What if William Hanna and Joseph Barbera never left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer?

MGM decided in mid-1957 to close its cartoon studio, as it felt it had acquired a reasonable backlog of shorts for re-release. While contemplating their future, Hanna and Barbera began producing additional animated television commercials. During their last year at MGM, they had developed a concept for a new animated TV program about a cat and a dog.

After they failed to convince the studio to back their venture, live-action director George Sidney, who had worked with Hanna and Barbera on several of his theatrical features for MGM, offered to serve as their business partner and convinced Screen Gems to make a deal with the producers. A coin toss gave Hanna precedence in naming the new studio. Harry Cohn, president and head of Columbia Pictures, took an 18% ownership in their new company, **H-B Enterprises**, and provided working capital.

Screen Gems became the new distributor and its licensing agent, handling merchandizing of the characters from the animated programs as the cartoon firm officially opened for business in rented offices on the lot of Kling Studios (formerly Charlie Chaplin Studios) on July 7, 1957, one year after the MGM animation studio closed.

But in the alternate universe, what if William Hanna and Joseph Barbera never left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

This theory is interconnected to What if DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1980 as The Geffen Film Company?

## Changes

* William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would've stayed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
* Taft Broadcasting would've acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1966.
	+ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would've become a division of Taft Broadcasting in 1966.
		- Kirk Kerkorian would've acquired Taft Broadcasting in 1969 and would've later been sold Taft Broadcasting which includes Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System in 1986.
			* Taft Broadcasting would've closed down in 1986 instead of 1999 due to being merged into Turner Broadcasting System
			* Worldvision Enterprises would've never been sold to Spelling Television which would've been later become part of Paramount Domestic Television.
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would've become a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System in 1986 and would've still become a major studio until 1996.
	+ Turner Entertainment would've never existed.
	+ Turner Pictures and Ted Turner Pictures would've never existed, with it's films being released and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
	+ MGM Television would've become a subsidiary of Turner Program Services in 1986 until 1997.
		- MGM Worldwide Television "formerly MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television Distribution" would've closed down in 1986 due to being folded into Turner Program Services.
		- All Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network shows would've been co-released by Turner Program Services via MGM Television until 1997.
	+ Turner Home Entertainment would've never existed, with it's home videos being distributed by MGM Home Entertainment.
	+ Turner Pictures Worldwide Distribution, Inc. would've never existed, with it's films being distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
	+ Turner Feature Animation would've never existed, with it's films being produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation.
	+ Turner Broadcasting System would've closed down in 1996 instead of 2019 due to being acquired by and merged into Time-Warner Inc..
	+ Turner Entertainment Networks would've never existed.
* Taft Broadcasting would've acquired Archie Comics in 1967.
	+ The Archie Show, Archie's Funhouse, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1970 TV series), Groovie Goolies, Archie's TV Funnies, The U.S. of Archie and The New Archie and Sabrina Hour would've been produced by Hanna-Barbera instead of Filmation.
	+ The New Archies would've been produced by Hanna-Barbera instead of DIC Entertainment.
	+ Archie's Weird Mysteries, Sabrina: The Animated Series, Sabrina's Secret Life, The Archies in Jugman and Sabrina: Friends Forever would've been produced by Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios instead of DIC Entertainment.
	+ Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch would've been produced by Cartoon Network Studios instead of Splash Entertainment and MoonScoop.
	+ Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again would've been produced and distributed by Hanna-Barbera and MGM Television instead of DIC Entertainment and NBC.
	+ Sabrina the Teenage Witch (film) would've been produced by MGM Television and Warner Bros. Television Studios instead of Viacom Productions and Showtime Networks.
	+ Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series), Sabrina Goes to Rome and Sabrina Down Under would've been produced by MGM Television and Warner Bros. Television Studios instead of Viacom Productions.
	+ Josie and the Pussycats (film) would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures instead of Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
* Turner Broadcasting System would've acquire Image Comics in 1993.
	+ Spawn (1997 film) would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of New Line Cinema.
	+ The Walking Dead (TV series) would've aired on TNT instead of AMC.
	+ Invincible (TV series) would've aired on Adult Swim instead of Amazon Prime Video.
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation would've still been open in 2002.
	+ All Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network shows would've been co-produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation.
* PolyGram would've sold MGM Records back to Taft Broadcasting in 1972.
* Turner Broadcasting System would've been kept Hanna-Barbera Australia/Taft-Hardie Group Pty. Ltd. in 1988.
* MGM Grand Hotel and Casino would've never been sold by Bally Manufacturing and renamed Bally's Las Vegas.
* The 1965 MGM vault fire would've never happened.
* BBC Video VHS and DVD's would've been released by MGM Home Entertainment "formerly MGM/UA Home Video" (1982-present) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment "formerly Warner Home Video" (1996-present).
* Turner Broadcasting System would've acquired Aardman Animations in 1987.
	+ The 2005 Aardman fire would've never existed.
	+ Chicken Run would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in July 14, 2000 instead of DreamWorks Pictures via DreamWorks Animation in June 23, 2000.
	+ Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of Were-Rabbit would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in November 11, 2005 instead of DreamWorks Pictures via DreamWorks Animation in October 7, 2005.
	+ Flushed Away would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in November 22, 2006 instead of Paramount Pictures via DreamWorks Animation in November 3, 2006.
	+ Flushed Away would've been fully stop-motion animation instead of CGI computer-animated.
		- Arthur Christmas would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in December 16, 2011 instead of Sony Pictures Releasing via Columbia Pictures via Sony Pictures Animation in November 23, 2011 and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in March 30, 2012 instead of Sony Pictures Releasing via Columbia Pictures via Sony Pictures Animation in April 27, 2012.
			* Arthur Christmas would've been fully stop-motion animation instead of CGI computer-animated.
		- Shaun the Sheep Movie would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of StudioCanal and Lionsgate.
		- Early Man (film) would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in February 9, 2018 instead of StudioCanal and Paramount Pictures via Lionsgate Films in January 26, 2018.
		- A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of StudioCanal and Netflix.
		- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Netflix via Netflix Animation.
* The Magic Roundabout (2005) would've been Americanized by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of The Weinstein Company, with the original script being kept, but changing the British words to American words, and the film's title to The Magic Carousel, being a critical and commercial success.
	+ All fart jokes or pop culture references would've been toned down in this AU.
	+ The American cast would've been like this: Robin Williams as Dougal, Jon Lovitz as Brian, Billy West as Flappy, Ian McKellen as Zebedee, Alyson Stoner as Florence, Mona Marshall as Ermintrude, Mark Hamill as Zeebad, and John DiMaggio as Soldier Sam.

