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| Famed animator Joseph Barbera with some of his cartoon creations |
“All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination?” – Carl Jung
From the earliest days our ancestors walked this earth they sought out activities during their leisure time to amuse themselves or else divert their attention from the rigors of life. These activities are today collectively called “entertainment”. Whether passive forms of entertainment, such as spectator sports or reading, or active forms, such as participatory sports and social dance, the underlying purpose was basically the same.
As human societies progressed, entertainment forms naturally became more sophisticated to match changing tastes. Theatre, opera and eventually cinema and television evolved from earlier, cruder forms of entertainment. As one might expect, different forms of entertainment were created to suit different tastes. Children, for example, might find a puppet show entertaining, but would probably have a more difficult time sitting through and enjoying a theatre production.
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| Yogi Bear and friends |
Of all the forms of entertainment ever conceived by mankind, animation is undoubtedly one of the most ingenious (at least in the opinion of this writer). Animation is the rapid display of two-dimensional or three-dimensional artwork or model positions in sequence in order to create the illusion of motion. This illusion exists due to the still not wholly understood ways the human eye and brain perceives and processes motion. Animation devices such as flip books, phenakistoscopes and later praxinoscopes were all in use by the 19th century.
With the dawn of the motion picture industry in the early part of the 20th century, purveyors of cinema quickly realized the immense profit potential of film animation. One of the early pioneers of animation was the innovative French filmmaker George Méliès who invented the technique of stop-motion animation, by which a physically manipulated object appears to move on its own.
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| Goggles Paesano at the Indianrockolis 500 |
This period quickly saw cartoons go from a form of children’s entertainment to a recognized art form in its own right. In 1937, for example, legendary film producer Walt Disney released the first full-length animated motion picture, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film was wildly popular with audiences wherever it played and went on to become a classic. Across the globe, pioneering Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein hailed it as “The greatest film ever made!” Ironically, Disney’s wife Lillian had earlier warned him: “No one’s ever gonna pay a dime to see a dwarf picture.”
As mentioned earlier, by the 1960s theatrical cartoons gave way in popularity to those produced for television. Growing competition from television caused a drop in movie attendance, cutting into the profits of theatre owners. One way they dealt with this was by booking feature films only, as shorts were considered an unnecessary expense. This left the gate wide open for television producers.
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| Scenes from Tom and Jerry's "Neapolitan Mouse" |
One technique that came into wide use by television animators was that of limited animation, a process of making cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but rather reuses limited parts of them in succeeding ones. This technique was pioneered by the animators at United Productions of America (UPA) studio originally as an aesthetic device. Later, however, it was used as a cost-saving one. The first cartoon film UPA produced thusly, Gerald McBoing-Boing, won the Academy Award in 1950 for Best Animated Short, giving the medium respectability.
It would be put into wide use on television by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, founders and heads of Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and two legends in their own right. As you have undoubtedly guessed, this article is about one of them, though it is dedicated to all those who, through the use of animated characters, have sought to entertain children of all ages.
Joseph Roland “Joe” Barbera was born on March 24th, 1911 in what was then the “Little Italy” section of Manhattan, New York City (it’s not anymore; trust me). His parents, Vincent and Frances (nèe Calvacca) Barbera had earlier emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily, Italy. His family moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn when Joseph was only four months old. Later they would have two more sons: Larry and Ted. Vincent Barbera was initially successful as a businessman, working and saving his money until he eventually owned three barbershops. However, due to a gambling addiction, he squandered it all away. By the time young Joseph reached the age of 15, his father had deserted the family, leaving a maternal uncle to help raise the boys and provide them with a father figure.
Joseph demonstrated an aptitude for drawing in the first grade. Growing up he would spend hours practicing and honing his craft by copying magazine illustrations. In high school he showed an interest in boxing, winning several titles. After graduating he toyed with the idea of becoming a professional boxer but soon lost interest. In 1935 he married Dorothy Earl, his high school sweetheart.
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| The Flintstones |
Rather than cry in his soup, Barbera took art classes at the Art Students League of New York and the Pratt Institute. This eventually led to a job with Max Fleischer (of Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop fame). The job, however, would last less than a week. He eventually secured full-time employment as an animator and storyboard artist with Van Beuren Studios where he worked from 1932-36. When the studio closed in 1936 he took a job with Terrytoons Studio in New Rochelle, NY.
About a year later the heads of the animation department of Metro Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) caught sight of his work. Sensing a real talent, they contacted him, luring him out to California with an offer of a sizable increase in salary.
By this time his marriage to Dorothy was in trouble. They separated for a time when he went to California. Arriving in Los Angeles, CA, he was dismayed to find that Depression-era conditions there were just as bad as in Brooklyn, and almost returned. Pondering divorce, he relented when he discovered his wife was pregnant. Their marriage would remain a rocky one and they finally divorced in 1963.
