FROM BEDROCK TO ORBIT CITY, MORE THAN 400 ORIGINAL WORKS FROM THE LEGENDARY STUDIO HEAD TO AUCTION
By Christina Rees | January 20, 2026
On Saturday mornings in the latter half of the 20th century, America gathered – sometimes in pajamas, sometimes on shag carpet, often with a bowl of cereal balanced on its knees – to visit a familiar universe. It was a world where cavemen bowled with dinosaurs, futuristic families commuted by flying car, mystery-solving teens never failed to unmask the villain, and bears in porkpie hats dispensed wisdom between picnic-basket capers. That universe bore a name as rhythmic as its characters: Hanna-Barbera.
Few animation studios have imprinted themselves so indelibly on popular memory, and fewer still did so by rewriting the rules of their medium. Founded in 1957 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera – already famous for Tom and Jerry – the studio helped invent television animation as we know it. Working within the tight budgets and schedules of early TV, Hanna-Barbera pioneered a streamlined visual language that emphasized bold design, expressive poses, and unforgettable personalities. What emerged wasn’t a compromise, but a style – one that defined generations of viewing and became inseparable from the idea of Saturday morning itself.
This sold-out limited-edition cel features Bedrock’s most famous family, The Flintstones, alongside signatures from Hanna-Barbera founders Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. Available in Heritage’s February 21-22 Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II Animation Art Showcase Auction.
That legacy comes roaring back into focus with Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II!, a two-day Animation Art Showcase Auction presented by Heritage Auctions on February 21–22, with bidding opening January 23. Featuring more than 400 lots, the auction stands among the most comprehensive offerings of original Hanna-Barbera animation art ever assembled, tracing the studio’s evolution from prime-time experimentation to full-blown pop-cultural juggernaut.
The emotional core of Hanna-Barbera’s appeal lies in its families – both literal and chosen. The Flintstones, television’s first prime-time animated sitcom, bridged the gap between cartoon comedy and adult humor while remaining deeply family-friendly. A long sold-out limited-edition cel celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary captures that balance perfectly: Fred posing cooperatively alongside Wilma’s calm authority, Pebbles’ sweetness and Dino’s irrepressible joy rendered in saturated studio color and signed by Hanna and Barbera themselves. It’s Bedrock distilled to its essentials, a reminder that beneath the Stone Age sight gags was a warm, modern portrait of American domestic life.
A rare piece from 1990’s ‘Jetsons: The Movie,’ this hand-painted color model cel features George, Jane, Judy, Astro, Elroy, and Rosie. Available in Heritage’s February 21-22 Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II Animation Art Showcase Auction.
If The Flintstones mirrored the present, The Jetsons imagined a future that was optimistic, cluttered with gadgets, and still unmistakably human. A rare color model cel from Jetsons: The Movie – the final theatrical film directed by Hanna and Barbera – shows the entire family in full figure, poised against a beautifully painted pre-production background of their sky-high living room. The piece feels like a farewell and a celebration at once: a last word from the architects of a future that, in many ways, we’re still chasing.
Mystery and mayhem take center stage with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, whose groovy mix of slapstick, spooks, and teen camaraderie became a cultural constant. A sold-out limited-edition model-sheet cel signed by Joe Barbera presents the entire Mystery Gang – Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and the Mystery Machine – surrounded by the poses and expressions that kept them “on model” across countless episodes. It’s both artwork and blueprint, revealing how consistency and character discipline fueled the show’s enduring charm.
The many faces and poses of ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!’ are on display in this sold-out limited-edition model-sheet cel. Available in Heritage’s February 21-22 Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II Animation Art Showcase Auction.
Hanna-Barbera’s bears, meanwhile, offered comedy with a wink. A vintage color model and production cel featuring Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and Cindy Bear captures the studio’s meticulous approach to color and expression. Paired with a hand-painted production background, the piece highlights how much craft went into scenes that once zipped by in seconds. Jellystone Park may have been fictional, but its comic rhythms felt comfortingly real.
As television expanded in the 1970s and ’80s, so did Hanna-Barbera’s reach. A striking publicity cel of Batman from Super Friends reflects the studio’s role in bringing superhero narratives to young audiences long before cinematic universes became the norm. Nearby in spirit, a richly layered five-cel production setup from The Smurfs – Papa Smurf charging forward, followed by Smurfette and company – captures the vibrant palette and expressive animation that made the series a global phenomenon.
A vintage color model/production cel from 1964’s ‘Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! Available in Heritage’s February 21-22 Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II Animation Art Showcase Auction.
Perhaps the most revealing artifact of all is an employee-issued Hanna-Barbera Character Style Guide from 1988. Dense with color callouts, character rules, fonts, and usage guidelines, it reads like the DNA of a universe. From Fred Flintstone to Scooby-Doo, it shows how a vast studio maintained coherence across decades, series, and media – proof that behind the fun was a rigorously organized creative engine.
That institutional memory finds its most poignant expression in a rare Lifetime Achievement limited-edition lithograph created in 2000 to honor Hanna and Barbera themselves. Produced for the Museum of Television and Radio and drawn from original artwork by legendary designer Iwao Takamoto, the long sold-out lithograph gathers nearly three dozen Hanna-Barbera characters – alongside affectionate caricatures of the founders – into a single celebratory image. Signed by 23 artists and voice actors who helped bring that universe to life (including Micky Dolenz, Casey Kasem, June Foray, and Tom Bosley), the piece functions as both tribute and time capsule: a moment when the studio paused to acknowledge the magnitude of what it had built. In an auction defined by beloved imagery, this work stands apart as a collective thank-you, offered by the very hands and voices that shaped a generation of animation.
This piece of hand-painted original production art from ‘The Smurfs’ shows Papa Smurf leading Smurfette, Tailor Smurf, and two other Smurfs across a snowy field. Available in Heritage’s February 21-22 Yabba Dabba Doo – The Art of Hanna-Barbera II Animation Art Showcase Auction.
“This is one of the largest and most complete offerings from this legendary animation studio,” says Jim Lentz, Vice President of Animation Art at Heritage Auctions. “For animation art collectors, this Showcase auction represents a rare opportunity to acquire hard-to-find vintage artwork from a studio whose characters remain icons of Americana and pop culture.”
Seen together, these works are more than production materials or display pieces. They are touchstones, and evidence of how a handful of animators, working fast and thinking smart, created a shared visual language that still feels alive. Long after the theme songs fade, Hanna-Barbera’s world remains inhabited. And for those who grew up there, this auction is less about collecting than coming home.
