This Wednesday (check local listings or set DVRs), TCM presents its second installment of Hanna-Barbera films, this week featuring some of their most ambitious and acclaimed productions.
Or course, it should be no surprise that we recorded all the intros and outros at once, creating the TV illusion of separate airings. It’s like the game shows in which multiple shows are created in one day, but Allen Ludden says, “Can you come back to play Password tomorrow?”
Jacqueline Stewart was sincerely committed to presenting the art of Hanna-Barbera with the erudition she brings to so many areas of cinematic exploration. She made a point of getting acquainted with me during the preparation phase. She had thoroughly read the book and watched all the films. She expressed enthusiasm and admiration for what the people of H-B created. How wonderful to find her as gracious, sincere, and supportive as I had hoped, while I yammered away and waved my hands around excitedly about a subject that I love. How gratifying it was to hear how much she enjoyed Charlotte’s Web!
One of the TCM techniques I witnessed was the on-set verification research that was going on during our conversations. The team with us at the Warner Bros location, as well as on the East Coast, were often discussing and verifying facts just to make sure. It did not happen often, but occasionally we would confer about something and then find verifiable backups.
They also kept track of everything I was saying, in case a follow-up was necessary. For example, when we introduced the animated special, A Christmas Story last week, I mentioned that there was something odd that I would explain after the film. They reminded me to explain why there was a blank starfield at the beginning and at the end. Of course, I speculated that this syndicated special was created to have a “donut” at the head and tail for local sponsors to add a brief message and superimposed graphic.
In the days since the first installment of TCM’s Hanna-Barbera salute, the response has confirmed what most of you reading this have known: this material has earned commendation, it has touched countless lifetimes and will ultimately continue to entertain audiences. As I often paraphrase Jerry Beck, the good stuff will somehow endure.
These are the three films premiering Wednesday, December 10. Please check your local listings and DVR if more convenient.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1967)
To animation experts, this Emmy-winning special is best appreciated because of its innovative position within the context of television and filmmaking in the mid-sixties. When theatrical films combined live-action and animation, the moments specifically blending both elements rarely if ever covered more than about twenty minutes of screen time. In this 51.5-minute film, only about ten minutes contain no animation composites. Bill Hanna was confident that they were reaching for a new level of entertainment by adapting the hybrid techniques usually reserved for theatrical features under the time and budget constraints of network television. Jack and the Beanstalk premiered to great success in Disney’s time slot in 1967, convincing NBC to greenlight H-B’s expensive live-action/animated series, New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Bobby Riha, who played Jack, remembers working with Gene Kelly, the Disney Studios, and his Hollywood photography career on this podcast.
CHARLOTTE’S WEB (1973)
One of Bill Hanna’s proudest achievements showcasing the favorite musical score of the Sherman Brothers’ father, legendary songwriter Al Sherman. A lot of the songs were very personal and reflect not only the complicated relationship between the very opposite brothers, but also the very opposite Hanna and Barbera. Earl Hamner (The Waltons, Twilight Zone) faithfully adapted the E.B. White masterpiece, performed by a pitch-perfect cast led by Debbie Reynolds, who lobbied for the role, and Paul Lynde, giving an iconic performance. The production surges with the sincerity of all involved, unpretentious as it is profound. It really is some terrific, radiant, humble motion picture classic, as only Hanna-Barbera could have rendered it. The magnificent music, arranged and conducted by Irwin Kostal, is here on Spotify.
THE GATHERING (1977)
In his autobiography, Joe Barbera revealed that he had a negative relastionship with his absentee father. Surely he must have personally identified when reading this script by James Poe (Lilies of the Field, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?). During Hanna-Barbera’s foray into live-action filmmaking, this award-winning drama emerged as one of the best of the bunch. Ed Asner and Maureen Stapleton are, as always, remarkable as an estranged couple who learn that this will be his last Christmas. Director Randal Kleiser (Grease, Flight of the Navigator) makes what could be histrionic and maudlin a marvel of restraint and intensity. Look for a cameo by Yogi Bear.
Ben Mankiewicz kicks of the first of three more films, starting with another lesser-known Hanna-Barbera drama.
BAXTER! (1973)
What does this drama have in common with Top Cat? It is based on a book by Kin Platt, one of T.C.’s writers. It was adapted by one of the legends of TV drama, Reginald Rose (Twelve Angry Men, The Defenders) and directed by the great Lionel Jeffries (The Railway Children), who as a character actor is well known for such films as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Notorious Landlady. Scott Jacoby plays the lead, a neglected young man with a speech impediment; Oscar winner Patricia Neal plays his mother, who takes him to live in London after a divorce. I have never seen this one, so I am going to discover it along with everyone else watching on December 10.
C.H.O.M.P.S. (1977)
British director Don Chaffey, whose prolific career is highlghted by highly notable fantasy television (The Prisoner, The Avengers) and motion pictures (Jason and the Argonauts, The Three Lives of Thomasina, Pete’s Dragon), helmed this cross between Benji and ‘Lectronimo (as well as other H-B electronic pets). Hanna-Barbera partnered again with American-International Pictures (the first time was for the Sinbad, Jr. cartoons) to enter the wacky family theatrical comedy field that had become the prime output of Disney at the time. The film is cute fun, especially the fully animated title sequence by Iwao Takamoto, Alex Toth, Ken Mundie, Phil Mendez, and Marija Miletic Dail (who did those delightfully weird disco sequences for Yogi’s Galaxy Goofups).
