Last evening, I went out to the Van Eaton Gallery on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. It was the grand opening of "The H.B. Show," a special salute to Hanna-Barbera that features two main components. One is a display of old Hanna-Barbera toys not for sale but on loan from the mammoth collection of artist Dave Nimitz. Neat stuff, some of which I once had and a few items (just a few, alas) I still own. When I was a kid, I loved Huckleberry Hound and I loved having him on my lunchbox.
The main part of the show was an array of artwork done especially for this exhibit and most of it for sale: New creations depicting the classic H-B properties, a few done by folks who worked for the studio and a lot done by people who didn't. Some of the takes were quite faithful in design to the original cartoons (which didn't mean they couldn't be clever and innovative — and some were) and some of the artists took things into very different styles and redesigns. There are exceptions but most of the time, I think the latter approach doesn't work. The end product looks like the artist asked him- or herself, "Hmm…how can I draw Fred Flintstone and lose everything that's good about the original design?"
I guess I sometimes don't understand the motive/mindset behind some of this. There was a drawing there about which I would have liked to ask the artist, "Do you have any affection or respect for this cartoon in its original form? If so, why did you want to make it so ugly and unlike the show itself? If not, why are you drawing it at all?" An art teacher I had once back when I was dabbling (and I only dabbled) in that area once said, "A work of art should ask questions of those who look at it. It can ask any question except 'Did the artist have anything at all in mind besides making a buck?'"
As I said, I liked some of the pieces and just wondered about some others. I suppose that's how an exhibition like this is supposed to work. The piece above by Mark Christiansen was one of the ones I liked. It's his style and he did something special with the characters…but they look like the characters and it looks like he likes the characters. You can view many of the pieces over on this webpage. Don't miss Bill Morrison's.
The way it worked was that from 4 PM to 6 PM, there was a V.I.P. type reception and at six, the doors opened to the general public. I got there around 4:30 and had a good time talking with June Foray, Jerry Eisenberg, Willie Ito, Scott Shaw!, Sam Register, Tony Benedict, Margaret Loesch, Sam Ewing, Don Jurwich, Dave Nimitz, Rose Marie, Stu Shostak and Jeanine Kasun, Jerry Beck, Janet Waldo and why did I start listing names since I'll be leaving so many out? The place was cramped and a lot of us alleged V.I.P.s fled well before six. Stu, Jeanine, Rose and I (and Rose's wonderful caregiver) retired to a nearby Italian restaurant for chow, then I tried to go back after we ate. By then, it was 6:45 and there was a mob scene outside — a line around the block to get in.
No, to be more accurate: A line around the block to get near. I could not even get past the place to get to my car and I had to circle around another way. The Van Eaton folks did a great job promoting the evening but I'd give some of the credit to Huck, Yogi, Fred and the gang. Those characters are still popular, still beloved by many.
I don't know that everyone at Time-Warner understands that and I think some of them are too quick to think the properties require total makeovers to appeal to that most elusive of target audiences, "The Kids Today." I think a lot of them would be better served not by rethinking the original concept but by figuring out how to apply that concept to the current world and audience. You kind of have to ask yourself, "Why was this character popular in the first place?" and then try to keep the answer to that question relatively intact while you change other things around it.
I have a little tirade I should probably write here about what happens to great properties and characters owned by very large corporations. There's a healthy way to handle them and an unhealthy way and the latter kicks in when there's no one person who has either the business authority or the moral authority to say, "No, this is not right for this character." But that tirade will have to wait 'til I have more time. For now, thanks to the Van Eaton Gallery for hosting such a fun event and congrats on its success.