Joe Barbera dies

[brownie]

From AP:

Cartoon Pioneer Joe Barbera Mourned

Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna were hired within a month of each other in 1937 by the MGM cartoon factory. They soon hit on the idea of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry.

"When we started, people said, 'Cat and mouse? That's old stuff,'" Barbera recalled in a 1993 interview with The Associated Press. "They said it had been done by everybody _ Felix the Cat, Ignatz the Cat, not to mention Mickey Mouse.

"But I felt that in any country you wouldn't need dialogue to understand the plot. All you needed was a cat and mouse, and everybody knew what was going to happen."

In the decades since, Hanna-Barbera entertained generations of children, filling movie and TV screens with such animated series as "Tom and Jerry," "The Flintstones," "Yogi Bear," "Huckleberry Hound and Friends," "Top Cat," "Scooby-Doo," "Johnny Quest," "The Jetsons" and "Animal Follies."

Barbera died Monday of natural causes at his home with his wife Sheila at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. He was 95. His longtime collaborator, Hanna, died in 2001.

"Joe's contributions to both the animation and television industries are without parallel _ he has been personally responsible for entertaining countless millions of viewers across the globe," said friend, colleague and Warner animation President Sander Schwartz.

The "Tom and Jerry" cartoons won seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters. Hanna-Barbera received eight Emmy Awards, including the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Jerry's dance with Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh" has become a screen classic and Fred Flintstone's "yabba dabba doo" and Yogi's "smarter than the average bear" became part of the language.

Their strengths melded perfectly, critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons." Barbera brought the comic gags and skilled drawing, while Hanna brought warmth and a keen sense of timing.

"This writing-directing team may hold a record for producing consistently superior cartoons using the same characters year after year _ without a break or change in routine," Maltin wrote.

Hanna once said he was never a good artist but his partner could "capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone I've ever known."

The two first teamed cat and mouse in the short "Puss Gets the Boot." It earned an Oscar nomination, and MGM let the pair keep experimenting until the full-fledged Tom and Jerry characters eventually were born.

After MGM folded its animation department in the mid-1950s, Hanna and Barbera were forced to go into business for themselves. With television's sharply lower budgets, their new cartoons put more stress on verbal wit rather than the detailed _ and expensive _ action featured in theatrical cartoons.

Like "The Simpsons" three decades later, "The Flintstones" found success in prime-time TV by not limiting its reach to children. The program, a parody of "The Honeymooners," was among the 20 most popular shows on television during the 1960-61 season. "The Jetsons," which debuted in 1962, offered a futuristic mirror image of the Flintstones.

"It was a family comedy with everyday situations and problems that we window-dressed with gimmicks and inventions," Barbera once said. "Our stories were such a contrast to many of the animated series that are straight destruction and blasting away for a solid half-hour."

The show ran just one season on network TV but was often rerun, and the characters were revived in the 1980s in a syndicated show. Barbera said he liked the freedom syndication gave the producers, with none of the meddling from network executives.

The influence of Hanna-Barbera was felt for decades. In 2002 and again in 2004, characters from the cartoon series "Scooby-Doo" were brought to the big screen in films that combined live actors and animation.

Neither Hanna, born in 1910, nor Barbera, born in 1911, set out to be cartoonists. Hanna, who had studied engineering and journalism, originally went into animation because he needed a job.

Barbera, who grew up in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, originally went into banking. Soon, however, he turned his doodles into magazine cartoons and then into a job as an animator.

In addition to his wife, Barbera is survived by three children from a previous marriage, Jayne, Neal and Lynn.

Edited December 19, 2006 by brownie

[Dan Gould]

When I was a kid, my dad was VP of Syndication Sales for Taft Hanna-Barbera. He had nothing to do with the production end of it, but he was in charge of sales of all of their shows, including a number of live action shows (anyone remember the show that unleashed Patrick Duffy on the world, Man From Atlantis? that was one of theirs). Anyway, as a child I always got a kick out of that paternal connection to those great cartoons, and I especially loved family outings to NYC, when I'd get set up in a conference room with what I now realize was a Beta machine and could watch Wait Til Your Father Gets Home and Dastardly and Muttley whenever there was some down time.

