 In December 1966 , Hanna @-@ Barbera Productions was sold to Taft Broadcasting ( renamed Great American Communications in 1987 ) for $ 12 million . Barbera and Hanna remained at the head of the company until 1991 . At that point , the company was sold to the Turner Broadcasting System for an estimated $ 320 million . Turner began using Hanna @-@ Barbera 's television catalog as material for its new Cartoon Network cable channel in 1992 , and by the mid @-@ 1990s Hanna @-@ Barbera was producing several original series for Cartoon Network , among them Dexter 's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls . In 1996 , Turner merged with Time Warner , owners of Warner Bros. , who would eventually absorb Hanna @-@ Barbera into Warner Bros. Animation . 
