Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. /ˈhænə ˌbɑːrˈbɛrə/ (simply known as Hanna-Barbera and also referred to as H-B Enterprises, H-B Production Company and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.) was an American animation studio founded in 1957 by Tom and Jerry creators and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, in partnership with film director George Sidney. For more than three decades in the 20th century, it was a prominent force and leader in American television animation as it created a wide variety of popular animated characters and produced a succession of cartoon series, including The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Smurfs.
Hanna-Barbera also produced films for theatrical release and television broadcast along with specials and direct-to-video content. Hanna and Barbera's cartoons won them seven Academy Awards, eight Emmy Awards, a Governors Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now established as a successful company, the two men and Sidney sold it to Taft Broadcasting on December 29, 1966 and be run by Taft for the next quarter-century. By the mid-1980s, when the profitability of Saturday-morning cartoons was eclipsed by weekday afternoon syndication, Hanna-Barbera's fortunes had declined.
Turner Broadcasting System purchased the studio from Taft (by then renamed Great American Broadcasting) in late 1991 and used much of its back catalog as programming for Cartoon Network. After Turner purchased the company, Hanna and Barbera continued to serve as creative consultants and mentors. After becoming a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Animation in 1996 following Turner's merger with Time Warner, it was ultimately absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation in 2001. As of 2019, Warner Bros. now distributes subsequent Hanna-Barbera cartoons, as well as now owning the rights to its back catalogue.