Joe Barbera, one half of the creative duo that delighted generations of children with the homicidal spats between a cat and a mouse, the ranger-baiting activities of a delinquent bear and the adventures of a ghost-hunting great dane and his pesky friends, died on Monday. He was 95.
In partnership with Bill Hanna, Barbera gave the world such classic cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones and the Jetsons.
As the hugely successful animation team Hanna-Barbera, it was Barbera’s sketching skill and comic ability, combined with Hanna’s warmth and keen sense of timing which saw the pair conceive some of the best-loved cartoon characters of all time. Tom and Jerry won seven Academy Awards, more than any other series with the same characters.
Barbera died of natural causes at home on Monday with his wife Stella by his side, a Warner Bros spokesperson said.
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”.
Neither intended to go into animation. Barbera, who grew up in Brooklyn, originally went into banking and Hanna, who had studied engineering and journalism, got involved with animation because he needed a job.
Joseph Barbera was born in Italy in 1911 and began his career as a tailor’s delivery boy. He spent the early 1930s trying to become a magazine cartoonist on The NY Hits Magazine, but never managed it.
He first met William Hanna amid the blocks of MGM studios in the 1930s and together they began to bring to life a cast of characters that included Huckleberry Hound and Friends and Touché Turtle.
The cat and mouse format was first attempted in Puss Gets the Boot and earned them an Academy Award nomination. As they continued to experiment, these characters grew into Tom and Jerry, and their argumentative antics went on for 17 years. When MGM closed its animation unit in 1957 the team were forced to go into business themselves. After Hanna’s death Barbera remained active as an executive producer at Warner Bros and continued to work on What’s New Scooby Doo? and Tom and Jerry Tales.
Critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons: “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 … [their] characters are not only animated superstars, but also a very beloved part of American pop culture.”
Barbera is survived by three children from a previous marriage, Jayne, Neal and Lynn. – Guardian Unlimited Â