Joseph Roland Barbera
Joseph Barbera is dead at 95. Ah, bugger it, there goes our childhood… Mr. Barbera teamed up with William Hanna to create the ultimate cartoon power duo. Thank goodness and your Cosmic Pillow that Mr. Barbera failed in his banking, playwriting and amateur boxing career attempts. And while you are doling out the thanks remember to include the nameless person at Collier’s Magazine who encouraged Mr. Barbera to pursue a career as a cartoon artist.
And the Who’s Who of Cartoons you may thank Hanna-Barbera for? Heres a reasonable slice: Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, The Smurfs, and The Jetsons.
Said Mr. Hanna who died in 2001: “I was never a good artist.” But Mr. Barbera “has the ability to capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone I’ve ever known.” The Hanna-Barbera collaboration received eight Emmy Awards, including the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Not to mention entertaining generations of us kids all across the globe.
A personal favorite of these ODD folks is The Great Gazoo. Not sure why…perhaps it was the voice of Harvey Korman that won us over.
‘Yabba dabba doo’.
My Life in ‘Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century
Technorati Tags: dead, William Hanna, Cosmic Pillow, Collier’s Magazine, Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, The Smurfs, The Jetsons, Gazoo, Harvey Korman, Yabba dabba doo
