1969 Psychedelic Hanna-Barbera Commercials

by G. Jack Urso

Animation powerhouse Hanna-Barbera dominated Saturday morning cartoons in the 1960s and 1970s. While producing dozens of shows, they all shared a very similar animation style. Yet, Hanna-Barbera was also capable of extending itself beyond the strictures commercial television required to create some very wild and wonderful short pieces, available here from the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.

The first example is a circa 1969 Fanta soda commercial with Peter Max and Yellow Submarine-inspired imagery, showing Hanna-Barbera was capable of a bit more than the steady fair of similar-looking Saturday morning cartoons it produced at the time. The exact year of the commercial is a little unclear. Some sources cite an approximate date range from 1968 through the early 1970s. I went with 1969 for a couple reasons. A well-sourced Wikipedia list (which I usually loath citing) of Hanna-Barbera commercials puts it there and since Yellow Submarine itself (which clearly influenced the commercial’s storyline) wasn’t released until July 1969 in the UK, and Dec. 1969 in the U.S., it seems unlikely a commercial influenced by its style could have been produced prior to 1969, though early 1970 could be possible.

A second example from Hanna-Barbera is not a commercial, but rather a psychedelic anti-drug public service announcement (PSA). Like the Fanta commercial, various sources place it in an approximate circa early 1970s release, but the aforementioned list on Wikipedia cites 1969. With an animation style not dissimilar to the Fanta commercial, I suspect the same production team may be responsible for both. What is unique about this commercial is that there is no narration or text on screen. The visuals alone are expected to convey the message.

The advantage of adopting visuals that echo a new and popular animation style is that it immediately connects with the young demographic. The disadvantage of such an approach is that visual fads and trends in popular culture can quickly become dated, shortening the shelf-life of such productions. Nevertheless, these two wonderfully wild psychedelic productions give us a glance into the era and show that Hanna-Barbara was capable of more than a steady stream of talking animals and “those meddling kids” cartoons.

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