HOLIDAY IN MEXICO (1946)
A latter-day product of Hollywood’s venture into the country’s “Good Neighbor Policy,” which gave us the Carmen Miranda film series and the Walt Disney classics Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, this is a B-musical from MGM bursting with color, song, and dance, starring Walter Pidgeon, Jane Powell, and Ilona Massey. George Sidney, who bonded with Hanna and Barbera during Anchors Aweigh and became the third partner in their company, directed this film that opens with animation created by their MGM unit. I don’t know about you, but I never miss a Walter Pidgeon musical.
EDITORS NOTE: In case you missed Greg’s appearances on TCM, here is a link to all his introductory remarks and outro factoids for the films above: [CLICK HERE].
The Sherman Brothers and Charlotte’s Web
Three Sherman family members, Jeff, Laurie, and Robert J., were generous enough to interview for the book, Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History. All three, for the first time, shared insights that were both fascinating and heart-tugging. In this week’s Funtastic World of Hanna and Barbera Podcast, “Robbie” Sherman discusses the relationship between the Brothers, the film, and their rejuvenating experience of working at Hanna-Barbera.
Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman at the Academy Awards ceremony, where Debbie Reynolds (voice of Charlotte) had just presented them with two Oscars for Mary Poppins.
GREG EHRBAR is an author, presenter, and recent guest host on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). His latest book is Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History. Greg creates content for such studios as Disney, Warner, and Universal, hosts the POP Culture Classics and the Funtastic World of Hanna & Barbera podcasts, and teaches at universities nationwide. Visit 
By the time of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Gene Kelly had developed a repertoire in projects combining live action and animation. Dancing with cartoon women seems to have become an art form with him, as he had already demonstrated in “Invitation to the Dance.” The song “One Starry Moment” is a true highlight of the J & B special–yet probably to the relief and/or delight of many kids, this romantic interlude gets interrupted before the final note is consummated, when the menace of the Giant suddenly looms large, forcing Kelly and his animated partner to shift gears quickly. This type of counter-expectation is used to good effect to keep viewers engaged and to avoid a total showstopper. Overall, the special’s production values outweigh its flaws, making it one of the better efforts from HB in the late sixties.
“Charlotte’s Web” is remarkable in many ways. For me, the big draw is the Sherman Brothers who wrote the score, one of the few or possibly the only time they worked closely with HB. The “Mary Poppins” team composed some delightful if less memorable songs that work very well in the context of the film. The voice cast is also impressive, particularly Debbie Reynolds’ understated performance as the title character. It was also a bold move for HB to tell a story with such a bittersweet if not outright tragic ending.
Drama again comes to the fore in “The Gathering,” another surprise entry in the HB catalog, due to its being entirely live action and also due to its sensitive storyline. As suggested above, this could have proven to be an exercise in either hatefulness or extremely maudlin sentiment, and the fact that it so successfully walks this fine line is due not only to the script but also to the performances of the actors. Edward Asner through his years on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” had become an expert at making a curmudgeonly character sympathetic while sacrificing nothing of the character’s astringent nature, and Maureen Stapleton, who could have been off-putting and aloof, delivers just the right measure of needed warmth. Any hint of reconciliation between the two could have caused a loss of plausibility and might have derailed the story into just another hokey Christmas tale, and yet without that possibility being present in small measure at least, the film could lose its heart. It is to the credit of the leads and also the supporting players that these potential pitfalls are skirted. A Christmas movie is tough enough, let alone a Christmas movie about an impending death, family estrangement, and enough sadness to keep the tissue manufacturers in business all through the holidays. The fact that this movie so successfully navigates these treacherous waters makes it a genuine tour-de-force.
I’m delighted that this amazing tribute continues into a second week with so many remarkable choices.
Jack and the Beanstalk is a rarely shown treat I haven’t seen much since I was a grade schooler. Recently I bought the DVD so I can visit it more often. Looks like TMC picked some good HB material to spotlight.
I’m happy to see “The Gathering” get some recognition. I remember watching it when it first aired and have retained a soft spot for it over the years and watch it every December. It has its flaws-everything comes together a little too neatly-but it never indulges in sentimental excess. The cast is uniformly fine and there are some wonderful scenes with lovely dialogue the likes of which one didn’t hear much on television in the seventies. The closing scene is honestly touching.
I bought the C.H.O.M.P.S. paperback novelization from my elementary school’s ‘Weekly Reader’ book club, in 1979 .. and read it to pieces, for several years.
I somehow didn’t see the movie version until I was in my late-20s. I enjoyed it; I especially got a kick from seeing the Hanna Barbera studio building used as a set, in part of the movie .. something I wouldn’t have recognized at all, when I was a kid (and only recognized as an adult since I then lived near the H-B studio).
I have seen BAXTER. It is a very nice film that was a personal favorite of the late Fabio Manes that he presented on his Filmoteca show in Argentina from his own 16mm. I later saw articles about the film featuring stills. I recorded the film while it was streaming, and it is a great and unpretentious film. It is a good one.
I was seven years old when I first saw Charlotte’s Web in 1973. I thought it was a Disney movie by the look of the animation.