These are screen captures of Scooby's first wild take from the very first episode of Hanna-Barbera's "A Pup Named Scooby Doo." The episode title: "A Bicycle Built For Boo."
The storyboard was by Scott Jeralds. Glen Kennedy supervised the animation on the show at Cuckoo's Nest...and Glen personally animated this opening sequence.
"Pup" was my first producing job. I wanted to get it right, right out of the gate. I knew the direction and timing on this would be crucial. So I went to the best guy I knew for the job and I asked him to do it, as a favor. He agreed...and for the next ten days, he locked himself in his office and directed and timed the daylights out of the entire show -- with his metronome swinging back and forth the whole time. To finish the sheets, it took him over a week...and when he was done, he complained that it had been a ton of work. But then he had to admit that he hadn't had so much fun in years.
So who was the uncredited director and sheet timer of the first episode of "A Pup Named Scooby Doo?"
The guy who built and ran the place!
The Academy Award-winning master cartoon director himself...
Bill Hanna!
"A Pup Named Scooby Doo" (c) 2010 Hanna-Barbera & Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
Oh man! And he went uncredited? He's more than a good sport. He only did the first episode?
ReplyDeleteI would never had thought Bill Hanna would still be timing any cartoons by the time this show was made. Cool.
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeletethat's great that he worked so hard on it
I loved the wild takes in this series. They just got progressively crazier as the series progressed.
ReplyDeleteI think this was Bill's last on-hands directing job with the exception of work he did on The Jetsons Movie.
ReplyDeleteT
Considering how both he and Joe were executive producers at the time at their own studio. He still had it the timing was perfect. Did joe do anything for Pup?
DeleteYes...lots. One example: Joe brought me in and said he had been keeping an eye on the storyboards. He told me that with the Tex Avery-style wild takes I have been adding, those only work if you add the most intense and wild and crazy sound effect to complement the visuals. Without the sfx, the wild take will look out of place. I did not know that, and Joe was 100% correct.
DeleteIndeed. I remember you telling me this.
ReplyDeleteHi, I just discovered this blog and am already taking a strong liking to it! Just have one addition to make here about Bill's last on-hands directing job: I believe that may have been two cartoons he directed in the mid-90s for the "What A Cartoon!" TV series, named "Hard Luck Duck" and "Wind-Up Wolf" (both 1995, I think).
ReplyDeleteBut have to say I love this story about how he just went ahead and directed the entire first Pup episode to help out:) Incidentally, how come he wasn't credited for the job?
Yes, Mesterius, you are correct that Bill made a couple of short cartoons in the 90's. I had forgotten about those.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to put Bill's name on the directing credit of the first episode of "A Pup Named Scooby Doo," but he insisted otherwise.
I just simply LOOOVE this show. Everyone was key, with Hanna and Barbera, Scott Jeralds, Glen Kennedy, John Debney and his singers, the voice cast, and pretty much everyone else here.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention this is the show where the name "Shirley McLoon" was first used, two years prior to the Shirley we know and love from Tiny Toons!
Very happy to hear that "Pup" hits the spot for you. I love it too.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember who sung the theme song? And the people who did the chase songs in the first season (along with the names of each song)? I heard the people who performed them were in-house or something. It's something I would really like to have for Scoobypedia.
ReplyDelete-- Possible from Scoobypedia
When you say Glen did the opening sequence, what exactly do you mean? The theme song, the the first scene of the episode, or both? I'm just curious on the specifics. (Maybe the pictures you used implies that, but I'm not sure.
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