Joe Barbera, producer of “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” “Scooby-Doo”, dies
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Joe Barbera, of ‘Yogi Bear’ team, dies
Animation giant was one half of the Hanna-Barbera team
LOS ANGELES - Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95.
Barbera died of natural causes at his home with his wife Sheila at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said.
With his longtime partner, Bill Hanna, Barbera first found success creating the highly successful Tom and Jerry cartoons. The antics of the battling cat and mouse went on to win seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters.
The partners, who teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1960s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” “Yogi Bear,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Huckleberry Hound and Friends.”
‘Consistently superior cartoons’
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.
Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer called Hanna and Barbera’s characters “not only animated superstars, but also a very beloved part of American pop culture.”
The team’s cartoons spanned “the Stone Age to the Space Age and from primetime to Saturday mornings, syndication and cable,” Meyer said. “While he will be missed by his family and friends, [Barbera] will live on through his work.”
Hanna, who died in 2001, 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 Academy Award nomination, and MGM let the pair keep experimenting until the full-fledged Tom and Jerry characters eventually were born.
Jerry was borrowed for the mostly live-action musical “Anchors Aweigh,” dancing with Gene Kelly in a scene that became a screen classic.
Reaching beyond children
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, and Fred’s shout of “yabba dabba doo!” entered the language.
The Jetsons, which debuted in 1962, were the 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.
“Today, Charlie Chaplin couldn’t get his material by a network,” he once said.
Animation giant was one half of the Hanna-Barbera team
LOS ANGELES - Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95.
Barbera died of natural causes at his home with his wife Sheila at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said.
With his longtime partner, Bill Hanna, Barbera first found success creating the highly successful Tom and Jerry cartoons. The antics of the battling cat and mouse went on to win seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters.
The partners, who teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1960s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” “Yogi Bear,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Huckleberry Hound and Friends.”
‘Consistently superior cartoons’
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.
Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer called Hanna and Barbera’s characters “not only animated superstars, but also a very beloved part of American pop culture.”
The team’s cartoons spanned “the Stone Age to the Space Age and from primetime to Saturday mornings, syndication and cable,” Meyer said. “While he will be missed by his family and friends, [Barbera] will live on through his work.”
Hanna, who died in 2001, 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 Academy Award nomination, and MGM let the pair keep experimenting until the full-fledged Tom and Jerry characters eventually were born.
Jerry was borrowed for the mostly live-action musical “Anchors Aweigh,” dancing with Gene Kelly in a scene that became a screen classic.
Reaching beyond children
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, and Fred’s shout of “yabba dabba doo!” entered the language.
The Jetsons, which debuted in 1962, were the 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.
“Today, Charlie Chaplin couldn’t get his material by a network,” he once said.
"Where there is sacrifice there is someone collecting the sacrificial offerings."-- Ayn Rand
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
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I love those cartoons
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
He lived a long and full life. We should all be so lucky.
I think Scooby Doo and the gang were my first teachers and guides into the world of pot and majic mushrooms.
I loved that show!
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
Scooby was the BEST.
"Do you want a Scooby Snack?"
a.k.a hash brownies
i win.
http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
hmmmm brownies *drools*
Going to make up a batch?
Well I hope you share
I have this book with a recipe for "bet you can't say no pecan hash brownies"
Canada. It IS better on top
Seriously, I love Jonny Quest.......only the original run, not the schlock that they tried in the 1980's.
Same here, though I haven't tried shrooms yet.
They always had the munchies...
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