Fred Seibert's Blog

Some people get their cultural from comics, or movies, or the ponies. Me, it’s work, music, and books. And when my friend and NNN/tumblr investor Bijan Sabet posted about Goodreads, which he said was “sort of like last.fm for books” it reminded me what a reading junkie I am. Interestingly, my years in cartoons have once again proven to me that even the most interesting animators are the most curious, often well read, people. So, while I’m on vacation, aside from reading, I thought it might be useful to review my year’s reading list so far. Since I now read almost everything on my Kindle, my shelves aren’t quite as burdened as the picture above, but, it’s still a heavy load.

(By the way, for those who wonder, like I do, when I get the time, I read in the elevator, the subway, taxis, airplanes, and when I put my kids to bed.)

I’m not going to post about the billions of picture books I’m always getting (like the incredible “Wacky Packages”, a must have,

a five Frederator read ) because this post would go on even longer.

Rhythm and the Blues by Jerry Wexler and David Ritts

(a four Frederator read)

I posted when I started this book last week. It follows the story of an atheist New York Jew who fell in love with the rhythm of Black America and found his love in bringing the story to the world. The great record producer of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles to Bob Dylan to Wilson Pickett (and hundreds more) Jerry is one of my prime professional role models and I’m inspired to hear his stories as often as I can. He follows the credo of “Does it have heart? Make it!”

Hit and Run by Lawrence Block

Mystery fiction is the beginning and the end for me. In fact, I can’t remember when the last time I read anything else. I love Lawrence Block because he writes genre books as if they were “serious” fiction, and I read him always ending up feeling more of the human condition when I’m done. Block is an exceptional writer [Read more…]

You can’t go wrong with Eric Goldberg!

(via Amid Amidi, Cartoon Brew)

Tony Schwartz, 1923-2008: his ‘daisy ad’ changed political advertising.

Even though he became famous in an era of black & white and radio, Tony Schwartz taught core lessons of communication to everyone in the media. Whether they knew it was coming from him or not.

His most famous piece was this campaign spot for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, which, lore has it, ran only once (and never even mentioned the opponent’s name) but was responsible for defeating Barry Goldwater in a landslide.

My mentor, Dale Pon, not only insisted I buy and read Tony’s book “The Responsive Chord,” but that I should meet the man himself, which was an incredible experience. From then on, I made the book required reading among my promotion staff.

Check it out. The things you think you know because you’re smart are probably things that Tony was smart about before we were born.

Jerry Beck was the one who kindly asked me to write an introduction for his upcoming book on great art from Hanna-Barbera and how neat it was in our contemporary culture. And I asked you what I should write and you gave me some great ideas.

I’m really late with this essay and I have no idea whether it’ll even be accepted. But I wanted to say thanks and share it with you all.

The Coolest Job
By Fred Seibert

One of my proudest working days was when I became the President of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992. The coolest job at the coolest place.

When I first started traveling to LA in the late 70s I’d get a chill going past the Hanna-Barbera Cartoons building, wondering what kind of magic went on behind the imposing concrete screens. Just the studio name in plain black type up top screamed out to me. But my work had nothing to do with cartoons so there was really no reason to stop and go in. “I was a seven year old fan of Huckleberry Hound. Could you show me around your studio?”

Fifteen years later, in June 1990, I was at Universal Studios Florida on its opening day at the first Hanna-Barbera theme park ride. At the end of the ride they had a store, and I bought as much as I could hold, including a great watch. Months later, out to dinner with friend at a fancy restaurant, he asked “What’s that watch?” I said, “This is my Hanna Barbera watch; here’s Yogi, Scooby, Fred and the gang. What’s yours, a rolex?” My friend, Scott Sassa, was President of Turner Broadcasting and, fast-forwarding 18 months, he calls one day and says, “You know we just bought Hanna-Barbera. … You want to run it?” And I looked down and I had the same watch on. (It was 10:35am.)

We worked like hell to revive the magic and produce the greatest cartoons of a (new) generation. We plugged away almost as hard to make the building special. Painting it day-glo colors and putting up giant posters of the classic characters was a great rush. (Of course, that was before the neighborhood association threatened to sue, not to mention the purists in the building who wanted to keep the original post-office-beige color.) And searching the world for vintage toy collections of the company’s characters to decorate the offices was better than toys at Christmas.When Bill Hanna came into my office (originally his) and exclaimed, “Wow! It really looks like a cartoon studio now!” I knew I was in the right place.

If I was compiling a book like this to collect those feelings, Jerry Beck would be my first ten choices to do it. Here’s hoping his publisher will send over a case of them to share with family and friends.

A close friend of ours is writing a short deadline book on the imposing legacy of the Hanna-Barbera studios. It sounds like the fun book I’ve been waiting for for years. He’s been nice enough to ask me to write a preface, and, notwithstanding my halting ability to write, I’ve agreed.

Because how can I miss a chance to publicly acknowledge one of the great honors of my life? The chance to brush against greatness, to spend a little time around two of the men who helped me laugh throughout my life?

I’ve been given a little guidance, but I thought maybe you could help too. Here’s some of what’s been suggested all of which makes sense to me:

1. “When I became president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992, I was most concerned with revitalizing an amazing heritage and legacy…”

2. How & why you started/purchased the H-B archive (the merchandise)

3. What it was like working with Bill and Joe. What influence they’ve had on your career.

And it’s safe to assume the author, one of our great historians, will cover all the facts on the characters and the series.

But, what would you want to hear from me?

My friend Richard Lewis (no, not the comedian) brought by Debby Carman who showed me her wonderful pre-school characters and books.

Thanks Debby for kind permission to show your work.