SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Hanna-Barbera cartoons that didn't suck ass

Posted: Sep 24 2007 03:31 pm

Hanna-Barbera is absolutely notorious for pumping out a ridiculous amount of cartoons quickly and cheaply, cartoons which were rivalled in shittiness and quantity by those of rival animation studio Ruby-Spears. But when you produce as many cartoons as H-B, you're bound to get lucky and come up with some that didn't suck ass. So I ask you, which H-B cartoons didn't suck ass? There's a couple of really obvious choices, but I would like to nominate Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines:

If you say Scooby-Doo or any variant thereof that didn't feature Vincent Price, you fail.

Joined: Jul 27 2007 Posts: 18

my personal favorite back when I was a kid had to have been Swat Kats:

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I really liked the Hair Bear Bunch as a kid, as well as the Wacky Races because they were similar to the Cannonball Run. I also really liked Space Ghost and Blue Falcon. All of those suck in retrospect though.

I don't even need to mention the real quality items like the Smurfs ands Johnny Bravo.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 04:06 pm

Let's not forget Dexter, PPG, and Josie and the Pussycats.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 04:07 pm

Scooby-Doo.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 04:09 pm

Newer shows like Dexter, PPG, and Johnny Bravo don't REALLY count though as they were desiged by independent animators who were later hired by H-B to develop full series after Cartoon Network viewers liked their pilots.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 07:07 pm

Captain Caveman was good before they redid the show in 80s as "Captain Caveman and Son."

Most of the "Superhero" cartoon from the 70s were decent at time. (Space Ghost, Birdman, and such.)

The one I hated above all : Jaberjaw. It was Scooby Doo with a 3 Stooges Curly shark instead of a Dog, other than that. Same stupid show!

Posted: Sep 24 2007 07:12 pm

A lot of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons were the same:

Jabberjaws - A talking shark and some kids solve mysteries and/or fight crime
Speed Buggy - A talking car and some kids solve mysteries and/or fight crime
Captain Caveman - An unfrozen caveman and some kids solve mysteries and/or fight crime
Scooby-Doo - A barely coherent talking dog and some kids solve mysteries and/or fight crime
Funky Phantom - An undead soldier and some kids solve mysteries and/or fight crime

There were other like ten other ones too.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 07:22 pm

The only Scooby-Doo moment I ever liked:

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I remember liking Jabberjaw simply because of the Curly voice.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 08:19 pm

Knyte wrote:

The only Scooby-Doo moment I ever liked:

I love that movie.

There was a Harvey Birdman episode where they poked fun at the fact that many of the old HB shows had similar characters/plots in them.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 08:32 pm

Another good Scooby gag:

Joined: Aug 26 2007 Posts: 2752

Knyte wrote:

The only Scooby-Doo moment I ever liked:

Now that was funny. And I'm convinced that Shaggy was a stoner.

Posted: Sep 24 2007 11:27 pm

Oh crap, I forgot Hong Kong Phooey.

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

Oh yeah! Hong Kong Phooey was great.

Actually, all I remember is the theme song. Embarrassed

But it was great!

Posted: Sep 25 2007 03:33 pm

Mr. Bomberman wrote:

Scooby-Doo.

I hate Scooby Doo Mad

Even as a small child I felt insulted by the horrible paper thin plot and recycled animation.
Scooby and the gang are rolling around in their van (the only cool thing in the show) and suddenly stop at a creepy mansion / abandonded factory / abandoned mine/ some generic spooky place. They meet an old man who informs them of either a monster, a ghost, or some pirates that are scaring everyone away. After being spooked from room to room and more than likely finding a prefectly fresh sandwich just lying around for Scoob and Shaggs they eventually capture the spooks with a cobbled together trap that usually consists of a mine cart and a giant net. Then they find out the bad guy is the only other person in the cartoon, the old fucking man that tipped them off. Then of course theres the "I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids" line, fuck I hate that cartoon. Mad

Posted: Sep 25 2007 05:00 pm

The best thing about Scooby-Doo was when Korn was on South Park.

Posted: Sep 25 2007 05:28 pm

Hanna-Barbera is the worst shit imaginable.

Posted: Sep 25 2007 05:30 pm

Retro cartoon company coolness hierarchy:
Warner Brothers
Hanna-Barbera
MGM
Disney

Posted: Sep 25 2007 07:56 pm

Is that from highest to lowest or lowest to highest? Cuz the Warner Bros/Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes shorts were way better than the Disney shorts.

This is every Mickey Mouse short: "Hee hee! Watch me talk in a high voice and do something gay!"

Bugs Bunny on the other hand was fucking subversive. He was violent, sarcastic, and clever... and he crossdressed.

Of course, that's just their marquee characters. Donald Duck vs. Daffy Duck is a much closer battle.

Posted: Sep 25 2007 08:13 pm

Donald Duck was Hitler. I'm not sure if that causes him to gain or lose points, but he was HITLER!

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

And where's Filmation in that list?

He-Man, anyone? Star Trek:TAS? Shocked

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I have Trek TAS on DVD. Also, my Coffee Mug at work has Donald Duck on it - in other words, avoid my temper or I start babbling like an idiot.

*Note I'm still at work at 8:30 at night. Will be leaving in a half hour. Let's hear it for 11 hour days!

Posted: Sep 25 2007 10:19 pm

Char Aznable wrote:

Donald Duck was Hitler. I'm not sure if that causes him to gain or lose points, but he was HITLER!

See my Donald Duck 1936 to 1940ish box set from Disney contains none of the lovely old politically incorrect donald duck cartoons, Disney not only altered history they fucking ripped me off. Mad

Posted: Sep 25 2007 11:08 pm

Warner Brothers had done similar things with Looney Tunes. There are some old WW2 Looney Tunes cartoons that are not available due to questionable portrayals of the Japanese, as well as other cartoons that have been locked in the vault due to stereotypical portrayals of Chinese and Native Americans.

In particular, I remember a Bugs Bunny cartoon where he somehow ended up defending a frontier fort and there was a scene where he was shooting at indians and singing "Ten Little Indians" as he killed them. You didn't actually see him kill them, but he was marking his kill count on the wall. When he got to ten, he stopped and erased half of his ten kill marking.

"That one was only a half breed."

I seem to also recall a short where Bugs was feuding with a Chinese laundromat owner.

And if you want a cartoon filled with offensive stereotypes, there's always Dick Tracy.