August Features:
Here you will find all the featured articles that were featured on August 2003.

Attention fellow animators and animation fans!
Remember all those fun and way-cool Hanna Barbera TV cartoons you loved and still love? Like The Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Atom Ant, Wacky Races, Josie & the Pussycats, Smurfs, Banana Splits, and the list goes on and on....Well, it has come to the attention of us here at TheScratchPost that the birthplace and home of these beloved cartoons, the original 1963 Hanna Barbera Studios in North Hollywood, might be destroyed.

How could this happen? Does anybody care? As a matter of fact, animators and fans alike from all over the world are working hard to save these studios! This month we will feature Hanna Barbera as our main spotlight. Maybe we can make a bit of a difference by sharing the information with our readers.

* We would like to send off a BIG thanks to all who submitted, specially Marian Rudnyk for submitting "A Toonful Plea" and also for taking the time to interview a cartoon legend to feature this month on our site. :)

A Toonful Plea: Preserving Hanna Barbera Studios
Ever mentioned being “smar-ter than the a-vaa-rage bear”? Joked about needing a “Scooby snack”? Remarked “Jane, get me off this crazy thing!” Or pondered whether that cryptic line in the Flintstones theme really is “courtesy of Fred’s two feet”? The mere mention of any of these is enough to immediately invoke a smile from even the shyest child, let alone adult! It’s Hanna-Barbera doing what they do best - cleverly entertaining with fun and heart through the art of cartoon animation. But soon, the birthplace of so many of our fondest cartoon friends, may be lost forever.

Growing Up on H&B
As a girl, I collected imaginary friends. Most of which came to life through my stuffed animals. I had a stuffed Dino, Scooby, and a Huckleberry Hound. The Dino and Scooby were easy to find at stores, but the Huck doll was hand drawn and hand painted on two sides of an old baby blue bed sheet, cut out, and crudely hand stitched to make a flat pillow dog. I remember this well because I made it in the summer of my 4th grade year for a church group sewing merit badge.

A H&B Treat
In our search for articles to post on this month's update, I was given the name of Jean Ann Wright, who worked at Hanna Barbera Studios for 8 years as an assistant animator and received some excellent training while at her stay there. She was kind enough to share with me a fun little story to post, and sent me a copy of the fax to post on the site for all to enjoy. Thank you so much for your submission Jean! :).

FEATURED ARTIST: The Colorful World of Jim Franzen
It was a warm summer day in 1979. Jim Franzen, a recent California transplant, was driving around when he accidentally noticed the space-age modern styled Hanna-Barbera Studios buildings. When he read the name on the sign, he immediately went inside, applied, and set his career, and dreams, in motion. This single event would place this highly talented, funny and upbeat artist squarely in the midst of animation heaven, working at two of the worlds premier cartoon studios: Hanna-Barbera and Walt Disney Studios. .