Posted on 12/18/2006 3:37:09 PM PST by Borges
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 had first teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1950s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Yogi Bear," "Scooby-Doo" and "Huckleberry Hound and Friends."
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.
"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.
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 become a screen classic.
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 cartoon.
Hannah-Barbera cartoons were not my favorites, but I can't deny their influence (and I still have fond childhood memories of watching "Schooby-Doo"). Coupled with Chuck Jones' passing a few years ago, this is sad news.
RIP
***If they had done nothing but 'Tom and Jerry' they would still be immortal.***
Agreed! But when I saw the first of their TV garbage in the late 1950's the first thing I noticed was an absolute minimum of animation. They were horrible when compared to the old Terrytoons, Woody Woodpecker and POPEYE cartoons.
May our Boo Boo's be happy, wherever they are.
In our hearts?
Tom and Jerry had their moments. Other than that, he was right. The people who laughed at Yogi and Booboo were the people who tapped their toes to Lawrence Welk and sang along with Mitch.
Another cultural icon passes.
RIP, Mr. Barbera.
The animation was less than amazing, but I think people found the stories and characters pleasant and enjoyable, which would explain the popularity.
Bugs, like the other Warner Bros. animated characters, was born before television. Later, they were adapted to TV - but the early short animated features always had a bit more polish than later work. In effect, Warner tried to cash in on Hanna-Barbera's television success.
I never took a liking to H-B's later work, such as Jabberjaw (despite the obvious bow to Curly Howard) and Hong Kong Phooey. IMO, those did not represent the animators at the top of their game. Entertaining, yes - but a bit sub-par.
I do hope that since Warner Bros. absorbed H-B a few years ago, that they'll do a "tribute" to Messrs. Hanna and Barbera, similar to the one they issued as an "animation cel" back around 1990 after Mel Blanc died. The first time I saw "Speechless" was in the front display window of a Warner Bros. store in a local shopping mall. Dang thing nearly made me cry.
That's a great pic! I forgot all about Hong Kong Phooey. "Hong Kong Phooey quicker than the human eye..."
****but Hanna Barbera defined TV animation in the Sixties and Seventies. ***
Cheap crap stilted "animation" if you can call it that.
the early 1950's cartoons were much better. They were animated! Mighty Mouse, Terrytoons, woody Woodpecker, Popeye, and of course, Disney. They made saturday morning TV watchable.
Then this Hanna-Barbera crap started and animation went to hell in a handbasket. I was only 10 years old and I knew "something" was wrong with the H-B Crap when I first saw it.
***The animation was less than amazing, but I think people found the stories and characters pleasant and enjoyable, which would explain the popularity.***
could be. Then H-B took over almost all the cartoon shows and that is all many ever saw or related too. They wouldn't know good animation if it came up and kicked them in the A$$.
You are right. I wondered who peed in Ruy's Wheaties this morning.
My father never stopped saying, "Smarter than the average bear." The repetitions were so funny and easy to copy.
Yogi Bear was family time, laugh time, so I remember it fondly. The animations were crude, but not as crude as South Park. They managed to make us laugh without anal probes and killing Carter every week.
Yes the animation stank but the first generation of cartoon classics were made for movie theaters. It doesn't take anything away from Hanna-Barbera's characters.
That wouldn't get made today, lol!
***It doesn't take anything away from Hanna-Barbera's characters.***
Moose and squirel were better. Better animation. Much better story lines.
For me, the Seventies were really defined by Syd and Marty Kroft. Those guys were geniuses.
Well, many better animated cartoons are more well-known than Hannah-Barbera stuff. Though I think older Fleischer cartoons are criminally underrated.
This past weekend, I saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert here in Dallas. One of the closing numbers was a "duel" between the two keyboard players. It jumped back and forth between classical pieces and modern compositions, then culminated with both of them playing Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. You could hear the words "Bugs Bunny" ripple through the crowd, despite the volume level of the music.
Everyone recognized the piece from "Rhapsody Rabbit". I wonder how many people heard that amazing piece of music because the animators chose it to add flavor to fifteen minutes of video?
Most of that opinion is based on the Smurfs (my first attempt at amateur psychoanalysis of a cartoon or other public media)
There were only two smurf characters that had gender ... Papa and Smurfette ... all the rest had names pertaining to whatever guild they were a member of, Carpenter Smurf, Policeman Smurf, etc.
In my amateurnish way, I saw the subliminal message of a large family ... one old guy, his young chick breeder and all the little ones resulting from.
Though none of Hanna-Barbera cartoons were especially interesting to me (Tom and Jerry were about the most violent cartoon characters ever produced and the mouse, in reality, almost always loses to the hunter cat ... Jerry generally makes a shmuck out of Tom) ... I did enjoy Ralph, Alice, Ed and Trixie in the Honeymooners ... I mean ... um ... The Flintstones.
Great pic of all the Hanna-Barbera characters. I grew up with all of them on Saturday mornings. Johnny Quest was my favorite. Who knew then that when we grew up Johnny's friend "Haji" would be taking my job to India!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.