1966 Hanna-Barbera Characters Reference Book

 The stuff you can find on auction sites is nothing short of incredible. As proof of this, here's something I uncovered recently: a 1966 reference book created for the Hanna-Barbera characters. This was intended for artists inside the studio to use, and features model sheets, color references, and other guides for many of the characters featured in their shows. Below is the front, as well as a picture of Huckleberry Hound's model sheet.

While it's indeed a cool piece of animation history, I find some things in it quite odd. Below is a set of several pages from the book, showing the main cast for several shows. The models used for Rosie in The Jetsons and Top Cat in the series of the same name are a far cry from the ones seen in the actual shows. I'm curious why this was, as it's definitely not the only time Hanna-Barbera characters sported radically different designs. Also notice Rosie is referred to as "Rosey", which is how her name was spelled up until the 80s episodes.

One great element of this book is that it doesn't just focus on the major characters of the shows. From what I've seen, there is also a decent amount of focus on side characters. Take a look below at the sheets for The Great Gazoo and Perry Gunite, the latter of whom only appeared in one episode of the original Flintstones.

From what I've gathered, several other reference books were created by HB over the years, like a series in the mid-90s that featured multiple books, each based on a different franchise. Maybe I'll look at them all in-depth one day, but being that this is the first they did and highlights my favorite years of the studio, I couldn't help but shed some light on it.