Ken Muse at Hanna-Barbera

Ken Muse (July 26th, 1910 – July 26th, 1987), though best known for his work on the MGM Tom and Jerry series of ‘toons, did just as good animation on the early Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Muse was working under Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera for a decade and a half when the MGM cartoon studio shut down in 1957. Hanna and Barbera offered to make cheap ’n good animation for TV for them, but they made the mistake of declining the offer. Bill and Joe went into business for themselves and took the majority of the recently-laid-off MGM cartoon staff with them, including Ed Benedict, Dick Bickenbach, Carlo Vinci, and Ken Muse.

Early H-B cartoons have some undeniable charm that no other TV cartoon could create. I figured that I could have some fun with one of my favorite animators and make a video that shows how great early Flintstones or Huck Hound can be all at the same time.

Clips used:
0:00 - The Swimming Pool (1960)
0:03 - See-Saw (1962)
0:05 - Top Cat Falls In Love (1961)
0:06 - Barbecue Hound (1959)
0:07 - Chock Full Chock Wagon (1961)
0:09 - Pup Plays Pop (1959)
0:10 - Pistol Packin’ Pirate (1958)
0:11 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960)
0:13 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958)
0:20 - Little Bo-Bopped (1959)
0:21 - Sheriff Huckleberry (1958)
0:22 - Baffled Bear (1958)
0:24 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (2nd time)
0:25 - Pistol Packin’ Pirate (1958) (2nd time)
0:27 - Little Bo-Bopped (1959) (2nd time)
0:28 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (2nd time)
0:31 - Chock Full Chock Wagon (1961) (2nd time)
0:33 - Wolf Hounded (1959)
0:38 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (3rd time)
0:41 - See-Saw (1962) (2nd time)
0:42 - Pistol Packin’ Pirate (1958) (3rd time)
0:44 - Little Bo-Bopped (1959) (3rd time)
0:45 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (2nd time)
0:48 - Wolf Hounded (1959) (2nd time)
0:51 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (3rd time)
0:52 - Baffled Bear (1958) (2nd time)
0:55 - Sheriff Huckleberry (1958) (2nd time)
1:02 - Pup Plays Pop (1959) (2nd time)
1:03 - Flintstones opening theme (1960)
1:07 - Chock Full Chock Wagon (1961) (3rd time)
1:08 - Top Cat opening theme (1961)
1:09 - Pup Plays Pop (1959) (3rd time)
1:14 - Bow-Wow Bandit (1959)
1:20 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (4th time)
1:23 - Baffled Bear (1958) (3rd time)
1:25 - Jinks the Butler (1958)
1:31 - Flintstones opening theme (1960) (2nd time)
1:37 - Baffled Bear (1958) (4th time)
1:40 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (3rd time)
1:41 - Chock Full Chock Wagon (1961) (4th time)
1:43 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (5th time)
1:48 - Bow-Wow Bandit (1959) (2nd time)
1:53 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (4th time)
1:57 - Top Cat opening theme (1961) (2nd time)
2:06 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (6th time)
2:10 - Wolf Hounded (1959) (3rd time)
2:15 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (7th time)
2:18 - Chock Full Chock Wagon (1961) (5th time)
2:21 - Flintstones closing theme (1960)
2:26 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (4th time)
2:27 - See-Saw (1962) (3rd time)
2:31 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (8th time)
2:33 - Pistol Packin’ Pirate (1958) (4th time)
2:36 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (5th time)
2:42 - Jinks the Butler (1958) (2nd time)
2:45 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (9th time)
2:49 - Pup Plays Pop (1959) (4th time)
2:52 - Judo Jack (1958)
2:54 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (10th time)
2:57 - Lion-Hearted Huck (1958)
2:58 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (5th time)
3:01 - Prize Fight Fright (1959)
3:02 - Pup Plays Pop (1959) (5th time)
3:03 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (11th time)
3:04 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (6th time)
3:06 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (6th time)
3:10 - Prize Fight Fright (1959) (2nd time)
3:12 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (7th time)
3:15 - Top Cat opening theme (1961) (3rd time)
3:16 - Judo Jack (1958) (2nd time)
3:17 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (8th time)
3:19 - Judo Jack (1958) (3rd time)
3:21 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (9th time)
3:25 - Top Cat opening theme (1961) (4th time)
3:27 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (10th time)
3:28 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (7th time)
3:32 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (12th time)
3:35 - Prize Fight Fright (1959) (3rd time)
3:36 - Lamb Chopped (1959)
3:39 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (11th time)
3:40 - Huck Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958) (8th time)
3:43 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (13th time)
3:44 - Prize Fight Fright (1959) (4th time)
3:46 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (12th time)
3:48 - Switch Witch (1959)
3:50 - Hot Lips Hannigan (1960) (14th time)
3:51 - Lion-Hearted Huck (1958) (2nd time)
3:57 - The Swimming Pool (1960) (13th time)

Music used: Various Hoyt Curtin cues done for early H-B TV cartoons, c. 1960-1961