EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT: Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning

On November 12^th, my family and I drove 3 ½ hours to get to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA to check out the opening of the Hanna-Barbera exhibit. I had been looking forward to this since Jesse Kowalski, Curator of Exhibitions at the Norman Rockwell Museum, tweeted me about it on August 8, 2016!

We pulled into the parking lot around 2:30pm and realized we had better grab some lunch before we go into the museum. So we left to go find something to eat in town. We stumbled on this quaint little café called the Main Street Café. It was a little eatery that had an extensive menu that allowed all 4 of us to find something we would be willing to eat. My husband and I got the turkey sweet potato wrap, which was absolutely amazing!! Glad we found this place!

At 3:30pm, we were back at the museum and ready to hear Jerry Beck, animation historian and author of The Hanna-Barbera Treasury, talk about HB. He started off his speech as if we were all recovering Hanna-Barbera addicts at an HB anonymous meeting. It was quite funny! I knew from that point on, his talk was going to be great! He had a wonderful slide show, with some very interesting pictures of Joe Barbera and William Hanna, other HB employees, old toys and storyboards, and so on. It was amazing to see all of these great creations and hear some fascinating stories! Did you know Jack Nicholson was an intern for HB? Jerry showed a drawing of the whole HB staff, which included Jack!

After Jerry spoke, we headed upstairs to the exhibit. They were setting up food in the lobby area with these cute little signs that said Shaggy Sandwiches, Jetson’s Freeze Dried Onion Dip, Yogi Chips, Velma’s Lasagna, and Scooby Snacks. Everything was set up so nice!

We had to go through a couple of rooms to get to the exhibit. You could tell you were in the right spot when you saw the big Hanna-Barbera sign on the brightly colored walls. It was great to see that sign! Finally, someone is giving HB the credit they deserve!

The exhibit is filled with storyboards, cells, drawings and collectibles of the greatest HB characters – Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetson’s, Tom & Jerry, Yogi Bear, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, Space Ghost, The Smurfs, Snagglepuss, and so many more! Everything hanging up really popped on the vibrant blue, green and yellow painted walls. The display cases were filled with HB characters, thanks to Dave Nimitz, who has a very extensive collection of HB merchandise! (Oh, to have his Scooby collection!!) At one point, a little boy went over and hugged the display case. It was the cutest thing! I wish I got a picture of it.

Of course, my favorite part of the exhibit involved Scooby and the gang! There were original storyboards, an original script, cells, and a lot of Dave’s collectibles. He had some amazing merchandise from the 70’s and 80’s. Even a Scrappy, which is pretty rare to find Scrappy merchandise. I was in heaven in the Scooby section! It was great of Jesse to work so hard to get WB to allow him to use some of these pieces in the exhibit.

Around 6:15pm, Jesse Kowalski, Exhibition Curator, and special guest TonyBenedict, a Hanna-Barbera Writer, talked about HB and how it has impacted their lives. It was very interesting to hear them talk about the history of cartoons. HB and some anecdotes about working with Joe and Bill. Tony Benedict got to work with Joe and Bill…how cool is that!!! (I regret not getting a picture with him.)

After their talk, who do I see out in the lobby? SCOOBY-DOO!!!!!!! Oh, my dreams have come true! I’m at a Hanna-Barbera exhibit and Scooby is there! YES! So I asked for a picture. Scooby, well the human behind the mask, was so nice! She loved my ScoobyAddicts.com shirt and introduced me to Jeremy Clowe, Manager of Media Services at the museum, and also a fellow Scooby lover! He had on 2 Scooby pins to show his support for the greatest Great Dane in the world! Jeremy did an interview with me, which may or may not have been good haha! I do not work well under pressure and am not good when I am put on the spot. It’s going to take a lot of editing to make that work! Good luck Jeremy! Scooby and I had a great time during the interview though. We got to do a slow-mo hug scene. Although the same kid that was hugging the display case gave Scooby a huge hug and he looked so much cuter than me with Scooby.

After the interview, I got to talk to Dave Nimitz for a bit. He has worked at WB, DreamWorks and Duncan Studios. I very much enjoyed talking to him and learning more about his collection. Be on the lookout for his toy book, hopefully coming out next year!

The night ended around 7:45pm. On the way out, I picked up the catalog and a poster.  As people left the museum, you could hear the bell at the end of the walkway, the bell that guests of the museum ring if they had a good time. We rang the bell a few times!!

If you are able to, you have to check out this exhibit! It is totally worth it! Here is a list of everyone affiliated with this exhibit. These people made it possible! A million thanks to all of them!

The exhibit runs through May 29, 2017 at the Normal Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Rd / Rte 183,

Stockbridge, MA 01262. You have plenty of time to plan a family vacation or just take a road trip! You will not be disappointed! If you are a fan of any Hanna-Barbera cartoon, this is the place to go! You will be amazed by everything they have on display!

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Check out my photos from the exhibit!!