Ranger Smith in the Palm of Your Hand

I've been sharing several examples of Hanna-Barbera-branded candy this month, but until now, they've all originated in the U.S. Here's something a little bit different. Released in the early 1980s by the Argentine company Billiken, these are candies that were released in tins featuring a pretty impressive variety of Hanna-Barbera characters. Even better, each tin contained a small figurine of a random character. In that way, I guess you could compare them to Kinder surprise eggs. Below is a print ad for the tins, complete with a little Fred in the corner telling kids to "ask us at your kiosk" for the treats.

As you can see, they had a great selection of characters appearing on these tins, especially if you're a fan of the earlier series. Here's a better look at a few of the tins, starting with a Flintstones one. This one features Fred, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm. Fred is saying "If we continue eating Billiken pebbles, they are going to call us the Pebblestones." You can also get a look at one of the included toys, which is a little Ranger Smith. It's not too bad considering the toy's stature!

This second tin is based on Precious Pupp. We see Granny Sweet say "Pupp! Where did the Billiken pebbles go?" Precious simply laughs in response.

I'll share one more tin, this being of Atom Ant, who says "The secret to my powers? Billiken pebbles!" Somehow, I always knew.

Now, let's take a look at the toys that were included with these. Here are nineteen of the figures. I don't know if these were the only ones available, but it wouldn't surprise me if more were offered. These offered a rather diverse selection of characters, including some who didn't appear on the tins themselves. Their size and design seem reminiscent of Marx's Hanna-Barbera figurines from the sixties. And who wouldn't want a tiny Touche Turtle with their candy?

Before They Were Cartoons: Early Sketches of Atom Ant, Jabberjaw, and More!

Concept art really is a fascinating thing. Who doesn't want to see what their favorite characters almost looked like? Not so long ago, I looked at some rough early designs for The Jetsons and Quick Draw McGraw, and I'm back with more! First off is this piece for Huckleberry Hound. As you can see, the Huckleberry sketch really emphasized the "Hound" aspect of his character, which was toned down in his final design. It was also drawn by Ed Benedict, who designed many a Hanna-Barbera character.

Here's an earlier take on Atom Ant, though compared to others, he's not too dissimilar from how he looked in the final product. It's mostly his colors that are different.

Next is this Jerry Eisenberg piece for Dastardly and Muttley, or as it was almost called, Stop That Pigeon! If you're wondering why the main character looks so different from Dastardly, that was because the Hanna-Barbera folk weren't actually sure if they could use him or Muttley for the series, due to its nature as a coproduction with Heatter-Quigley.

The last one for today is this concept art of Jabberjaw. I think this was done by Eisenberg as well, but I cannot say for certain. While I think most others prefer the final designs to the concept versions of every character thus far, I must say, I dig this version of the character way more than the actual version. It's got far more character, and feels right at home alongside the likes of, say, Yogi Bear. Of course, this is Jabberjaw we're talking about, so I guess it wasn't that big of a loss that we didn't see this version. 

Animation How-To with Atom Ant

 Here's another cool feature from the old Cartoon Network "Department of Cartoons" website. Hosted by Atom Ant, it's a look at how cartoons are made, from the pitch meeting to airing on TV, and everything in between. You'll notice on some of the slides that there were clips attached to them, but the links to these seem to be lost to time. The site also doesn't credit whoever did these drawings, so I'm just going to assume Atom Ant himself did them!

Hanna-Barbera Studio Store Swag

 I've talked about the extremely short-lived Hanna-Barbera stores that popped up in two malls in the early 1990s, but something I haven't touched on is the Hanna-Barbera Studio Store, which also opened around that time. Like a lot of studio stores, it offered a range of products exclusive to employees, from apparel to art pieces. Here are a few of the items sold at the store that I could find online. 

First off is a necktie with one of my favorite HB characters adorning it, Atom Ant! He doesn't get much representation in the world of merchandising, so I found this one to be a pleasant surprise.

The second piece of the day is a T-shirt featuring Mrs. Flintsone. The art on this shirt is not unlike the style Hanna-Barbera used on much of their branding during this time, with a close-up of a character's face inside a rectangle. I cannot say for certain, but I'd be shocked if there weren't more shirts available at the store in this style.

I'm not totally sure if this one was actually sold at the employee store or given through alternative means, but whatever the case, it was made exclusively for employees, so I'm looking at it anyway! It's an animation cel of Bill and Joe in front of the house they built, alongside their bedrock buddies, Fred and Barney. Their designs are also the same as the ones used in their cameo in the 1993 TV movie, I Yabba-Dabba Do! I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing this was commissioned around the same time as that film.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find that many items sold at the studio store, but I'll finish this short exploration with my favorite find, a 1996 jacket showcasing Hanna-Barbera characters, both from their glory years, and their years making original programming for Cartoon Network. Probably the coolest thing about this one is that we get to see Fred, Yogi, and Huckleberry Hound right next to the likes of Johnny Bravo, Dexter, and Cow and Chicken. Don't let modern CN and WB merchandise fool you; those latter characters were Hanna-Barbera first, and Cartoon Network second, a fact I think many overlook these days.

Like I said, this is everything I could find online that was sold at the location, but there's no way this was all. If there happen to be any former HB employees reading this, I'd love it if you left a comment about some of the other products that were sold at the store. And maybe, just maybe, you could send me some. I kid, I kid!