Martha Sigall on Hanna-Barbera (Part 1)

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Martha Sigall is back with another video. This time she talks about Hanna-Barbera:

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  • Rio

    That was great. I have to admit that when Martha talked of the history and used the term “cat and mouse show,” I kept thinking of the Simpson’s episode of the origin of Itchy and Scratchy. It made me chuckle to myself.

  • http://www.pitchbibles.blogspot.com Steve Schnier

    The quick shot of Hanna and Barbera with their “Golden Globes” actually shows Emmy Awards. Just being picky… Sorry.

  • uncle wayne

    Priceless!!

  • http://www.bigblogcomics.com/ Mykal Banta

    Jerry: What a wonderful woman. The era of Tom and Jerry she worked on and talks about are some of the greatest, funniest cartoons ever made. So lush and the movement and timing was always so perfect. As the lady says herself: “They held up. They still do.” Thanks for posting this and I look forward to more. — Mykal

  • http://yeldarb86.deviantart.com Mr. Semaj

    Interesting that cat-and-mouse cartoons were already considered old before they actually became popular.

  • http://chuckfialacomicart.blogspot.com/ Chuck Fiala

    Thanks for posting these. I love watching them. I’d like to hear any animation studio stories that Martha Sigall would like to tell us. I’m particularly interested in both the histories of Hanna Barbera at both MGM and their early television studio. It seems that we always hear a lot about Warner Bros. but not as much about Hanna Barbera, who were just as influential.

  • Pedro Nakama

    If you notice in the background there’s a pull-up bar in the the doorway behind her. Martha does 25 pull-ups each morning. That’s why she’s great shape!

  • Brendan Spillane

    Being living history is only ONE of Martha’s good qualities!

  • Nat King Kong

    Tom and Jerry won seven Oscars, not five. And Fred Quimby collected them and kept them in his office.

  • http://www.selcouthblog.blogspot.com/ Mesterius

    To continue being picky for a small moment, some of the pictures of Tom and Jerry were very poorly selected. The T&J picture at 1:33-1:42, for instance, is a badly designed drawing used for modern licencing; completely irrelevant to the classic history of these characters. And of course, Tom and Jerry won seven Oscars in total, not five. But again, that’s nitpicking. Great video nonetheless! I love this Martha Sigall series and will probably continue watching whatever Golden Age story she decides to tell. This lady has been just about everywhere, hasn’t she?

    (And I LOVE that framed T&J picture that Martha is holding! If only today’s licencing art could look that good.)

  • steve w.

    I’m so grateful for this series of videos. Martha has no ax to grind and tells it the way she remembers it. Her two earlier videos (on the creation of Bugs Bunny & the Road-Runner) have the ring of truth to them, unlike so many of the stories we’ve heard over the years. To see those videos, search for “Sigall” in the CartoonBrew search box above, or you can double click the Play button and go straight thru to youtube.

    While we’re at it, let’s give a shout-out to Martha’s son Bob Sigall, who puts these remarkable documents together. And thanks to Jerry for posting them.

  • Mike Fontanelli

    “Old hat” in 1939? Another example of the infallible wisdom of studio executives. Funny that Fred Quimby got to keep the Oscars, from a series that wouldn’t have even existed if he’d had his way.

  • Gerard de Souza

    See that chin-up bar in the door frame to her back right? That must be why she’s in good shape!