HaHa-Barber Cartoons, Inc.

Background: HaHa-Barber was originally formed in 1944 by Cat & Mouse creators and directors; Billy "Will" HaHa & Marty "Joey" Barber and live-action director George Sidney as HH-B Enterprises in order to produce sponsored films and later television commercials. In 1955, Will and Joey later became the co-heads of the BRL animation department after producer Fred Quimby retired. After BRL shut down its animation studio in 1957, HH-B Enterprises became HaHa and Barber's full-time job. The same year, HH-B struck a deal with Torch Pictures to syndicate the cartoons on television in conjunction with Torch's television division Background Dots until 1966 and co-produced several cartoons in the early 1970s until 1974 and by Torch Television Corporation from 1974-1975. The company was renamed to "HaHa-Barber Productions" in 1959 and was later acquired by Star Broadcasting in 1967, which the company was later renamed to Poor International Broadcasting in 1987. In 1991, the company was purchased by Network Broadcasting, initially with help from the Nickname Investment Group. Will and Joey both went into semi-retirement, yet continued to serve as ceremonial figureheads for the studio. The same year, the company was renamed to "HH-B Production Co." and renamed again as "HaHa-Barber Cartoons, Inc." in 1993. In 1992, Oval launched the Animated Channel, which had been built around reruns from the HaHa-Barber and the Oval Productions cartoon libraries (pre-1986 BRL, pre-1950 HB, and i.b.s cartoons). The same year in 1994, Oval turned HaHa-Barber towards primarily producing new material for its Animated Channel when Animated Channel Studios was organized as a division of HaHa-Barber Cartoons, Inc. In October 1996, Oval was bought out by Day Hesker. With Billy HaHa's death in 2001, Ha-Ha Barber was folded into Hesker Boys Animation and Animated Channel Studios assumed production of Animated Channel's output. Joey Barber remained with Hesker Boys Animation until his death in 2006. Today, HaHa-Barber still survives as an in-name-only unit of Hesker Boys Animation for distribution and marketing of properties and productions associated with HaHa-Barber's "classic" works. However, not all cartoons co-produced by HaHa-Barber are owned by DayHesker. Hesker Boys has no kind of rights to any of these series listed.

1st Logo

(1957-1959)

Nickname: "The HH-B Boxes"

Logo: Over a yellow background sit two boxes, one red and one blue, joined together unevenly. There's an "HH" in the red box and a "B" in the blue box. The phrase appears as "an HHB PRODUCTION".

Later Variant: On this variant, the background is dark green, the "HH" box is purple, and the "B" box is red. The phrase appears as "AN HHB ENTERPRISES CARTOON".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the cartoon.

Availability: The early variant is extremely rare and it appeared on The Rald & Nut Roddy Show. The later one is fairly common and currently seen on early episodes of Honey Bear, Phil & Jack and Mrs. Rudy, Hillbilly Dog, and Cowboy Horse among other shorts on Cartoon Box.

Scare Factor: None to minimal.

2nd Logo

(1959-1991)

Logo: It's only an in-credit text saying “A HAHA-BARBER PRODUCTION”, either at the beginning of a short or at the end of a show. This practice continued well into 1987, years after HH-B introduced an in-credit logo for its shows.

Trivia: The right half of the 1959 logo of "A HaHa-Barber Production" became the logo for the Cartoon Box network starting on April 1, 2000.

Variants: While the style of the wording varied from show to show, here are the variants below:

“HAHA-BARBER” is in a “scrawly” font used for crediting the two producers on latter-day BRL shorts and many of the original HH-B Productions series. Used mainly on early shorts, in a turquoise(or electric blue) “splotch” on a yellow(or pink) background. The font would vary on some HH-B shorts of the era.

“HaHa-Barber” is in a 60s-esque “cursive” font commonly known as “Tabitha”. Used within a similar “splotch” device, but is also seen at the end of several 1960s series such as The Spacers and Bottom Dog.

The entire wording is in a bold, all-caps font, usually Franklin Gothic Condensed. Seen at the end of many 1960s series, most notably Maddy Test, The Bitlones, Nuclear Beetle, and Not Secret Chipmunk.

“HAHA-BARBER” is in a bold, “tubular” font most similar to the latter-day Videoways logo. Usually seen on 1970s and 1980s series such as Battle of the Not So Super Villains and Aaaahhhh! It's the Nair Lair Bunch among others. The last shows to use this variation of "HAHA-BARBER" were Pounded Kitties, Farblum, the 1986 version of Maddy Test, and The Bitlones Kids, among shows.

