Walt Disney's Perspective on Hanna-Barbera: Insights and Discrepancies

For many decades, Walt Disney was the most prominent name in animation, encompassing everything from feature films like Pluto to the iconic Sound of Music. His studio was known for its high-quality and artistic animation. Yet, in the early 1960s, a new player in the animation scene emerged: Hanna-Barbera. This company, while generating inexpensive and simpler cartoons, did not seem to cross Walt Disney's radar for competition. Let's delve deeper into [Walt Disney](_Disney)'s perspective on this.

Walt Disney's Own Words

When interviewed by a Saturday Evening Post reporter in the early 1960s, Walt Disney was asked about the burgeoning cartoon studio of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. The exchange provides an interesting window into Disney's thoughts and business philosophies of the era.

Q: Walt, you do animated features. Why don't you do television cartoons like Hanna-Barbera?

WD: We did that kind of animation all those crude limited shorts back in the twenties. Just cranked them out like they do the TV stuff today. I don't really want to go back to doing those things again. Hanna and Barbera can make them.

Disney’s response was succinct and businesslike, asserting his company’s focus on higher-quality feature animation. The quote suggests that Walt Disney had little interest in revisiting the cheaper, more streamlined productions that Hanna-Barbera was known for. For Disney, these simpler animations had only been a temporary phase in the early 20th century, and he didn't see them as a viable option for his studio's future.

Backstage at Walt Disney Productions

While Disney himself may not have cared, the sentiments of his colleagues and staff members reveal a different perspective. Many who worked at Disney during this period held a certain disdain towards the type of cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera.

One of them was the author's father, who served as a background artist at Walt Disney Productions. He often expressed his thoughts about Hanna-Barbera's productions. Specifically, he mentioned his father's observations on two of Hanna-Barbera's famous characters—Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo:

"It gets real tedious watching that bear talk out of the side of his face."

These comments point towards a shared sentiment among Disney's staff that the simpler, more repetitive nature of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons was not to their liking. This disdain was often more about the tediousness of the repetitive processes and less about the quality of the work.

The Customer Perspective

Despite the studio's aversion, Hanna-Barbera's shows like Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, and Ranger Smith were immensely popular. They catered to a different demographic with simpler, more straightforward storytelling. Viewers, particularly children, enjoyed these shows, and Hanna-Barbera's success speaks to the unique place they held in the industry.

For Disney, maintaining the integrity and quality of its feature films was a priority. They knew that simplicity and mass production were not areas where they would thrive. However, the success of Hanna-Barbera also demonstrated the changing tastes and demands in the television market, signaling the diversification of the animation industry.

Conclusion

The relationship between Walt Disney and Hanna-Barbera was complex. Walt Disney's disdain for the simpler, mass-produced cartoons of Hanna-Barbera can largely be attributed to his focus on high-quality, feature-length animation. While he didn't see a direct threat in the form of Hanna-Barbera, the contrast in their approaches brought to light the changing landscape of the animation industry in the 1960s.

In the end, the success of Hanna-Barbera highlighted the need for flexibility and adaptability in the industry. Walt Disney may not have given Hanna-Barbera the attention they might have deserved, but their presence in the market underscored the diverse interests and audience segments that needed to be served.

Keywords: Walt Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Animation Industry