Blog History of Frederator original cartoon shorts. Part 12
Blog History of Frederator’s original cartoon shorts.
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6.
Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11.
I started as the new President of Hanna-Barbera in June of 1992.
First of all I need to get to know 300 new employees, in a new industry, in a new city. Within hours the development department was coming in with new pitches for series, specials, and feature films. I had absolutely no idea how to decide whether anything was any good, and who was talented enough. Everyone seemed talented.
So I talked with everyone who wanted to talk. Anyone who wanted to give me a theory about what made a hit could get a date with me. Three (or four) meals a day, six or seven days a week. Sometimes a midnight meeting at an artist’s house just to hang out.
One day a writer who’d worked at the studio for 30 years came by with an idea. “Imagine a pig.” OK I can do that. “And he works in a post office.” OK. “But, he’s really a superhero!”
Please, deliver me. Back to New York, preferably.
I told everyone I met about how I loved the Hanna-Barbera classic cartoons. Most of them laughed at me like I was an old fart (41 year old at the time). But along the way I’d run into a few folks, like John Kricfalusi, who enjoyed my interests and helped me to understand a little more about how to do what I wanted to do.
Then one day one of our newer development executives, Margot McDonough, thought there were some younger creative types she thought I might like. No one else with my kind of position would really want to meet them, but, after the pig in the post office I was desperate.
(More next time.)
Blog History of Frederator’s original cartoon shorts.
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6.
Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11.
»
On August 12th, 2006 at 12:00 am
*Postal Pig eh? The ol’ “pig who uses his ‘Postal Rage’ (TM) to battle evildoers everywhere” formula bit.
*Only considered slightly cool, if he throws ninja star envelopes/postcards.
Catch those baddies in his postal sack. All the horrible…”signed, sealed, and delivered” puns.
UGH.
(that makes me cringe…)
-JX!
On August 13th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Woohoo! And I was working as Margot’s intern, duping tapes of 2 stupid dogs and Swat Kats..hanging out with Star in the copy room
On August 14th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Fred, I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying these posts. I’m by far the biggest HANNA BARBERA fantatic I know and to get some insight into what was happening there is just amazing. Oh how I wish that I could have been able to have been a part of it. Keep posting and leave no detail uncovered.
On August 15th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Manny, like it or not, you’re part of the tradition now. You’re in a direct line from the crap of the 80s into the crap of 00s.
On October 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Being reminded of when both those shows came out way back then, they just felt so “different” as opposed to the H-B I knew before then, it was just a rather nice fresh direction for the 90’s.
On October 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
[…] shorts. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11. Part 12. Part 13. Part 14. Part 15. Part 16. Part 17. Part 18. Part 19. Part 20. Part […]