Hanna-Barbera was an animation studio that created classic cartoons including Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, and a slew of other iconic series. They were absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001 but their brand still lived within the new company. They have a long library of TV series and beloved characters, many of which still appear in plenty of content today.
It’s no surprise that there would be modern adaptations made based on Hanna-Barbera properties, but the idea of a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe surprised and excited a lot of long-time fans. This idea of a shared Hanna-Barbera movie universe was introduced to the world with the movie titled Scoob! which was released in 2020.
Scoob! is a 3D-animated film that follows Scooby-Doo and the rest of Mystery Inc. as they work with the Blue Falcon (from Dynomutt, Dog Wonder) to take down the evil Dick Dastardly (from Wacky Races). This first theatrically-released animated film in the Scooby-Doo franchise was meant to set up the Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe, as you could probably guess with the inclusion of Blue Falcon and Dick Dastardly, but that unfortunately doesn’t seem like the case anymore.
A follow-up holiday film titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt was planned, finished, and then scrapped as a tax write-off. There were other movies based on other Hanna-Barbera cartoons also planned, but there hasn’t been any word on what’s going on with them since. With Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav seemingly being against animation as a whole, it feels even more unlikely that these other movies will actually get off the ground.
On top of that, even though a shared movie universe is perfect for something like Hanna-Barbera, Scoob! didn’t serve as the ideal start for it. The movie didn’t do very well critically, and the box office numbers were rather low compared to other films released during the pandemic. It had some funny moments, plenty of heart, and was well animated, but it didn’t give fans the Scooby-Doo mystery they had hoped for and the story fell flat. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the folks at Warner Bros. Discovery can the whole shared universe idea.
With all that being said, the Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe deserved better. It at least deserves another attempt in the future if the one that was meant to begin with Scoob! isn’t somehow repaired. Not everything needs to be made into a movie universe, but this one is actually a fantastic idea. If done right, fans of classic cartoons would flock to it. Not only would it provide for a fun movie-going experience, but it would lead to modern adaptations of fan-favorite classics like The Jetsons and Johnny Quest, as well as allow fans to see beloved characters crossover and interact with each other. It’s truly unfortunate that this brilliant idea may no longer be on the table.
Nonstop Nerd 