Review: Hanna and Barbera Conversations

A few months ago, I began very early work on a top ten list that would feature on this blog, chronicling what I believe to be the top ten best books focused on Hanna-Barbera. One reason that post is taking so long is because of the research process; making sure I've read every title discussing the company and the people who built it. Another reason is that the list is always shuffling in my mind. And, recently, a new title has become a candidate for appearing on this list. That book's name is Kevin Sandler and Tyler Solon Williams' Hanna and Barbera: Conversations.

Released by the University Press of Mississippi, Conversations is exactly what it says on the front. The book is a collection of interviews, press pieces, and many other first-person accounts from those who worked alongside Bill and Joe during their historic career in animation. The back of the book promises that it will be a lively portrait of the two men, and in that regard, it is a triumph and then some. You get a handle on what these two men are like very well. You understand their strengths and weaknesses, where one excelled and the other lacked. Whether it's Joe's great sense of business or Bill's hospitality, their personalities come alive through this book, making them less like these mythic legends of animation and more like the real people they were. 

Now, what about the interviews? As both individual pieces and a collection focused on telling you the history of Hanna-Barbera, they are phenomenal. Some I feel are stronger than others, and some you may have read prior, but I never found myself bored with a single one. The inclusion of each one also felt necessary to showcase the company's history. Just like I never saw one as boring, I never thought one was unnecessary, either. There's a great diversity in the names picked, too. Animators (Tom Sito), voice actors (Daws Butler), writers (Mike Maltese), and executives (Fred Seibert) all get the chance to shine and add their own personal experiences to the Hanna-Barbera story. Below are a few of my favorite pieces the book spotlights.

• Ed Benedict's discussion with Amid Amidi. I loved hearing him share his thoughts on how his character designs were animated, crude as some of them may have been!

• Darrell McNeil's look back on his Superfriends days. The first black animator the studio employed, his love of both the studio and superheroes is more than evident. You can practically feel his enthusiasm jump off the page.

• Tom Minton shares the story of his time in the Hanna-Barbera animation training program. An extremely prolific artist who's worked everywhere from Disney to WB, he sheds some much-needed light on an area of Hanna-Barbera history that has largely been overlooked. Out of these three segments, this chapter was probably my favorite.

I've been talking a lot about the good in this book, but that's not to say the book is without its drawbacks. For one, some of the content inside the interviews can be a little redundant. I swear you hear Joe Barbera at least three or four times talk about how long he and Bill worked at MGM on Tom and Jerry and how many awards they won. It does get a bit tiresome, but at the same time, that's not the fault of Sandler and Williams, or even the writers of the original pieces. It makes sense why that's discussed, it's just something that gets repetitive, especially if you're reading a lot of the book in a single sitting. Some might also be disappointed at some of the omissions included (or not included) in this title. Discussion about major shows, like The Flintstones, is almost nonexistent, and while there's a good deal of the talent behind their early work featured here, it would have been nice to hear from more of them. I'm sure others will levy these critiques toward the book, but for me, I can't say I agree with them. If you're interested in hearing more about how The Flintstones came into being, several books cover that. And while I would have loved to hear more of the early Hanna-Barbera artists talk, there are only so many sources they could have pulled interviews from (and that's assuming they'd be given the permission to republish them). 

In conclusion, Hanna and Barbera: Conversations is a must-add to any animation researcher collection, whether you're a Hanna-Barbera diehard or not. Out of all the books I've read that walk the reader through the studio's history, this is easily one of the best. From their high points to their lows, it tells you everything you need to know about the duo, and why they're still worth talking about so many years later. It doesn't matter if you're a Hanna-Barbera know-it-all or someone with a passing curiosity in them, it's a book that enthralls you from beginning to end. I found it hard to put down, and in my mind, that's the biggest compliment I can give a book. Give it a read for yourself. I can assure you, that you will not come away disappointed.

That's all I've got to say for today, but tomorrow will be this week's featured video. The first in a trilogy of posts loosely related, let's just say it's about to get real on this blog. What on Earth does that mean? Check back tomorrow to find out!