Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( bar-BAIR-ə) (founded and formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.) was an American production company, which was active from 1957 until its absorption into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. Founded on July 7, 1957 by Tom and Jerry creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera along with George Sidney, it was headquartered in Los Angeles at the Kling Studios from 1957 to 1960, then on Cahuenga Boulevard from 1960 to 1998 and subsequently at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Sherman Oaks from 1998 to 2001. Notable cartoons that the studio produced include The Huckleberry Hound Show, the Flintstones franchise, the Yogi Bear franchise, the Scooby-Doo franchise (until 2001) and The Smurfs. With these productions, Hanna-Barbera may have usurped Disney as the most successful animation studio in the world, with its characters becoming ubiquitous across different types of media and myriad consumer products. By the 1980s, however, the studio's fortunes were in decline, as the profitability of Saturday-morning cartoons was eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication. Taft Broadcasting acquired Hanna-Barbera in 1966 and retained ownership until 1991. It was in this year when Turner Broadcasting System acquired the studio, using the back catalog to establish Cartoon Network the following year. By the time Hanna died in 2001, Hanna-Barbera as a standalone company was folded into Warner Bros. Animation. The name continues to be used for copyright, marketing and branding purposes for former properties now produced by Warner Bros.

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