or what I would call frustration at having to try and communicate what people of that magnitude go thru when communicating an idea or a concept of to them should be common sense. An example I have the ability to see ahead in time when an idea or a concept is explained to me. I can several minutes, hours and days down the road from the time this is introduced in a public way what the outcome will be or how it will effect various individuals- usually 96% at being right and I forget that most people do not think in that way. Hence the frustration when trying to explain that to another person. He was a very generous man in terms of helping other artists when working on projects together with cel, inking and drawing his panels, storyboards and keeping to his specs. Especially knowing that most of the crew were used to animals and not working with human scale characters.
Now Alex's career spanned 5 decades and a body of work that exceeds the limit of this article at least for now. But I will leave you with some suggestions if you would like to get more acquainted Alex Toth. Warner Bros Space Ghost-the Complete Series(DVD) includes a feature length documentary on Alex and is available online at the Warner Bros Shop. Then there is IDW's magnificently produced 3 volume series on his career and body of work- Genius, Illustrated, Genius, Animated and Genius, Isolated all written by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell. All can be found on Amazon or IDW's website. Each comes with a library binding boasting hundreds of examples of his artwork and drawings which makes them the ultimate reference resource. If one is interested in art and learning from a master, you could no better. Oh when you order these books give your mail carrier a break and be standing by when they are to be delivered they weigh in at a hefty 5.4 lbs.
Look for a continued coverage regarding Hanna Barbera and their indelible contribution to the field of animation in a future Who's Streaming What When Where- as we discuss Boomerangs new editions to their streaming service. Also look to Comixology(see link below) for Scooby Doo Team Up- various Warner Bros, DC and Hanna- Barbera characters join Scooby and the gang solving spooky mysteries in a nod to The New Scooby Doo Mystery Movies TV series from the early 1970's. Some previous team ups have seen Secret Squirrel, The Flash, Deadman, Jonny Quest and Atom Ant picking up the magnifying glass and fingerprint kit. Proving that these wonderful cartoon characters are just as popular today as they were over 60 years ago.
I want to thank you Bill and Joe wherever they may be, along with all the talented people that you surrounded yourselves with for providing hours upon hours of fun and imagination to stimulate not only stimulating my brain but for whole decade and then some. And for Warner Bros and Warner Archive for sharing this for generations to come, keeping all these incredible Hanna Barbera productions look as pristine as when they were first broadcast decades ago. Who knows who may be inspired to take up the mantle. For now, I leave with this- like Space Ghost would belay as an adventure would conclude " There's a lesson here somewhere." So" be dangerous and diabolik"...This is Doc saying see ya next time...
A reminder-
Warner Archive DVD/Bluray releases available at the Warner Bros Shop online and IDW Publishing for all your animated resource books and the home of Disney Comics and Stories, DuckTales, Star Trek and TMNT.
Link: Warner Archive-Warner Bros Shop
Link : IDW Publishing
https://www.idwpublishing.com/
Link: for comixology