Universal initially hired Kurtz & Friends, led by animator Bob Kurtz, to provide the character animation for The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, a major 1990 attraction at the newly opened Universal Studios Florida. Kurtz’s company already had a relationship with Hanna-Barbera and was contributing to Jetsons: The Movie, making it a natural choice for a ride film that Universal wanted to resemble a polished theatrical cartoon rather than a routine theme-park short. Midway through production, however, Kurtz and his company resigned from the project, publicly citing creative differences. The available production account does not document a single explosive confrontation or identify the precise points of disagreement, but the departure forced Universal to replace its animation vendor while the attraction was still being assembled. Universal then turned to Sullivan Bluth Studios, a company with which it had previously worked, and David J. Steinberg took over as animation director. Some animators worked at Bluth’s Burbank facility while the Dublin-based team continued on Rock-a-Doodle and A Troll in Central Park, creating a split production effort. The finished ride consequently became a hybrid of traditional cel animation and computer-generated imagery, with Sullivan Bluth handling the Hanna-Barbera character work and other companies producing the CGI sequences. Kurtz’s exit did not stop the attraction: it opened on June 7, 1990, and operated for twelve years before closing in 2002. The episode is best understood as a documented mid-production creative dispute and vendor change, not as evidence of a proven personal feud or studio blacklist.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1990s
The Creative-Differences Exit That Recast Universal’s Hanna-Barbera Ride Film
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera / 1990s
Universal initially hired Kurtz & Friends, led by animator Bob Kurtz, to provide the character animation for The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, a major 1990 attraction at the newly opened Universal Studios Florida. Kurtz’s company already had a relationship with Hanna-Barbera and was contributing to Jetsons: The Movie, making it a natural choice for a ride film that Universal wanted to resemble a polished theatrical cartoon rather than a routine theme-park short. Midway through production, however, Kurtz and his company resigned from the project, publicly citing creative differences. The available production account does not document a single explosive confrontation or identify the precise points of disagreement, but the departure forced Universal to replace its animation vendor while the attraction was still being assembled. Universal then turned to Sullivan Bluth Studios, a company with which it had previously worked, and David J. Steinberg took over as animation director. Some animators worked at Bluth’s Burbank facility while the Dublin-based team continued on Rock-a-Doodle and A Troll in Central Park, creating a split production effort. The finished ride consequently became a hybrid of traditional cel animation and computer-generated imagery, with Sullivan Bluth handling the Hanna-Barbera character work and other companies producing the CGI sequences. Kurtz’s exit did not stop the attraction: it opened on June 7, 1990, and operated for twelve years before closing in 2002. The episode is best understood as a documented mid-production creative dispute and vendor change, not as evidence of a proven personal feud or studio blacklist.
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