Father of 'The Flinstones' Turns 90

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” Yabba dabba doo! The father of ``The Flintstones'' is 90. <br><br>William Hanna, half of the Hanna-Barbera production team that created dozens of beloved TV cartoon series,

Monday, July 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” Yabba dabba doo! The father of ``The Flintstones'' is 90.

William Hanna, half of the Hanna-Barbera production team that created dozens of beloved TV cartoon series, including the story of ``the modern Stone Age family,'' was honored at a studio birthday party Friday.

As co-chairman of Hanna-Barbera, he still works daily at the office, said his assistant Edgar Bravo.

Hanna was a college dropout from New Mexico when he began working as an animator in 1930. He met Joseph Barbera in the late '30s and they went on to create the ``Tom and Jerry'' cartoons.

The two founded Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957. The studio, now owned by Warner Bros., is identified with shows such as ``The Flintstones,'' ``The Jetsons'' and ``The Smurfs.''

Hanna-Barbera developed hundreds of original characters, including Fred Flintstone, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Atom Ant and the marble-mouthed dog Scooby-Doo.