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Hoyt Curtin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hoyt Stoddard Curtin September 9, 1922 Downey, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 3, 2000 (aged 78) |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1957–1989 |
| Employer | Hanna-Barbera |
Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer, music producer and the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with The Ruff & Reddy Show from 1957-1965 and again from 1972–1986 until his retirement in 1989.[1][2]
Curtin composed many of the theme songs for Hanna-Barbera's cartoons, including The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Super Friends, Josie and the Pussycats, The Smurfs, and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1960, Curtin also started composing the incidental music for many Hanna-Barbera animated series.
During his five decade career, Curtin wrote, conducted and produced thousands of unique theme songs, musical cues and libraries of incidental music used during the production of animated cartoon shows. For instance, there are currently 2,047 of his compositions still registered with BMI[3] and 1,102 of his compositions still registered with ASCAP.
Curtin's experience in advertising jingle writing honed his work in creating animation show theme songs. He said "In a commercial you have one minute, or forty seconds, to sell the product. Therefore every single note has got to mean something, and has got to do something. And that’s exactly how I approached one-minute main titles: it was to sell the show".[4]
Hanna-Barbera's co-founder Joseph Barbera said of Curtin "Few people ever have the chance to work with a genius. All of us at Hanna-Barbera who worked with Hoyt are among those few".[5] Hanna-Barbera creative director Bill Burnett praised Curtin's work, saying "Music is so fundamentally important to cartoons. Hoyt (was) one of the two giants of cartoon music. (Burnett cited Warner Bros.' Carl Stalling as the other.) What Hoyt does is absolutely smokin', the greatest pieces of cartoon pastiches that have ever been created".[6]
In 2002, Jean MacCurdy, then president of Warner Bros. Animation said "Hoyt was the king of jingle-making. 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".[1]
Composer John Debney said of Curtin, "Hoyt was a jazzer, he was a keyboard player for one of the big bands and he was in the service. That's why his music sounds the way it does, he always loved those jazz chords, and they're fabulous."[7]
Curtin was also an inventor who was granted six US patents for his novel designs of pipe couplings from 1974 through 1981.[8]
- ^ a b Woo, Elaine (December 11, 2000). "Hoyt Curtin; Composer of Cartoon Music". LA Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ Doll, Pancho (June 2, 1994). "REEL LIFE / FILM & VIDEO FILE : Music Helped 'Flintstones' on Way to Fame". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ "Writer / Composer Curtin Hoyt S". Retrieved January 22, 2025.
- ^ Mallory, Michael (March 15, 2012). "Hoyt Curtin's Jug Band Session". Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ "Hoyt Curtin". Variety. December 14, 2000. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
- ^ Mendoza, N.F. (July 23, 1995). "SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO: Hoyt Curtin has a modern Toon Age melody". Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ "YOWP Stuff About Early Hanna-Barbara Cartoons". Retrieved January 22, 2025.
- ^ "Pipe Coupling, December 31, 1974" (PDF). Retrieved January 22, 2025.