The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series
| The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series | |
|---|---|
| Also known as |
'The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series The Wally Gator Show Cartoon Zoo (WPIX) |
| Genre | Cartoon series |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of |
Mel Blanc Daws Butler Don Messick Alan Reed Bill Thompson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 52 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
Screen Gems (original) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (current) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Original release | September 3, 1962 – August 26, 1963 |
The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, a.k.a. The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series or The Wally Gator Show, was a syndicated television package of animated cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, starting in 1962. The series included three unrelated short cartoon segments featuring funny animal characters:
The package consisted of Fifty-two episodes, each with three individual segments and no bridge animation. Each individual cartoon segment, had its own opening theme and closing title.
The title The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon series was an off-screen promotional title to distinguish this package from other Hanna-Barbera cartoons (such as Ruff and Reddy, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear all of which had bridge animation between the cartoons.) available at the time. For example, WGN-Channel 9 in Chicago ran the three segments in a half-hour timeslot under the name Wally Gator. In New York, WPIX-TV originally used the segments for a local series, Cartoon Zoo, featuring Milt Moss as host and "Zookeeper", with life-sized cutouts of the characters in "cages" as a backdrop.
The package was originally syndicated by Screen Gems, the TV division of Columbia Pictures. The Hanna-Barbera studio was later purchased by Taft Broadcasting Company, which distributed the studio's product first through Taft-HB Program Sales, and later through Worldvision Enterprises. Over time, the studio regained control of many of its earlier productions and distributed them through Worldvision. The elements of The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series were split up, with Wally Gator airing as a segment on Magilla Gorilla and Friends on USA Network's Cartoon Express from 1987 through 1991. Meanwhile, Touche Turtle and Lippy the Lion were part of another package of cartoons aired on The Family Channel. Following the purchase of the Hanna-Barbera library by Turner Entertainment, these shorts eventually appeared on Cartoon Network and later Boomerang.
The cartoons were put on DVD with Saturday Morning Cartoons: Vol. 2. Strangely, the Lippy the Lion cartoon was of noticeably better quality than the other two on the DVD. Very likely due to the cartoon coming from a better quality film print then the others.