* Jetsons: The Movie would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Universal Pictures, The Flintstones (1994 film) would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer via Castle Rock Entertainment instead of Universal Pictures via Amblin Entertainment and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas would've been released by Warner Bros. Pictures via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer via Castle Rock Entertainment instead of Universal Pictures via Amblin Entertainment.
* Tom and Jerry: The Movie would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Miramax "formerly Miramax Films" and Artisan Entertainment.
* The Pagemaster would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of 20th Century Fox and Turner Pictures and would've been produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation with Colbath.
* Turner Broadcasting System would've acquired New Line Cinema in 1994 which owned Castle Rock Entertainment and Fine Line Features.
	+ New Line Cinema would've become a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and leave the big mini-majors in 1994 due to this studio become a secondary film studio until 1996.
	+ Castle Rock Entertainment would've become a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and leave the big mini-majors in 1993 due to this studio become a friend film studio until 1996.
	+ Fine Line Features would've become a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1994 due to this studio become a speciality film studio until 1996.
* Turner Broadcasting System would've merged with Time-Warner Inc. in 1996.
	+ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would've become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. and leave the big nine major studios in 1996 due to this studio become a secondary studio.
		- MGM Television would've become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in 1997 due to this studio become a secondary television studio.
			* All Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network shows would've been co-released by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution via MGM Television in 1997.
		- MGM Home Entertainment "formerly MGM/UA Home Entertainment, Inc." would've become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment "formerly Warner Home Video" in 1996 due to this home entertainment become a secondary home entertainment arm.
	+ MGM Holdings would've never existed as all their assets are owned by AT&T via WarnerMedia.
	+ New Line Cinema would've become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. and leave the big Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's secondarys in 1996 instead of 2008 due to this studio become a arthouse film studio.
		- New Line Cinema would've kept its 1994 logo in 2010, but 2011 style would've used.
		- New Line Television would've still been open in 2008.
		- New Line Home Entertainment would've still been open in 2010.
	+ Castle Rock Entertainment would've still become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. and leave the big Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's friends in 1996 due to this studio become a friend film studio.
	+ AOL Time Warner Inc. via Warner Bros. via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would've launched 2929 Entertainment in 2002 due to this studio become a genre film studio.
	+ Disney-MGM Studios would've been renamed to Disney's Hollywood Studios in 1996 instead of 2008.
* Cats Don't Dance would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment production arm and would've been produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation instead of Turner Feature Animation*,* Scooby-Doo (film), The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Yogi Bear (film), Scoob! and Tom & Jerry (2021 film) would've been released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of Warner Bros. Pictures production arm.
* Amazon would've never acquired MGM Holdings in 2022.
	+ Amazon would've renamed Amazon MGM Studios back to Amazon Studios in October 4, 2023.