Sites for Hanna-Barbera Fans to Check Out!

 To start off September, I thought I'd do a post that's a bit different from the usual ones. Instead of highlighting a voice actor or sharing a rare video, I have a list to share with you today, and it's one on the subject of Hanna-Barbera websites. Though I do believe myself to be quite knowledgeable in regard to the studio, I am far from the only or best authority on the matter. As such, here's a collection of eight websites I urge fellow Hanna-Barbera fans to look at. Whether you want to know more about the cartoons or just want to kill a couple minutes, I hope this list introduces you to at least one site you haven't heard of before! At the very least, I hope you come away from these sites looking a bit happier than George Jetson is up above!

1. Yowp - Despite this being a numbered list, I'm not ranking these from most to least good or anything like that. But if I was, Yowp would still be the first one I'd mention. A blog that's been going since 2009, Yowp covers the golden era of Hanna-Barbera cartoons in amazing detail. From old newspaper articles to episode breakdowns, if you can think of something from the studio's early years that intrigues you, Yowp has a post that discusses it. I've mentioned this blog many times here, and I will likely continue to do so for a long time. As a quick disclaimer, I should note that this blog is essentially retired, save for a couple of posts released this year. Even so, Yowp's blog remains the best source for any aspiring Hanna-Barbera historian, and a big inspiration for the blog you are reading right now!

2. Cartoon Research - Another blog, Cartoon Research comes from the mind of animation historian Jerry Beck and is the best resource for anybody interested in researching animation. Though the focus is on animation in all of its various forms, there are plenty of posts related to the house that Bill and Joe built. The website has all kinds of great series, from Devon Baxter's animation breakdowns to Michael Lyons'  "Animation Cel-ebration." The site also has a great section dedicated to keeping track of books and other blogs on animation. Give the place a look, and I can assure you you'll come away having learned a thing or two. An all-around great resource, and one I would love to contribute to in the future. Maybe someday!

3. Stu's Show - Coming to us from Stu Shostak, Stu's Show is a podcast all about classic TV and its history. As such, it's no surprise that the topic of Hanna-Barbera cartoons has come up a lot since the show's start in 2006. He's interviewed voice actors (Janet Waldo), writers (Tony Benedict), animators (Jerry Eisenberg), and many others who are well-versed in the world of Hanna-Barbera.  He's also interviewed plenty of animation historians, such as the aforementioned Jerry Beck, and more recently, Keith Scott, author of the Cartoon Voices book. The website has a great archive going back all the way to the beginning, and with each episode only being 99 cents to purchase, you really can't go wrong with this one. And before you ask, no, this isn't an advertisement for the show. Whether you love HB cartoons or classic TV in general, this is one I highly recommend!

4. Hanna-Barbera Wiki - Fan-wikis are all over the internet, and there are more than a few focused on Hanna-Barbera Productions. However, if I had to highlight only one, it would be this one. The youngest site on this list (I believe it was created around 2019), the Hanna-Barbera Wiki is exactly what it sounds like. From Joe Barbera to the latest Scooby-Doo movie, this site has over 8,000 articles covering everything in the funtastic world of Hanna-Barbera. The main reason I chose this one over its contemporaries is that it is completely owned by the people writing it, and not some corporation forcing ads and quizzes down your throat (looking at you, Fandom). If it has any drawbacks, it's that, there are still plenty of redlinks and empty articles running amok on the site. However, that can be remedied with some new contributors, so if this sounds interesting to you, I urge you to join the site's user base and help flesh it out. This is already a great site, but with some more users, it can only get better and better!

5. MeTV - More of a "for fun" website than a "for research" one, MeTV, as a lot of you probably already know, has aired both The Flintstones and The Jetsons, alongside several other classic cartoons, for a couple years now. On their website, all of these shows have their own dedicated page, which are surprisingly intricate. These pages feature episode guides, as well as links to fun quizzes and articles discussing interesting pieces in the history of all of these franchises. I was honestly really surprised by the amount of great content on the site about these shows. And if I come away happy having visited the site, I am sure you all will, too!

6. Daws Butler - Okay, this one might be considered cheating, as it isn't technically up and running these days. However, thanks to the Wayback Machine, the website, as well as pretty much all of its contents, can be easily accessed even now. Created by Joe Bevilacqua, a student of Butler's and author of the amazing Daws Butler, Characters Actor, this site is the number one authority on all things Daws. From old interviews to images to a biography, there's a reason why this site is recommended reading on Daws' own Wikipedia page. As I said, as this site is only preserved through Archive.org, there are a couple of links that don't appear to work. But the ones that do far outweigh those ones in my experience. Overall, it's an amazing website and a tribute to one of the best talents that ever worked at 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard.

7. Fred Seibert - Here's a website from somebody who actually worked at Hanna-Barbera! Fred Seibert is a pretty well-known figure in the world of animation and TV, but for HB in particular, he was their president from 1992 to 1996, also making him the last president of the company. His website is all about his experience in the entertainment industry, and that includes his work at Hanna-Barbera. He's shared plenty of writings, memories, and images focused on the studio, and I find all to be highly captivating. Whether you're a fan of the early days of HB or their programming for Cartoon Network in the nineties, this website has all of that covered and more!

8. Webrock Online - The last website I have to share with, this one is also the oldest, debuting all the way back in 1995. It's a Hanna-Barbera fansite, although it does skew more towards The Flintstones than any other franchise. It's full of trivia, character guides, show guides, and more. Admittedly, many might find this one to be a bit dated, as a lot of the info stored on it is easily accessible through other means now, but how could I not share the oldest Hanna-Barbera fansite on a list like this? Especially when, against all odds, it still gets updated to this day!

That does it for today, but as I mentioned in my last post, get ready for some great things coming to this blog later in the month. Chief among them is a series of posts I'm working on called "Scrapped September." Every week during the month, I'll highlight one Hanna-Barbera project that didn't become a reality. Canceled/abandoned media is something that I always love to discuss, and I hope you all will be into it too!