Hanna-Barbera and the cross-over cartoon

Hanna-Barbera is known for many things. Like the "wrap-around background" that loops on and on as the characters walk or run. Or the huge library of characters and TV shows. Or, making shows that rip off their own shows. But one thing is for sure, they were on top of the cartoon industry for a long time. This being the case, and having so many different characters, it just made sense to use multiple characters from different shows all in one big show. The first cross-over cartoon I could find was the "Laff-A-Lympics", produced in 1977. The show featured the cast pictured below.

o

The next cross-over cartoon was a special, "Casper's First Christmas", which came out in 1979.

The cast of characters featured in this cartoon were Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, and Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, and of course, Casper.

The last cross-over cartoon is "The Jetsons meet the Flintstones", which came out in 1987. In this made for TV film, just as the title states, The Jetsons meet the Flintstones. It, obviously, features the characters mentioned in the title.

Like I mentioned before, Hanna-Barbera was on the top of the cartoon industry for years and influenced a lot of what we see in cartoons today, including the cross-over cartoon idea. They influenced Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network to eventually do their own cross-over cartoons, at least I'm guessing because Hanna-Barbera kind of started the trend.

But there's one more cross-over cartoon I'm going to talk about today.

The "Cartoon All-stars to the rescue", released in 1990. Featuring an elaborate cast of characters, all spanning from a variety of different shows, this show's purpose was to show kids that "Drugs don't stand a chance against these guys!". Yes, that's right, it was a drug prevention TV special. It's all kinds of weird from the sound of it. I may even watch it sometime.

That's all I have for today. Thank you for reading my blog. And as always, be safe!