Joseph Barbera: Difference between revisions

'''Joseph Roland Barbera''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɑːr|b|ər|ə}} {{respell|BAR|bər|ə}};<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/hanna-barbera |title=Hanna Barbera |work=[[Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]] |publisher=[[Longman]] |access-date=August 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819073947/https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/hanna-barbera |archive-date=August 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> {{IPA|it|barˈbɛːra|lang}}; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio [[Hanna-Barbera]].

 

 

In 1957, after MGM dissolved its animation department, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, producing programs such as ''[[The Flintstones]]'', ''[[The Yogi Bear Show|Yogi Bear]]'', ''[[Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?]]'', ''[[Top Cat]]'', ''[[The Smurfs (1981 TV series)|The Smurfs]]'', ''[[The Huckleberry Hound Show|Huckleberry Hound]]'', and ''[[The Jetsons]]''. In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to [[Taft Broadcasting]] for $12&nbsp;million, but Hanna and Barbera remained heads of the company. In 1991, the studio was sold to [[Turner Broadcasting System]],<ref name="TOwife">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article758281.ece |title=Joseph Barbera |date=December 20, 2006 |work=The Times |access-date=September 20, 2008 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903004352/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article758281.ece |archive-date=September 3, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> which merged with [[Time Warner]], owners of [[Warner Bros.]], in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors.

 

==Early and personal life==

 

Barbera displayed a talent for drawing as early as the first grade.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|25–26}} He graduated from [[Erasmus Hall High School]] in Brooklyn in 1928.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|23}}<ref>English, Merle. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102676617.html?dids=102676617:102676617&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+22%2C+1991&author=Merle+English&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=BROOKLYN+DIARY+Portrait+of+The+Cartoon+Artist+As+a+Young+Man&pqatl=google "BROOKLYN DIARY Portrait of The Cartoon Artist As a Young Man"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114174522/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102676617.html?dids=102676617:102676617&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+22%2C+1991&author=Merle+English&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=BROOKLYN+DIARY+Portrait+of+The+Cartoon+Artist+As+a+Young+Man&pqatl=google |date=November 14, 2012 }}, ''[[Newsday]]'', September 22, 1991. Accessed October 22, 2009. "But his most cherished memories are of his days at Erasmus Hall High School, from which he was graduated in 1928."</ref> While in high school, Barbera won several [[boxing]] titles. He was briefly managed by World Lightweight Boxing Champion [[Al Singer]]'s manager but soon lost interest in boxing.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|30–32}} In 1935, Barbera married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Earl. In school, they had been known as "Romeo and Juliet".<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|28}}

 

In 1940, Hanna and Barbera jointly directed ''[[Puss Gets the Boot]]'', which was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film|Academy Award for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject]].<ref name="DreamTeam">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1237649.stm |title=The cartoon dream team |date=March 21, 2001 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=August 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305054753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1237649.stm |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="UPI">

 

By this time, Hanna wanted to return to working for [[Rudolph Ising]], to whom he felt very loyal. Barbera and Hanna met with Quimby, who discovered that although Ising had taken sole credit for producing ''Puss Gets the Boot'', he never worked on it. Quimby, who wanted to start a new animation unit independent from Ising, then permitted Hanna and Barbera to pursue their cat-and-mouse idea. The result was their most famous creation, ''Tom and Jerry''.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|78–79}}

 

 

''Tom and Jerry'' relied mostly on motion instead of dialog.<ref name="APobit"/> Despite its popularity, ''Tom and Jerry'' have often been criticized as excessively violent.<ref name="Sennett">{{cite book |last=Hanna |first=William |author2=Joseph Barbera |author3=with Ted Sennett |title=The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity |year=1989 |publisher=Viking Studio Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-670-82978-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/artofhannabarber00teds}}</ref>{{rp|42}}<ref name="Smoodin">{{cite journal |last=Smoodin |first=Eric |title=Cartoon and Comic Classicism: High-Art Histories of Lowbrow Culture |journal=American Literary History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |date=Spring 1992 |volume=4 |issue=1|pages=129–140 |doi=10.1093/alh/4.1.129 }}</ref>{{rp|134}} The series won its first Academy Award for the 11th short, ''[[The Yankee Doodle Mouse]]'' (1943)—a war-time adventure.<ref name="GuardianObit"/> ''Tom and Jerry'' was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning 7,<ref name="WashPost">{{cite news |last=Pearson |first=Richard |title=William Hanna TV Animator |date=March 25, 2001 |page=C04 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> more than any other animated series featuring the same characters.<ref name="Meshing"/><ref name="CBSobit">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/animation-legend-william-hanna-dead/ |title=Animation Legend William Hanna Dead |date=March 21, 2001 |work=[[CBS News]] |access-date=August 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217232441/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/03/22/entertainment/main281056.shtml |archive-date=February 17, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Tom and Jerry also made guest appearances in several of MGM's live-action films, including ''[[Anchors Aweigh (film)|Anchors Aweigh]]'' (1945) and, ''[[Invitation to the Dance (film)|Invitation to the Dance]]'' (1956) with [[Gene Kelly]], and ''[[Dangerous When Wet]]'' (1953) with [[Esther Williams]].<ref name="CBSobit"/><ref name="NYTt&j">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E6D7143CF930A15750C0A9679C8B63 |title=William Hanna Dies at 90; Created Cartoon Characters |date=March 23, 2001 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 6, 2008 |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506013059/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/23/arts/william-hanna-dies-at-90-created-cartoon-characters.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CNNobit">{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/23/obit.hanna/index.html |title=Animation legend William Hanna dies at 90 |date=March 23, 2001 |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=August 6, 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515161203/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/23/obit.hanna/index.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008}}</ref>

