Hollywood cartoon legend Joseph Barbera, half of the famed Hanna-Barbera team, died on Monday at age 95, the Warner Bros. film studio said in a statement.
Joe Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera with William Hanna and their company was responsible for producing such memorable cartoon characters as the Stone Age family in “The Flintstones,” the space age clan of “The Jetsons” and ghost-hunting dog Scooby-Doo.
Barbera died of natural causes at his home with his wife Sheila at his side, Warner Bros. spokesman Gary Miereanu said. His longtime partner, Bill Hanna died just 5-years ago. Hanna once commented about Barbera that he could “capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone I’ve ever known.”
With Bill Hanna, Barbera created the Tom and Jerry cartoons, which became a real between the features staple at theaters and drive-ins throughout the 60’s and 70’s. The antics of the battling cat and mouse went on to win seven Academy Awards, more than any other cartoon serial.
The famous team started together at MGM Studios in the 1930s, but found real fame and notoriety with the advent of television creating animated series such as “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” “Yogi Bear,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Huckleberry Hound and Friends.”
“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,” TV critic Leonard Maltin stated.
“From the Stone Age to the Space Age and from primetime to Saturday mornings, syndication and cable, the characters he created with his late partner, William Hanna, are not only animated superstars, but also a very beloved part of American pop culture. While he will be missed by his family and friends, Joe will live on through his work,” Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer said Monday.
Their first Academy Award nomination as a team ocurred after their production of the cartoon “Puss Gets the Boot.” From that effort Tom and Jerry found life. Eventually (after MGM shut down its animation department) Hanna and Barbera created their own production company, and the rest, as they say, is history.
To put things into perspective, if there had been no Hanna-Barbera there would be no “Simpsons,” no “Futurama” and the whole array of today’s popular cartoon programming in primetime. Their adult-oriented “The Flintstones” was the first to find real success in prime-time TV, setting a new standard for future animators to follow. Their influence will continue to be felt for decades to come.
“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.”
Among their Oscar accolades the team of Hanna-Barbera has also received eight Emmys, along with the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Alisa says
I grew up with Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It’s just too bad that a lot of cartoons that are on today don’t have the same quailty of entertainment. Cartoons today have been dumb down. The situations that characters are placed in are sometimes so dumb I turn them off. The Simpsons are the only show that carries on the tradition of the originals. I would love to see the Hanna-Barbera cartoons restored on the Cartoon Network where they belong. Kids today are missing out on those wonderful shows.
Jay Hinkelman says
The classic-era Tom & Jerry shorts had some of the best comic timing of any cartoons anywhere, period. (And to be honest, composer Scott Bradley never got the attention for his wonderful music for the T&J cartoons that Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn did for their Warner Brothers work.)
Terry Bradley says
May you rest in peace. You were a favorite.
Terry