Cartoon-Animation World loses a Legend

The producer of lovable cartoon characters like Tom & Jerry, Flintstones, Scooby Doo and the equal partner of Hanna-Barbera animation team, Joseph Barbera expired on Monday at the age of 95 at his home. He died of natural causes. He is survived by his wife, Sheila and children Jayne, Neal, and Lynn from his previous marriage.

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."

Their production, The Tom and Jerry series that were based on the fights between a cat and a mouse created a record by winning seven Academy Awards.

Both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera worked at MGM, and started their production in 1930s, and had their way up with their animated characters like Scooby Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and so. Their skills of blending the comic gags, skilled drawing, warmth, and sense of timing gave birth to superior animated comedies that became the favorite for people of all ages throughout the world.

The cat and the mouse were first teamed in “Puss gets the Boot”, which led to the various experiments with this pair with successful results.

"From the Stone Age to the Space Age and from prime time 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, the recipient of eight Emmys, including the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1988, did not set out to be a cartoonist, nor did Joe Barbera. Barbera took up his career in banking; however, his like for magazines cartoons took him into its charm, and made him an animator. Hanna, a student of journalism and engineering went into the animation field as he needed a job to survive.

A friend, colleague and Warner animation President Sander Schwartz considered Joe Barbera as a passionate story teller and genius creator, who along with his partner William Hanna pioneered the animation world. He felt that their contributions to the television and animation fields had no parallels.

Barbera felt that syndication gave lot of freedom to the producers without the network executives poking their noses in it.

Funeral arrangements of Joseph Barbera are still pending.