By the late 1960s, Hanna-Barbera Productions was the business's most successful television animation studio. The Hanna-Barbera studio produced over 3000&nbsp;animated half-hour television shows.<ref name="CNNobit"/> Among the more than 100&nbsp;cartoon series they produced were ''[[The Quick Draw McGraw Show]]'', ''[[Top Cat]]'', ''[[Jonny Quest (TV series)|Jonny Quest]]'', ''[[The Magilla Gorilla Show]]'', ''[[The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show]]'', ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'', ''[[Super Friends]]'', and ''[[The Smurfs (1981 TV series)|The Smurfs]]''.<ref name="TelegraphObit"/><ref name="CBSobit"/><ref name="HeraldObit">{{cite news |title=William Hanna; Cartoon scriptwriter with a natural gift for gags and comic timing |last=Kerr |first=Alison |date=March 24, 2001 |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |page=16}}</ref> The company also produced animated specials based on [[Alice in Wonderland (or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?)|''Alice in Wonderland'']], ''[[Jack and the Beanstalk]]'', [[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|''Cyrano de Bergerac'']], and feature-length films [[Charlotte's Web (1973 film)|''Charlotte's Web'']] and ''[[Heidi's Song]]''.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|228–230}}

 

 

The number of drawings for a seven-minute cartoon decreased from 14,000 to nearly 2,000, and the company implemented innovative techniques such as rapid background changes to improve viewing.<ref name="GoldenAge"/> Critics criticized the change from detailed animation to repetitive movements by two-dimensional characters.<ref name="NYTvision"/> Barbera once said that they chose to adapt to the television budgets or change careers.<ref name="Wells">{{cite book |last=Wells |first=Paul |title=Animation and America |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=0-8135-3160-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8YAXkfe__H8C |access-date=August 23, 2008 |year=2002 |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506013058/https://books.google.com/books?id=8YAXkfe__H8C |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|75}}<ref name="Thompson">{{cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Kirsten Moana |date=January 12, 2004 |title=Animation and America by Paul Wells |journal=Film Quarterly |publisher=University of California Press |volume=58 |issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|54}} The new style did not limit the success of their animated shows, enabling Hanna-Barbera to stay in business, providing employment to many who would otherwise have been out of work.<ref name="GoldenAge"/> Limited animation paved the way for future animated series such as ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', and ''[[South Park]]''.<ref name="NYTvision"/><ref name="IrishObit">{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/obituaries/2001/0331/01033100098.html |title=William Hanna |last=Hogan |first=Sean |date=March 23, 2001 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |page=16 |access-date=August 17, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020141718/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/obituaries/2001/0331/01033100098.html |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

 

==Legacy==

 

Their division of work roles complemented each other, but they rarely talked outside of work since Hanna was interested in the outdoors and Barbera liked beaches and good food and drink.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio"/>{{rp|120–121}} In their long partnership, in which they worked with over 2,000 animated characters, Barbera and Hanna rarely exchanged a cross word.<ref name="TelegraphObit"/> Barbera said: "We understood each other perfectly, and each of us had a deep respect for the other's work."<ref name="DreamTeam"/> Hanna once told that Barbera could "capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone I've ever known."<ref name="BBCNewsObit"/>

* ''[[Peace on Earth (film)|Peace on Earth]]'' (remade by Barbera and Hanna as ''Good Will to Men'')

* [[Tom and Jerry#Filmography|''Tom and Jerry'' awards and nominations]]

 

==References==