Hanna-Barbera Productions was founded on July 7, 1957. The world’s children would have to wait until 1966 to hear the Hanna-Barbera Singers warble their favorite little ditty’s on the Golden Cartoons in Song Volume 3 long-play record. Would it prove to be worth the wait?

No.

Have a look at the cover of the LP and then I’ll explain:

You’ve heard these old chestnuts numerous times. If you’ve been a parent for any length of time, you’ve heard these old chestnuts too many times! Perhaps by buying a record called Golden Cartoons in Song you were hoping for some fun variations on the familiar. Perhaps Yogi Bear singing ‘Alouette’ to Boo-Boo or Granny Sweet crooning ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’. Would such hopes by realized?

No.

Have a look at the labels and then I’ll explain:

The only singing you get on this record is by the Hanna-Barbera singers, or as I like to call them, ‘whatever studio singers were in or around the studio on recording day’. There isn’t even one guest performance by a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character! Apparently the voice artists had the day off. So this record sounds like the hundreds of other records that have covered these same songs before. All they did was slap a Hanna-Barbera cover on it to sell units.

But let’s talk about the cover for a moment. It is fun! Designed and rendered by H. C. Pennington, it constitutes the only cartoon character fix you’re going to get with this product. Unless you turn the cover over and look on the back, were Yogi Bear makes an obligatory appearance:

Several things are happening back here. First, we have the entire technical process of record making explained to us, as if we really care how well recorded 12 children’s song are. Next, we have the track list. Then a picture list of all the other Hanna-Barbera LP releases. Can’t wait to collect all of them! Lastly, and finally best, we have a blurb about the men who created the cartoons. Yes kids, history is fun!

It appears that many of the other releases do contain voice-overs by cartoon characters. But again, not this one. And being as this is the one I have… that sucks!

FUN FACTS: The cover features Secret Squirrel, Squiddly Diddly, Granny Sweets, and Precious Pup. It’s a pity that Secret Squirrel wasn’t able to infiltrate the recording and sneak in a warble or two!