A biography for William Hannahasn’t been written yet.
“The novelty business is astounding. We can't keep up with it.”
“Initially, it was sort of devastating to lose full animation and go limited.”
“Cartoons ran into trouble when they became too much like real life images. Cartoons had become poor imitations of the real thing.”
“We are trying to build a family image of wholesome movie entertainment.”
“I think that - whether I should admit this or not - Joe and I, going back to 'Tom and Jerry,' have been very lucky in being able to do cartoons that have universal appeal.”
“The concept of the characters in animal skins and us satirizing modern technology made it fun. But the voices we cast and the characterization of Fred Flintstone had a lot to do with it.”
“When we were at MGM, we never did much about merchandise tie-ups There were too many executives and lawyers to go through.”
“We all can't stay busy doing exactly what we want to do.”
“In 'Tom and Jerry,' there was hardly any dialogue at all. It was all action. It required a great many drawings to make.”
“You know, it is a funny thing, but 'The Flintstones' was bought by ABC and the sponsors when they discovered adults were watching and enjoying 'Huck Hound' and 'Quick Draw McGraw.'”
“I was never a good artist.”
“I saw one of the old 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons the other day. I hadn't seen it for 30 years and I didn't remember it. We made 160 of them! I thought it was a very funny cartoon.”
“Our stuff is made strictly for fun. We're not out to give a message.”
“We've never tried to educate children. We've never tried to preach to them, just entertain.”
“I think anything created today can be said to be a ripoff. It's hard to find anything original any more.”
“I started out with three creative jobs - painter, janitor and gag writer.”
“I used to watch 'The Honeymooners' and laughed so much I'd fog up the inside of the lenses of my glasses.”
“I think 'The Simpsons' is in the right time slot because it's not a show for kids. It's too vulgar. And 'Ren and Stimpy' is worse. We would never do anything like that.”
“I think we had made 160 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons.”
“We're delighted that Freddie Flintstone and his friends have made such a hit. The comedy is not the old cartoon slapstick. Most of it is situation stuff and dialogue.”