Joseph Barbera (1911-2006) RIP (1 Viewer)

[David Williams]

"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."

I don't think anyone had a more profound impact on my childhood than William Hanna & Joseph Barbera except for maybe Jim Henson. Their shows gave me endless hours of entertainment that still entertain me to this day and for a long time into the future. Scooby-dooby-doo!

RIP, Mr. Barbera.

 

[TonyD]

 

[Walter C]

I grew up watching H-B cartoons, part of what made Saturday mornings so great in the 80's and early 90's.

 

[Lynda-Marie]

RIP Mr. Barbera.

There are SO many things the cartoons you and Mr. Hannah created that were a real source of joy for me!

When facing a confusing situation, I still remember, (though I haven't seen the 'toons in such a long time!) the line from the Quick Draw McGraw cartoon about being "perpluxed and pezzled." Explaining that to friends gets a LOT of laughs, and a lot of discussions about the good old days of cartoons.

I have a friend who is losing his father by inches to Alzheimer's, and my friend's feelings of loyalty to his dad are summed up best by Augie Doggie's line about "my only-est father."

I still laugh hysterically at the Tom and Jerry cartoon, The Flying Cat - it was the expression on Jerry's face as he is trying to convey to his canary buddy that Tom is ACTUALLY flying. Actually, I always loved how expressive Tom and Jerry both were, and I understand that it was based on the facial expressions of you and Mr. Hannah acting out the scenes to help the animators.

About the only thing I dislike about the Tom and Jerry cartoons these days are the deletions of the scenes of the African American lady of the house - call me dumb, but since there were never ANY depictions of white home owners giving her orders to keep house, I was ALWAYS, even as a young girl, convinced that she owned that house, and was just a neat freak like my Aunt Gloria. For years, I thought Hannah-Barbera were WAY ahead of their time in depicting a minority woman as the owner of her own house, setting her own rules, in a time when even white women were not depicted as queens of their own domains.

Again, Mr. Barbera, Rest in Peace - you were one in a million!

 

[Walter C]

I think it had more to do with the fact that she mis-spelled "out", spelling it "O-W-T". I was talking with one African-American woman, and she resented the cartoon because of that, thinking it was racist.

I also remember Fred Flintstone spelling it wrong as well.