Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library

The Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library is a cartoon sound effects library made by Sound Ideas. It was first released sometime in the summer of 1993.

Information and History

Despite their famous shows, Hanna-Barbera was also hugely known for their large library of sound effects. This sound effects library features a collection of the most famous sound effects from Hanna-Barbera's animated series (such as ricochets, slide whistles, etc.). They also had familiar sounds used for transportation, household items and more. Not all of the sounds have originated from H-B, though, as some of them originated from other companies (like Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures, MGM, Warner Bros.) before H-B acquired them to its 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 zing-out whistle used for when Fred Flintstone would throw a bowling ball, 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.

Other common sounds such as a shell scream whistle, "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 animation studios began using the sound effects, most notably Warner Bros. Animation since their cartoons resembled the early 1960s H-B productions, as well as their offshoots/rivals such as Ruby-Spears, Filmation, DiC Entertainment, Film Roman and Chuck Jones Enterprises using them a lot, with some others such as Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Walt Disney Television Animation, Hasbro, and many others. After the success of Wacky Races in Japan and a few collaborations with Toei Animation, several major anime studios adapted to using the sound effects.

By the 90s, almost every animation studio was using the sound effects. Some shows used them sparingly, while some cartoons and non-animated shows such as Nelvana's The Magic School Bus, Spumco's Ren & Stimpy, Warner Bros. Animation's Krypto the Superdog, Turner Feature's Cats Don't Dance, J.C.Staff's PaRappa the Rapper: The Animation, Doga Kobo's Yuru Yuri, as well as some video games such as Nintendo's Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Paper Mario series, Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot Trilogy for the Sony PlayStation, the Humongous Entertainment titles, and The Learning Company's Kid Pix series all 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 OMI - Universe of Sounds, Valentino (i.e. their 1987 50-CD library) and Soundstorm.

Hanna-Barbera Records (the studio's short-lived record division) released an LP album for radio stations to use in 1965 entitled Hanna-Barbera's Drop-Ins, which contained quite a few of the classic sound effects, along with dialogue samples from their "Cartoon Series" albums. 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, the sound effects were sometimes nonexistent, being replaced with newer, digitally recorded sounds (mostly from The Premiere Edition Volume 1, and The General Series 6000 Sound Effects Library), along with the Warner Bros. Sound Effects Library. A few early 1990s cartoons continued to use the sounds, such as Tom & Jerry Kids and The Addams Family. This largely attributes to Hanna-Barbera beginning to outsource their post-production audio services to outside companies, such as Three Rivers Editorial, Twenty-First Century Entertainment, Advantage Audio, Horta Editorial & Sound/Hacienda Post, Salami Studios, Skywalker Sound, and others.

Several of the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects still pop up from time to time in some of Cartoon Network Studios' productions, and even in WB Animation shows like Wabbit/New Looney Tunes and Teen Titans Go!, as well as modern anime series. In some revivals of legacy of Hanna-Barbera properties such as the recent Scooby-Doo series and the 2017 Wacky Races series, the Hanna-Barbera sound effects are very rarely used, with some only showing up once or twice an episode (although Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? made heavy use of the sound effects as an intentional retro feel, along with Jellystone!.)

Anime uses them as well (most commonly in comedy series), though generally not as often as western animation. Some anime, like Love Live! Superstar!!, don't use Hanna-Barbera sound effects at all.

PBS Kids used this sound effects library too for their shows such as The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!.

The online YouTube series The Amazing Digital Circus by Glitch Productions also makes heavy usage of this library.

Trivia

According to the linear notes in Disc 1, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera explain on why they took the cartoon sounds from the then-defunct MGM Cartoon Studio, they said that "When they left MGM, they brought with them film editor Greg Watson, who had worked on Tom and Jerry shorts. Before leaving MGM, Watson went through the studio’s sound effects library, which dated back to 1937, taking ones he thought would be difficult and expensive to re-create, such as ricochets, jets, and trains. As Hanna-Barbera Productions’ first film editor – indeed, one of the studio’s first employees – Watson began expanding this original collection of MGM sounds into Hanna-Barbera’s library of sound effects."

Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library

Information and History

Trivia

Sound Categories

HB-01

Cartoon

Air

Arrow, Cartoon

Axe

Balloon

Battle, Military

Battle, Western

Bell, Big

Bell, Cowbell

Bell, Fight

Bell, Orchestra

Bell, School

Bite, Cartoon

Blink, Cartoon

Bloop, Cartoon

Blurp, Cartoon

Boing, Cartoon

Boink, Cartoon

Bork, Cartoon

Bounce, Cartoon

Break, Branch

Bubble, Cartoon

Bubble, Lava

Bubble, Mud

Bubbles, Water

Bugle, Cartoon

Can, Soft Drink

Cash Register

Catapult, Cartoon

Clock, Tick

Coin, Bag

Coin, Drop

Coin, Flip

Coin, Hit

Coin, Pour

Coin, Rustle

Coin, Scoop

Coin, Spin

Crack, Nut

Crash, Auto

Crash, Cartoon

Crash, Bottle

Crash, Bowling

Crash, Brick

Crash, Cans

Crash, Door

Crash, Garbage

Crash, Glass

Crash, Metal

Crash, Meteor

Crash, Stone

Crash, Tree

Crash, Water

Crash, Wood

Creak, Chair

Creak, Ship

Creak, Wood

Cuckoo, Whistle

Digging, Cartoon

Door, Knob

Door, Knocker

Door, Metal

Door, Saloon

Door, Wood

Drop, Can

Drop, Golf

Drop, Ice

Drop, Rope

Drop, Wood

Drums, Cartoon

Egg, Crack

Explosion

Fall, Body

Fall, Cartoon

Fall, Debris