American animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions was noted for their large library of sound effects. Besides cartoon-style sound effects (such as ricochets, slide whistles, etc.), they also had familiar sounds used for transportation, household items and more. When Hanna and Barbera started their studio in 1957, they created a handful of sound effects, and had limited choices. They also took some sounds from the then-defunct Metro-Goldwyn Mayer animation studio and from various cartoon/movie studios like Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Animation, and Walt Disney Productions. By 1958, they began to expand and added more sound effects to their library.
Some of their famous sound effects included a rapid bongo drum take used for when a character's feet were scrambling before taking off, a "KaBONG" sound produced on a guitar for when Quick Draw McGraw, in his Zorro-style "El Kabong" crime fighting guise, would smash a guitar over a villain's head, the sound of a car's brake drum combined with a bulb horn for when Fred Flintstone would drop his bowling ball onto his foot, an automobile's tires squealing with a "skipping" effect added for when someone would slide to a sudden stop, a bass-drum-and-cymbal combination called the "Boom Crash" for when someone would fall down or smack into an object, a xylophone being struck rapidly on the same note for a tip-toeing effect, and a violin being plucked with the tuning pegs being raised to simulate something like pulling out a cat's whisker.
There are also some other sound effects like the crazy laugh sound done by veteran voice actor Daws Butler, a boing drum combined with a wiggle device for when something bounces off, other drum and cymbal crashes, a big bite performed by the voice of Muttley himself, a high frequency spring plucked four rapid times for when a laser gets shot, a big stone bell heavily bonked by another big stone for a Bronk effect, and a musical instrument vinged seven times for a slow motion replay of a clip, called Charlie Brown's Slo-Mo Take.
The cartoons also used Castle Thunder, a thunderclap sound effect that was commonly used in movies and television shows from the 1940s to the 1980s. Other common sounds such as Peeong (a frying pan hitting sound with a doppler effect) and Bilp were used regularly in all of its cartoons. Starting in the 1960s, other studios began using the sound effects.
By the 21st century, almost every animation studio was using the sound effects. Like Hanna-Barbera was in the 90s, they are used sparingly, while some Disney and non-Disney cartoons, non-animated movies and shows make heavy use of the classic sound effects, mostly for a retro feel. Some Hanna-Barbera sounds show up in various sound libraries such as Valentino and Audio Network. Hanna-Barbera Records (the studio's short-lived record division) released a set of LP records in the late 1960s entitled Hanna-Barbera's Drop-Ins, which contained quite a few of the classic sound effects.
This LP set was only available for radio and television stations and other studios. In 1973, and again in 1986, Hanna-Barbera released a second sound effect record set, a seven-LP set entitled The Hanna-Barbera Library of Sounds, which, like the previous set, contained several of the classic sound effects. Like the previous set, this was only available to production companies and radio/TV stations. The 1986 version was also available as a two compact-disc set.
In 1993, the last president of the studio, Fred Seibert recalled his early production experiences with early LP releases of the studio's effects, and commissioned Sound Ideas to release a four-CD set entitled The Hanna-Barbera Sound FX Library, featuring nearly all of the original H-B sound effects used from 1957 to 1992, a more vast collection compared to the early LP releases (including the sounds H-B had borrowed from other studios). The sound effects were digitally remastered so they would sound better on new digital soundtracks. A fifth CD was added in 1996, entitled Hanna-Barbera Lost Treasures, and featured more sound effects, including sounds from Space Ghost and The Impossibles. Also in 1996, more of the sound effects were available on The Turner Entertainment Co. Sound Effects Library.
Also in 1994, Rhino Records released a CD containing some of Hanna-Barbera's famous sound effects, titled simply as Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Sound FX, and also included some answering-machine messages and birthday greetings and short stories starring Hanna-Barbera characters, and was hosted by Fred Flintstone. In 1996, it was reissued with the Pic-A-Nic Basket of Cartoon Classics CD set, which also contained three other CDs of Hanna-Barbera television themes, background music and songs from The Flintstones. Here, the CD was relabeled as The Greatest Cartoon Sound Effects Ever. In the 1980s, Hanna-Barbera slowly began to cease using their trademark sound effects. This was especially true with the action cartoons of the time, such as Sky Commanders.
By the 1990s, use of the sound effects was virtually nonexistent, being replaced with newer, digitally recorded sounds (mostly from Sound Ideas), along with the Looney Tunes sound library by Treg Brown. A few early 1990s cartoons continued to use the sounds, such as Tom & Jerry Kids and The Addams Family. By 1996, each series from the studio typically had its own set of sound effects, including some selected from the classic H-B sound effects library, as well as some newer ones and some from various Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons.
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