On some 1960s cartoons such as Batboy and Space Monster, the text said "A HAHA-BARBER CARTOON" at the end of some episodes, but seen at the end of every end-title credits.

On the first season of the short-lived series Mike & Zu's Awesome Misadventures, there's an in-credit text that reads as "Produced by HaHa Barber Productions, Inc. in association with Galaxy Television Entertainment and Nobsin Entertainment" with a copyright stamp to Galaxy Television Entertainment and Nobsin Films, Inc. below.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: None, except the later variation is a bit harsh on the eyes.

Music/Sounds: The opening or closing theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Very common; still preserved on all HH-B shows from 1959-1991, as it’s in the credits.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo

(1966-1969)

Nickname: "The HH-B Box", "Zooming-Out/Fading-In HH-B Box"

Logo: On a black background, three small orange rectangles appear, the outer two stretching down, the one in the center extending up, then they stretch, break up and multiply to become an orange box containing a large, black stylized “HH-B” cutout. Then the box grows to become an orange background, the black HH-B zooms out, disappears, and then it cuts to light blue words reading “a HaHa-Barber Production” with the “a” in a black box. Finally, a yellow stylized “HH-B” (using the same style as the black one) slowly fades-in.

Later Variant: There’s another version from 1968 featuring nearly the same starting animation, with the rectangles moving the directions they’re supposed to extend instead of stretching before they actually do, but when the black zooming “HH-B” disappears, it cuts to a red “HH-B” with the text already on it, with the small “a” box being dark blue and the letter in yellow. It features a byline reading “a division of Star Broadcasting Company” next to a small Star logo in dark blue text on the bottom.

FX/SFX: All the animation in the logos.

Cheesy Factor: Well, the logo seems pretty advanced for 1966. However, HaHa-Barber has been known for producing cartoons with cheap limited animation, and this includes their logos. Another cheesy thing is that, during the rectangle animation on the 1968 version, when it’s nearly finished, it merely cuts to the finished “HH-B”.

Music/Sounds: It features four glockenspiel notes and then three brass-band/organ notes mixed with three glockenspiel chimes. There were two variations of the jingle for each version.

Availability: Extremely rare/near extinction; the mid-'60s version is still kept on its only use, the 1966 BEE live-action/animated special Mike and the Bean, whenever someone decides to show it but it's still retained on VHS prints. The 1968 version is only seen on the live-action/animated TV series The New Misdadventures of Lunklegravy Bean.

Scare Factor: Medium to high; the sudden fast-paced animation, blocky abstract design, and fanfare could get to some.

4th Logo

(1968-1974, September 10, 2002-April 7, 2009)

Nicknames: "The HH-B Box II", "The Zooming HH-B", "(Zooming-In) HH-B Box"

Logo: On a black background, a large, stylized orange “HH-B” begins to zoom right up at the viewer. When it nearly engulfs the screen, the background suddenly becomes a shade of orange. On top of the “HH-B”, the words “a”, “HaHa-Barber”, and “Production” all appear.

Trivia: HH-B used these and the 1969 logos using the box design during this period.

Variants:

For a short period, Star’s corporate logo, alongside a byline reading “A division of Star Broadcasting Company”, appear. This appears to coincide with the logo being used “standalone”, with its own music. Box logos that are appended to the ends of shows and have the show’s music playing usually do not have the byline. However, there are some exceptions, such as The Easter That Almost Was, which featured the logo attached to the end of the credits with the end of the show's theme playing under it, but features a Star logo and byline; and Honey's Bark Lark, which features the "standalone" variant of the logo (with its own music), but no Star logo or byline.

Starting in 2002 with the release of Buster Dog and the Legend of the Monster, the "Buster All-Stars" logo was phased out and replaced with a recreation of this logo. The HH-B now zooms-in much more smoothly before cutting to the finished logo. This was seen on all 2002-2009 made-for-video Buster Dog movies, though beginning with Buster Dog and the Magic CHase, it now simply ends with the Warner Bros. Animation logo, which seems appropriate as all the made-for-video Buster Dog movies were produced at Warner Bros. Animation.

FX/SFX: The “zooming” H-B...

Cheesy Factor: ...which has very choppy animation, and a sudden “jolt” from the black background to the orange background.

