Saved!

The Hanna-Barbera Building at 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard near Universal City Studios, home of the famous cartoon factory, is in critical danger. Opening in 1963 to great fanfare, Hanna-Barbera was designed for Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera by architect Arthur Froehlich, famed for his racetrack designs which include Belmont and Hollywood Park. Hanna-Barbera represents the first self-contained animation production facility ever built. The scalloped and block screen latticework (reflecting an Edward Durrell Stone design) and various panel and beam decorative elements, combine to lend this complex of buildings an ultra-modern and unique appearance that remains timeless.

Hanna-Barbera single-handedly re-energized the animation industry of the late 1950’s, pioneering TV animation and developing production techniques that are still in use today. The prolific genius of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera produced the largest library of cartoons in the world, and much of television’s most beloved cartoon characters, among them: The Flintstones (first prime time animated show; first half-hour TV cartoon), The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, Atom Ant, Scooby Doo and Wacky Races.

Visit Cartoon Network to see period photos of Hanna-Barbera during its heyday.

Update June 2004: This building has been saved! Developers have agreed to incorporate the three original buildings into new plans for the site. See June 7, 2004 Los Angeles Times, "Agreement Reanimates Historic Hanna-Barbera Complex: The plan will save the modernist buildings where the TV cartoon industry was born and allow new development in the Cahuenga Pass." By Patricia Ward Biederman, Times Staff Writer