Barbera had a big hand in some of the greatest cartoons ever made, and for that I thank him.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Dan Gould

[sheldonm]

When I was a kid, my dad was VP of Syndication Sales for Taft Hanna-Barbera. He had nothing to do with the production end of it, but he was in charge of sales of all of their shows, including a number of live action shows (anyone remember the show that unleashed Patrick Duffy on the world, Man From Atlantis? that was one of theirs). Anyway, as a child I always got a kick out of that paternal connection to those great cartoons, and I especially loved family outings to NYC, when I'd get set up in a conference room with what I now realize was a Beta machine and could watch Wait Til Your Father Gets Home and Dastardly and Muttley whenever there was some down time.

Barbera had a big hand in some of the greatest cartoons ever made, and for that I thank him.

....would absolutely agree. Big fan for a long time. I've managed to collect several nice and one of a kind animation cells from Hanna-Barbera cartoons, signed by each of them.....very cool stuff. Sad to hear of his passing!

Mark~

[Alexander]

Yeesh. I always thought the Hannah-Barbara cartoons are the worst thing to happen to animation. Formuliac crap sold to kids who "don't know any better." It lowered the bar in children's entertainment to the point where Saturday morning cartoons were peopled with characters who did little more than stand around and blink. I remember those awful racing shows where all of the Hannah-Barbara characters (including the ones who supposedly existed in the past, the future, or what-have-you) participated in a road race. Snidely Whiplash and his sidekick (that dog that did an irritating laugh) would try to sabotage the other cars. Usually Yogi Bear or Jabberjaw or some other character would win in the end. Ugh. The only thing worse than Hannah-Barbara was Filmation.

Now, the cartoons that my daughter watches (ironically quite of few of which are produced by the Hannah-Barbara company) are wonderful. FAR better than the stuff I watched growing up. I love "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," "SpongeBob Squarepants," "Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends," and "Fairly Odd Parents." These shows are well-written, funny, and well-animated. Everything those GODAWFUL Hannah-Barbara cartoons of the 70s and early 80s were not!

'Course, I'm sorry to hear that the guy is dead. Just because he made lousy cartoons doesn't mean that I wished him any specific harm. So, RIP Joe. I hope it was worth the ride.

[Aggie87]

Snidely Whiplash was a spinoff from Rocky & Bullwinkle, and is a creation of Jay Ward (who also did Dudley Do Right and George of the Jungle), not Hanna/Barbera.

You're probably confusing him with Dick Dastardly and Muttley, mentioned previously.

BTW, looks like someone somewhere actually made a Dastardly-Muttley mobile:

And somewhere else, a Penelope Pitstop mobile:

Edited December 19, 2006 by Aggie87

[GA Russell]

"I'll do the thinnin' around here, Baba Louie."

I was an adult before I learned that Babalu was a hit of Desi Arnaz.

I was watching when the first Hanna-Barbera TV show was broadcast. It was called Ruff & Reddy. It was an adventure serial featuring a dog and a cat who encountered the mysterious Mr. Gizmo from the planet Munimula, which is aluminum spelled backward.

Next came Huckleberry Hound with Yogi Bear and Pixie & Dixe (with Mr. Jinx). Then came Quick Draw McGraw with Augie Doggy and I think Snagglepuss. Then Yogi Bear got his own show, and was replaced on Huckleberry Hound by Hokie Wolf, which I didn't think was very good. I don't remember the cartoons on the Yogi Bear Show, as that was about the time I quit watching.

[Free For All]

Geez, I thought at first the title read "Joe Labarbera dies"!

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

haha thats what i saw too!!!

[Free For All]

The voice of Snidely Whiplash was Hans Conreid. I remember seeing him in a bizarre live-action Dr. Suess film called "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T", which was an interesting and strange film. Anyone else see that one?

The voice of Dick Dastardly was Paul Winchell. He also did the voice of Tigger in the Winnie-The-Pooh cartoons. Muttley was voiced by Don Messick, who also did Scooby Doo.

[Epithet]

Haven't yet seen anyone mention what must be his finest creation: Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

[sidewinder]

Geez, I thought at first the title read "Joe Labarbera dies"!

Uncanny. That's what I read too..

[Chas]

The voice of Snidely Whiplash was Hans Conreid. I remember seeing him in a bizarre live-action Dr. Suess film called "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T", which was an interesting and strange film. Anyone else see that one?

Yes , a classic that one , highlighted by the wonderfully imaginative musical dance number in the dungeon ! The clip of it on YouTube doesn't do it justice , as the original Technicolor is poorly rendered .

Speaking of bizarre , I would nominate the Banana Splits as the strangest Hanna-Barbera production .