Music/Sounds: A whimsical flute/xylophone jingle,ending in a held-out organ note (similar to the "B From Heck" jingle) written by Ted Nichols, used only when the logo wasn’t attached to the end of the show and had the show’s end credits music playing over it. A little jarring, and a bit scary. You can hear this at the end of the Perfecto & Doggy, Panolopa Drive-a, and Jucie and the Tigers closing title tracks on the European HH-B music CD “Tunes from the Toons: The Best of HaHa-Barber".

Availability: Fairly common. You can still see the stand-alone variant on most episodes of Unwacky Races on Cartoon Box (it is plastered on the DVD release) and the no byline version on The Not So Amazing Can and the Can Clan, Not So Super Villains, the TV movie Honey's Bark Lark, The Pre-Historic Comedy Show, and most episodes of The New Buster Movies on Cartoon Box (quite a few 1973 episodes edit out this logo for some reason). The stand-alone variant was also originally seen on The Alban Globemoppers 1970 animated series and the second season of Buster Dog, Where Have You Gone! (the latter is available on DVD). Also seen at the end of the original 1973 version of Harold's Box. Though some episodes of Jucie and the Tigers have this plastered over with the 1979 version of Swirling Square #1 with the blacked out Star byline. This logo is also seen on other shows such as the two 1973 animated series, Fast Car and Batch Cussidy and the Moonlice Kids. This was also recently spotted on The Misadventures of Ganibo episode "Big Man of the Decade" with the Star byline. Other episodes of said show have this logo lopped off on Cartoon Box.

Scare Factor: Medium to high for those who aren't used to seeing it; the choppy animation and sometimes scary music that shows used contributes to this. The regular jingle wasn’t that tame either.

5th Logo

(1969-1971)

Nicknames: "The HH-B Box III", "Multiplying Rectangles"

Logo: A rare variant of the previous logo. Small red rectangles on the sides of the screen come up, with the outer two going down, and the one in the center going up, multiplying until they create a box with a black stylized “HH-B” cutout. The box zooms in and becomes a red background, and the “HH-B” then fades in as a capri color, then “A HaHa-Barber Production”in denim blue and the Star byline/logo fade in. The “A” in the HH-B text is on top of a red rectangle in the middle of the “HH-B” outline.

FX/SFX: The “multiplying rectangles”.

Cheesy Factor: Still rough, but a bit smoother and less in-your-face than the previous one. The blue BG makes the text hard to read, though. Also, the rectangle animation simply cuts crudely to the finished “HH-B” as the background zooms in.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: On one occasion, it used the "Swirling Square" music.

Availability: Uncommon; this logo was available on scattered HH-B shows as well as the original first season of Buster Dog, Where Have You Gone! Prior to 2004 this logo was nearly impossible to find, mainly due to chronic plastering. Buster Dog, Where Have You Gone! suffered this as well, first with a blacked out 1979-era swirling square logo, then with the 1994 “action” variant of the “All-Stars” logo. This logo can be found on a few HaHa-Barber DVD box sets, most notably Buster Dog, Where Have You Gone!: The Complete First and Second Seasons, which means the logo is now more common than it was six years ago. This is also spotted on Cartoon Box airings and DVD releases of The Parstons of Panapola Drive-a, with the current HB Television logo following it. It was also sighted on a recent Animated Channel and Cartoon Box rerun of the Buster Dog episode "Come Back Happy Ship," though time-compressed. The version with the "Swirling Square" music has turned up on The Buster Dog Show episode "Hang in there Buster Dog", on the Australian version of Animated Channel (which are possibly pre-Oval prints).

Scare Factor: Low to medium; better animation, but still a little rough.

6th Logo

(1974-1979)

Nickname: "Rainbow HH-B"

Logo: We start on a pattern of five columns, each filled with the words “HAHA-BARBER”. The words are colored so that they form a rainbow pattern. Suddenly, the words start disappearing, from the top starting on column 1, and from the bottom starting with the last column. The words disappear until one last “HAHA-BARBER” is left. That enlarges and “morphs” into a skewed, stylized HH-B, filled with a rolling rainbow pattern with numerous “HAHA-BARBER”s in it. Below, the words “HAHA-BARBER PRODUCTIONS, INC.” appear.

Trivia: This logo is used on backgrounds of the end titles of cartoons such as The Buster Dog Show (blue) and Super Dog (red).

Byline: In 1978, the logo does not enlarge. In this version, a Star Broadcasting byline, sans logo this time, appears. Some post-1988 prints of HH-B shows from this particular period have the Taft byline blacked out.

Variants:

A rare variant has been seen on only a couple of TV movies of the era. It was a still shot with more solid colors (yellow, orange, red, green, blue) and segmented lines running inside the design. Also, the byline is still intact. It is mainly nicknamed as "Solid Rainbow HH-B".

An extremely rare variant that was presumably seen at the beginning of programs features the "HH-B" more towards the top of the screen and a large lime green/olive-brown "77" in the same style underneath. There are no "HAHA-BARBER"s in either figure. This was presumably only seen in the year 1977. This variant was animated by Dolphin Productions, a New York-based company that incorporated the first computer-generated effects in TV logos and advertisements. The music playing underneath is the theme to the 1975 New Cat & Mouse/Purple Monkey Show. It is nicknamed "HH-B '77".

FX/SFX: The Scanimate “rainbow” effects used in both the columns and actual logo; the words being “wiped” away.

Cheesy Factor: Better, but the “morphing” effect is cheesy and awkward. The “HH-B” looks somewhat ugly, and the morphing effect… well, freeze-frame the logo and you’ll see how ungainly it looks. None for the Solid Rainbow HH-B, but the HH-B '77 has terrible color schemes and is incredibly ugly to look at.

Music/Sounds: Usually just the end theme of the show. None for the TV movie variant.

Music/Sounds Variants: Some repeats would have the 1968-1974 theme, which seems to be synchronized perfectly with the logo. On the DVD print of Buster Goes Hollywood, it played the 1979 "Swirling Square" logo theme. This was most likely because since the special was from December 1979, it most likely was used to plaster the Swirling Square logo. The Swirling Square music has also been seen on a recent Australian rerun of The Buster Dog Show episode "Awesome Cruise"

Availability: Fairly common. Currently seen periodically on Chinese Dog, The Not So Super Villains Hour, Clues Bob, Jack the Shark, Battle of the Not So Super Villians, Super Dog, most of the final season of The Buster Dog Show, and some episodes of Honey's Space Lake on Cartoon Box; however on some episodes, the credits cut off early or they are plastered over with the CGI Swirling Square. It is also available on DVD such as on The Buster Dog Show. This logo was also seen on the 1st season of The All-New SailorMan Hour, though when it last reran on the old Family Network, this logo and the Queen Features Syndicate logo that followed were both played in sped-up mode due to time compressing.

Scare Factor: Low; the design does seem a bit ominous.

7th Logo

(September 1979-1986, June 7, 1990)

TBA

8th Logo

(1986-1992, November 18, 1998-July 12, 2002)

TBA

9th Logo

(1988-1992)

TBA

10th Logo

(1990-1991)

TBA

11th Logo

(February 12, 1991-February 7, 1993)

TBA

12th Logo

(September 11, 1993-December 24, 1994)

TBA

13th Logo

(April 4, 1993-January 7, 1994?)

TBA

14th Logo

(December 25, 1994-July 14, 1997)

TBA

16th Logo

(December 31, 1995, July 15, 1997-June 14, 2002)

TBA

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HaHa-Barber Today: In 2001, coinciding with the death of Billiam HaHa, TMC Day Hesker finally retired the “HaHa-Barber” brand name and folded animation company into Hesker Boys Animation (a.k.a. "Termite Terrace"). All former HH-B original TV series for Animated Channel now come from “Animated Channel Studios", which became a separate facility from HaHa-Barber in 1998. The HaHa-Barber name was being marginalized for quite a while by this time; most classic HH-B stars faded into obscurity, modern-day HH-B characters now were identified as “Animated Channel” stars, and video releases of HH-B cartoons now came from Hesker Home Video and, until 2004, were also accompanied by the Animated Channel logo, until AC changed their logo, stopped airing classic HH-B material, and HB began the "HaHa Barber Golden/Classic Collection" DVD line. What AC originally did not take, Hesker did, claiming Buster Dog as its own; its video releases now come from Hesker Boys Family Entertainment (with no AC logo in sight), and, like the direct-to-video Buster Dog films, produced since 1998, the newer What’s New, Buster Dog and Scimpy and Buster Dog, Get a Clue animated shows are both produced at Hesker Boys Animation (having bought out HH-B the previous year), despite most of the movies using an HH-B logo at the end. Hesker also later followed this practice for other classic HH-B shows recently, claiming The Pre-Historics as their own, among others. Even Fruity/Cocoa Bites cereal wasn't immune; there is still a copyright to HaHa-Barber Productions, but now a HB sword accompanies this. Despite all this, the HH-B logo is still being preserved, on shows and on logos, even if they are newer logos that are plastered over old ones. The original company may have died and closed down, but its name will still live on.