Television composer. Born Downey, California, 1922.
Died Thousand Oaks, California, December 3, 2000, aged 78.
If judged by the amount of times his songs are heard, or
the number of people who can happily sing along to their
every line, Hoyt Curtin must surely count as one of America's
more successful composers. Though he never composed a top
10 hit, many of his catchy tunes will easily bring smiles
to several generations of people, who can easily recall
the theme songs to Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. His theme
for The Jetsons, despite its simplistic lyrics ("Meet
George Jetson ... Jane his wife"), is a favourite TV
jingle. His melody for the "bubblegum" cartoon
"Cattanooga Cats" ("Chub-a-duh, chub-a-duh,
sing chub-a-duh") wins instant recognition, even if
the series itself usually doesn't. But his best-known song,
which revealed him as a gifted tunesmith, was the enjoyable
theme to "The Flintstones" ("When you're
with the Flintstones, have a yabba-dabba-doo time, a dabba-doo
time, we'll have a gay old time"), which introduced
"the modern, Stone-Age family" for seven years
- and helped make the series one of the "coolest"
prime-time series of the sixties.
``Few people will ever have the chance to work with a true
genius," said Joseph Barbera, one of his producers
(and lyricists), in a statement after Curtin's death. "All
of us at Hanna-Barbera who worked with Hoyt are among those
few. I hope is still writing sweet music wherever he is."
Whether or not he was a genius, Curtin was certainly a
prodigy, playing the piano at five and composing from his
early childhood. By his ninth grade, he had his own school
orchestra. To nobody's surprise, he went on to study music
at the University of Southern California.
His style leaned more towards popular ditties than symphonies,
and he began his career writing advertising jingles, occasionally
composing music for early (and obscure) television series
like "Lost Women of Zarpa" (1953) and "Jail
Bait" (1954). However, he found his true niche in 1957,
when Barbera and William Hanna, already known for their
cinema cartoons, began their long stint on television with
"The Ruff and Reddy Show". Curtin was employed
as music director for their new television cartoon studio,
a position he would keep until 1990.
Curtin headed a company of songwriters, Soundtrack Music,
that churned out both theme songs and incidental music for
most of Hanna-Barbera's cartoons, from the rock ditties
of "Top Cat" and "Scooby Doo, Where are You?"
to the instrumental adventure themes of "Jonny Quest"
and "Superfriends". Like Edison's invention workshop,
it is not always clear who composed which tune, but most
were scored by Curtin, with Hanna and Barbera writing most
of the lyrics.
Curtin was behind the carnival-style theme song of "Huckleberry
Hound" (1958), the first cartoon to win an Emmy Award.
Two years later, he hurriedly wrote the theme tune to "The
Flintstones", in a panic because production was behind
schedule. "It's a catchy little tune," he said
in a 1994 interview. "Just a simple thing arranged
for jazz and singers." (It would later be covered by
numerous jazz musicians, including the legendary pianist
Monty Alexander.)
The Flintstones was easily Hanna-Barbera's most popular
series, becoming the first (and until "The Simpsons",
the longest-running) cartoon series made for prime-time
television. Its popularity has never ceased; now in syndication,
it is estimated that not a minute goes by when it is not
being shown somewhere in the world.
For Curtin - and for TV cartoons in general - it also marked
a change in theme songs, from children's jingles to danceable,
hit-parade style songs. This would be especially fitting
some years later, as cartoon producers attempted to draw
teenage audiences with numerous shows about rock bands.
Hanna-Barbera was happy to join this trend, and Curtin found
himself writing the theme songs (and other pop songs) for
"The Cattanooga Cats" (1969) and "Josie and
the Pussycats" (1970), the latter performed by a young
singer named Cherie Moore. (Later, Moore would take up acting
and change her name to Cheryl Ladd.)
More opportunities followed for pop music, the concepts
becoming gradually more ridiculous. "Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kids" (1973) was about a group of
teenage Federal agents (ex-Monkee Mickey Dolenz was among
the voices), working undercover as a rock band. ("Travelling
around all over the world, solving every mystery".)
The next year, Curtin even worked on "The Partridge
Family, 2200 A.D.", a futuristic cartoon based on the
musical sitcom.
"Hoyt was the king of jingle-making," says Jean
MacCurdy, president of Warner Bros. Animation (now Hanna-Barbera's
parent company). "His strong suit was coming up with
the themes that almost anyone on the street could sing at
the drop of a hat. He was really quite remarkable."
Even as the cartoons changed, becoming glossier and less
innocent, he adapted his music to suit them: "Battle
of the Planets" (1978), "Captain Caveman"
(1980), "GoBots" (1986). He even wrote songs for
the Simpsons' 1999 album "Go Simpsonic".
Just before he died, he won the prestigious Winsor McCay
award for lifetime achievement from the International Animated
Film Society. His music is still being heard regularly,
and is likely to be heard even more in the near future,
with big-screen versions of "Scooby-Doo" and "Josie
and the Pussycats" in production.
He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, a son and daughter-in-law,
and three grandchildren.
