Closing logos of Hanna-Barbera Productions
from Wikicartoon, the free cartoon encyclopedia
This is a guide to the various closing logos used at the beginning of Hanna-Barbera shorts or at the end of Hanna-Barbera television programs.
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[edit] Logo history: The "Swirling Star"
On a black background, a white star swirls down from the top, leaving behind a rainbow trail. It then settles into the center of the screen as it twirls, occasionally shrinking and twisting, forming a circular trail. It then twists into the middle of the circle and comes to a stop. The words “Hanna-Barbera Productions” appear below.
There were many. Originally, a small white byline reading “A TAFT BROADCASTING COMPANY” was used from the logo’s inception until the early 1980s. Then, “A DIVISION OF THE TAFT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY”, in the same white font, was used for a short time after the company reorganized. Finally, starting in 1983, the logo itself was shrunk to make room for a larger, yellow byline, with the same words. Both versions of the logo have been sighted with the Taft byline blacked out. Also, in 1990, a special version of this was used at the end of Jetsons: The Movie. That features the same animation but the name is now “Hanna-Barbera” in the “script” font introduced in the late ‘80s. This variant also features a Great American byline and is the only H-B logo to do so.
In response to Filmation’s “anklepants” opening logo, Hanna-Barbera responded with their own version. It’s the same as the closing logo but it fades in during the middle of the animation. The text is changed, “Hanna-Barbera” is big and over a small yellow “PRESENTS”. Music for this was a sweeping chime sound, though 1980s Jetsons episodes feature the “Meet George Jetson” chimes.
Some shows have appeared with the first variant with a blacked-out byline; but with the music from Logo 1A. This was chiefly used to update the logo on “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You” but has spread to other shows as well, with the normal swirling star theme. This variant was sort of common but became rare when Turner updated the prints on “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You” in 1998, and tacked on the all-stars Action logo.
An updated version of logo 3, but now done in CGI. The trail is now metallic CGI and the star now realistically twists and turns and has a nice shine effect. The text and byline are in a different font and are slightly smaller.
Originally created with a version of the third byline of logo 3, but immediately blacked out starting in 1988. Some instances even enlarge the logo so the edit isn’t too noticeable.
Reborn: When “The Powerpuff Girls” premiered in 1998, the trend for most H-B shows was to get a simple “character portrait” logo. Bucking the trend, PPG used an updated version of Logo 4! All names and bylines are completely blacked out, and instead the words “HANNA-BARBERA CARTOONS, INC.” and a Time Warner byline are used. In 2001 this was updated to AOL Time Warner but the logo proved short-lived; post-movie episodes of PPG now feature a custom version of the current Cartoon Network Studios logo.
A Close Encounter Of The Weird Kind: A few years ago, on an episode of "Johnny Bravo," this logo was, weirdly enough, sighted. It wasn't the updated "Powerpuff Girls" version, it was the one with the different font for the HB text and the blacked-out byline. It might have been an editing mistake. Speaking of the version of the logo that was mentioned, that version can still be sighted on weekday reruns of "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" on Cartoon Network's "Scooby Universe" block.
[edit] List of logos
- In-Credit Logo (1950s-Late 1980s)
- Logo 1A: The Late Box Logo (1968-1974)
- Logo 2A: The Early Box Logo (1966-1968)
- 2nd Logo: Rainbow H-B (1974-1979)
- 3rd Logo: Swirling Star (1979-1981), (1981-1982), (1982-1983), (1983-1986)
- 4th Logo: CGI Swirling Star (1986-1988), (1988-1991) -- the bylineless CGI Swirling Star had plastered over the 1991 Hanna-Barbera logo.
- 5th Logo: H-B Production Co. (1991-1993) -- the logo also plastered over with the 1988 bylineless CGI Swirling Star.
- 6th Logo: All-Star Phototype (1993-1994)
- 7th Logo: All-Stars (1994-1997)
- 8th Logo: Time Warner All-Stars (1997-2001)