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| Scenes from Tom and Jerry's "Neapolitan Mouse" |
The heads of MGM’s cartoon unit put Barbera’s desk opposite that of a seasoned animator, score composer and librettist by the name of William Hanna. The two were assigned to churn out animated adaptations of The Katzenjammer Kids, a popular comic strip at the time and to date, the longest-running comic strip in American history. Each man was impressed by the other’s work. In no time they became close friends and would remain so for the next 60 years. Thus began what would become the greatest collaboration in the history of American television animation!
To say these two worked well together would be an understatement. Each man brought talents to the mix that complimented the other. William Hanna was gifted in story construction and comedic timing. He also had a knack for recruiting top artists. Barbera, in turn, excelled as a gag writer and sketch artist. Hanna once said of him that he could capture mood and expression in a quick sketch better than anyone else he’d ever known.
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| The Jetsons |
The cartoon proved the creative talents of the duo. In spite of this, their supervisor, Fred Quimby, didn’t want them to produce any more cartoons with a cat and mouse theme. They chose to ignore him. This could have caused problems were it not for the fact that Quimby learned producer Rudolf Ising never put any creative input into Puss Gets the Boot, even though he took sole credit for it. Quimby then relented and allowed them free reign. The result was the duo’s greatest creation – Tom and Jerry.
More Oscar nominations (and wins) followed: Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet Please! (1945) and The Cat Concerto (1946). The two friends, working exclusively, produced over 114 cartoon shorts of the famous cat and mouse. Though criticized by some as being excessively violent, Tom and Jerry would be nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning seven, more than any other character-based theatrical series in history!
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| The Scooby Doo Gang |
Undaunted, the two friends eventually formed their own company later that same year to produce cartoon shorts for television and theatrical release. Originally called H-B Enterprises, the name was eventually changed to Hanna-Barbera Productions. Though it got a slow start, Hanna-Barbera Productions eventually succeeded in producing two successful cartoon series for television: The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958 - my childhood favorite H-B cartoon, by the way) and eventually a spin-off, The Yogi Bear Show (1961). A 1960 survey showed to the surprise of many that fully half of the viewers watching The Huckleberry Hound Show were adults. This prompted the duo the following year to produce The Flintstones, a cartoon series about a Stone Age family parodied after the Jackie Gleason series The Honeymooners.The Flintstones would be the first prime-time cartoon series to be a hit with audiences.
Hanna-Barbera Productions soon followed with a host of other cartoon series including Top Cat, The Jetsons, The Magilla Gorilla Show and Scooby-Doo, Where are You? By the 1960s the company was the most commercially successful television animation studio in the business. Their cartoons were immensely popular with television audiences.
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| Scenes from Tom and Jerry's "Neapolitan Mouse" |
One group, however, that did not like their work was animation artists. Due to the lower budgets of television programming, producers simply could not afford to pay out the lavish amounts required to create theatrical animation. As a result many animation studios were forced out of business, putting many artists on the unemployment line. It didn’t help that William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were pioneers in the technique of limited animation. To remain competitive, the number of drawings in a cartoon dropped by as much as 86%! Their detractors accused them of producing junk. Joseph Barbera’s retort was that they either adapt to the lower budgets of television or find new careers. At a time when many other studios were going under, the success of Hanna-Barbera Productions showed they made the wise move. It’s also worth noting that by adapting, many artists who otherwise would have found themselves similarly unemployed kept making a regular paycheck.
Hanna-Barbera Productions was sold to Taft Broadcasting (later renamed Great American Communications) for $12 million in 1966. Both men stayed on as heads of the company and continued to produce new shows. By 1996, through a series of mergers and acquisitions, Hanna-Barbera ultimately became a part of Warner Bros. Animation.
Joseph Barbera’s beloved friend and business partner William Hanna passed away from throat cancer on March 22nd, 2001. Of his friend, Barbera commented: “We understood each other perfectly, and each of us had deep respect for the other’s work.” That fact may have been reflected in the recurring theme of close friendship and partnership found in many of the cartoons they produced.
Though well on in years, Barbera continued to remain active as an executive producer for Warner Bros. Animation, helping to produce such television series as What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and Tom and Jerry Tales. He passed away in his bed at the age of 95 on December 18th, 2006.
The legacy of these two men is seen in the fact many consider them the only serious rivals to the great Walt Disney in the making of animated cartoons. Many of their creations, Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the Smurfs, just to name a few, have achieved icon status. Their mark on American culture is indelible.
*- In 1991 Joseph Barbera met with controversial pop star Michael Jackson in an unsuccessful attempt to have him sing in Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1993). During the meeting Barbera made five quick sketches of Tom and Jerry for Jackson, autographing them. Jackson, in turn, gave Barbera a photo of himself and his niece with the following autograph:
“To my hero of yesterday, today and tomorrow, with many thanks for all the many cartoon friends you gave me as a child. They were all I had. – Michael”
Further reading:
• Barbera, Joe: My Life in ‘Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century; Turner Publishing, 1994
