Fred Seibert's Blog

It was a few years ago when I mentioned the 1995 release of the Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library, one of my favorite projects from my time at the studio.  A full, 5-CD quality release of the studios famous sound effects. In the booklet included with the set, studio veteran Paul Douglas came up withthe editors’ all time Top 10 SFX. Here’s his picks from the original release:

“Hanna-Barbera’s Greatest Hits…And Greatest Sproings, Boings and Bonks”

In the long history of the Hanna-Barbera Sound Effect Library, there have been many terrific sound used to great comic effect. But there are a few that stand out as having a familiar ring, the unmistakable quality of having been used for a particular character or bit business. Here are the 10 quintessential effects chosen for the Hanna-Barbera Hall of Fame by longtime H-B editor Paul Douglas.

(Just click on the CD or the link to hear the effect. Each track has three effects, so don’t get confused.)

1. Fred Flintstone Scrambling: All cartoon hell breaks loose when Fred is rushing around in a panic.

2. Gazoo Materializing: Cartoon sound effects editors sometime have to stretch their imaginations. What does it sound like when Gazoo, the outer space pixie on The Flintstones, comes into view?

3. El Kabong’s Guitar Hit: In Quick Draw McGraw’s alter ego as the heroic El Kabong, his only weapon is his guitar. He doesn’t play it; he clobbers the villains with it. An unmistakable sound that adds new meaning to “striking a chord.”

4. Fred Drops The Ball: When Fred Flintstone bowls, there’s no telling where the ball will go. Most likely, it will land on his foot. A classic crash from the Stone Age. (The name reveals for the first time how it was made.)

5. Barney’s Big Head Take: When a person does a take (one-half of a double take) it doesn’t really make a sound in the normal physical world, but in the cartoon Stone-Age world of Barney Rubble and The Flintstones, it sounds exactly like this!

6. Jerry Pulls Tom’s Whiskers: A familiar sound from the Golden Age of cartoons! In those cat-and-mouse classics, Jerry the mouse often pulls the whiskers of Tom the cat. Ouch! (For you musicians: a violin was played pizzicato while sliding up the fingerboard.)

7. Fred’s Head Hit: It’s well known that Fred Flintstone has a hard head. But the effects man must determine just how hard. Rock? Granite? Marble? Hard, but too dull. The ringing sound of solid iron does the trick!

8. Yogi Bear’s Noogin Klonk: When Yogi gets bumped on the head, he’s usually in the middle of feeding his empty stomach, hence this hollow, klonking sound.

9. George Jetson Becomes Jet Screamer: Mr. Jetson turns into a teen-age idol. You have to hear it to understand.

10. Muttley Bites Dastardly on the Butt: We saved the best for last! This sound is so evocative of Muttley’s powerful jaws clamping onto Dick Dasterdly’s soft posterior, that few who hear it can ever forget it. A sound wit real feeling.