Hollywood, CA - The Hanna-Barbera Building at 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard, universally famous cartoon factory and space age birthplace of television animation including The Jetsons TV series, is in critical danger. Opening in 1963 to great fanfare, the futuristic building was designed by Arthur Froelich & Associates for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and provided the inspiration for the best-loved classic animation the world has known. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera created The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Magilla Gorilla, Atom Ant, Jonny Quest, just to name a few.

Please help save Hanna Barbera by signing this petition.

And visit the Cartoon Network to see rare
photos of Hanna-Barbera Studios during its heyday. 2004

Hanna Barbera
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

A drive through the Cahuenga Pass once came with a familiar cast of cartoon characters at the Hanna-Barbera Studios. Fred Flintstone and company helped announce a place where a day at the office could involve talking animals, flying cars, and another troublesome afternoon in Bedrock. Quite a bit of Saturday-morning television came out of these buildings.

Opened in 1963, the studio was designed by Arthur Froehlich & Associates. The low buildings stretched across the property with flat roofs, long horizontal lines, and decorative concrete screens. From the street, the architecture had the orderly look of a modern company headquarters. The work going on inside was considerably less ordinary.

Hanna Barbera
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

Check out the little guard station at the driveway. Its swooping, futuristic shape looks right at home with the Jetsons, though visitors presumably still had to arrive in something with wheels. Even this small part of the entrance gave the studio a little space-age personality.

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera formed their company in 1957 after working together at MGM. Their move into television helped make cartoon characters regular household visitors. The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, the Jetsons, and Scooby-Doo became familiar names to generations who knew exactly when to plant themselves in front of the television. The Cahuenga studio served as the company’s longtime production home, although several of those famous characters predated the new buildings.

In 1994, the exterior received a makeover under studio president Fred Seibert, with architect Christopher Coe bringing brighter colors and oversized character banners into the picture. The cartoon factory began looking a little more like its products. Passing freeway traffic got a much larger dose of Fred Flintstone than the average television screen could supply.

Hanna Barbera building
Los Angeles, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

The studio’s departure brought a less cheerful storyline. Proposals to redevelop the property threatened the buildings, prompting a preservation effort that drew support from the Los Angeles Conservancy, local historians, and Joe Barbera himself. Saving cartoon history turned out to require more than a clever escape in the final scene.

UPDATE: Hanna-Barbera left the Cahuenga property in 1998. A preservation agreement approved in 2004 allowed redevelopment while retaining the historic studio buildings, which survive in adapted commercial use. The colorful studio-era displays no longer announce the cartoon factory, but the low modern buildings remain a reminder of the people who sent so many familiar characters into America’s living rooms. 10-26

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