[BERIGAN]

Yeesh. I always thought the Hannah-Barbara cartoons are the worst thing to happen to animation. Formuliac crap sold to kids who "don't know any better." It lowered the bar in children's entertainment to the point where Saturday morning cartoons were peopled with characters who did little more than stand around and blink. I remember those awful racing shows where all of the Hannah-Barbara characters (including the ones who supposedly existed in the past, the future, or what-have-you) participated in a road race. Snidely Whiplash and his sidekick (that dog that did an irritating laugh) would try to sabotage the other cars. Usually Yogi Bear or Jabberjaw or some other character would win in the end. Ugh. The only thing worse than Hannah-Barbara was Filmation.

Now, the cartoons that my daughter watches (ironically quite of few of which are produced by the Hannah-Barbara company) are wonderful. FAR better than the stuff I watched growing up. I love "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," "SpongeBob Squarepants," "Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends," and "Fairly Odd Parents." These shows are well-written, funny, and well-animated. Everything those GODAWFUL Hannah-Barbara cartoons of the 70s and early 80s were not!

'Course, I'm sorry to hear that the guy is dead. Just because he made lousy cartoons doesn't mean that I wished him any specific harm. So, RIP Joe. I hope it was worth the ride.

Alexander, you seem to be forgetting all the MGM cartoons, Tom and Jerry, Droopy, et al....Surely you wouldn't dream of calling those crappy animation!

Also, I am sure his family would be glad to know that while you wished him harm, in was only in a general way!

Edited December 20, 2006 by BERIGAN

[brownie]

The voice of Snidely Whiplash was Hans Conreid. I remember seeing him in a bizarre live-action Dr. Suess film called "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T", which was an interesting and strange film. Anyone else see that one?

I did. It left enough a mark on my mind to avoid forcing our son to get piano lessons when he was a kid.

He rebelled against the idea and is now an excellent amateur pianist!

I have not seen the film in decades. It probably aged badly!

[Durium]

JOSEPH BARBERA passed away

Joseph Barbera. partner in business of the late William Hanna, parents of Tom and Jerry and The Flintstones passed away

For me and my brother Fred and Barney are parts of my youth.

Keep swinging

Durium

[rockefeller center]

Durium, what's going on?

Edited December 20, 2006 by rockefeller center

[Alexander]

Yeesh. I always thought the Hannah-Barbara cartoons are the worst thing to happen to animation. Formuliac crap sold to kids who "don't know any better." It lowered the bar in children's entertainment to the point where Saturday morning cartoons were peopled with characters who did little more than stand around and blink. I remember those awful racing shows where all of the Hannah-Barbara characters (including the ones who supposedly existed in the past, the future, or what-have-you) participated in a road race. Snidely Whiplash and his sidekick (that dog that did an irritating laugh) would try to sabotage the other cars. Usually Yogi Bear or Jabberjaw or some other character would win in the end. Ugh. The only thing worse than Hannah-Barbara was Filmation.

Now, the cartoons that my daughter watches (ironically quite of few of which are produced by the Hannah-Barbara company) are wonderful. FAR better than the stuff I watched growing up. I love "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy," "SpongeBob Squarepants," "Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends," and "Fairly Odd Parents." These shows are well-written, funny, and well-animated. Everything those GODAWFUL Hannah-Barbara cartoons of the 70s and early 80s were not!

'Course, I'm sorry to hear that the guy is dead. Just because he made lousy cartoons doesn't mean that I wished him any specific harm. So, RIP Joe. I hope it was worth the ride.

Alexander, you seem to be forgetting all the MGM cartoons, Tom and Jerry, Droopy, et al....Surely you wouldn't dream of calling those crappy animation!

Also, I am sure his family would be glad to know that while you wished him harm, in was only in a general way!

I don't associate Hannah with MGM the way I do with, say, Tex Avery. His MGM cartoons were brilliant. Otherwise, I never much cared for Tom and Jerry...

[Chuck Nessa]

Tom and Jerry were decent "cartoons". The H-B stuff that comes later is crap as animation. Might be good tv, but that is far down the list.

signed

"the voice of god"

[Larry Kart]

A tasty drummer. Not too fond of his saxophonist brother, though.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Larry Kart

[Free For All]

A tasty drummer. Not too fond of his saxophonist brother, though.

How about the composer/arranger brother?

[marcello]

Here is brother Pat with that other crazy cartoon character: