Joseph Barbera

Joseph Barbera Headshot

Animator • Director • Producer • Cartoonist

Birth Date: March 24, 1911

Death Date: December 18, 2006

Birth Place: New York City, New York

One half of the most celebrated animation-producing duos in history, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's company, Hanna-Barbera Productions, created some of the best-loved animated television programming of the 20th century and beyond, including "The Huckleberry Hound Show" (syndicated, 1958-1961), "The Yogi Bear Show" (syndicated, 1961-62), "The Flintstones" (ABC, 1960-66), "The Jetsons" (ABC, 1962-63), "Jonny Quest" (ABC, 1964-65), "Super Friends" (ABC, 1973-1986) and "The Smurfs" (NBC, 1981-89). With Hanna, Barbera began his career with the Oscar-winning Tom and Jerry animated shorts for MGM. When the company shuttered its animation division, the duo launched their own company, striking pay dirt almost immediately with "Huckleberry Hound" and "The Flintstones," their first primetime series. Hanna-Barbera's cartoons, driven largely by bright, simple artwork, clever writing, and memorable characters, led the television animation field until the 1980s, when financial difficulties resulted in their sale to a variety of companies. They rebounded in the 1990s as part of Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network, for which they oversaw such cutting-edge cartoons as "The Powerpuff Girls" (1998-2005) before Hanna's death in 2001. Joseph Barbera's vast output of animated fare over the course of his six-decade career contained so many beloved characters and shows that his position as one of the dominant forces in American animation was assured for eternity.

Born Joseph Roland Barbera on March 24, 1911 in New York City, he was the eldest of three sons by barbershop owner Vincent Barbera and his wife, Francesca. His father's gambling habit left the family in dire financial straits, and he abandoned the family during Barbera's teen years. Though he developed a talent for boxing in his teen years, his chief interest was drawing. He began selling cartoons to magazines in the 1930s before taking a job in the ink and paint department of Fleischer Studios. Positions at Van Beuren Studios, where he worked on a cartoon series about a pair of vagrants named "Tom and Jerry, which preceded his tenure at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cartoon department in 1937. There, he met and forged a close relationship with artist William Hanna, with whom he worked alongside the legendary animation director Tex Avery. In 1940, they jointed directed "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940), which concerned the pursuit of a clever mouse by an energetic if easily foiled cat. The project was nominated for a Best (Cartoon) Short Oscar, which marked the beginning of the long-running and wildly successful Tom and Jerry series.

For the next 17 years, Hanna and Barbera worked almost exclusively on the beloved series, which netted 14 Academy Award nominations and won seven between 1943 and 1952. The characters' popularity also translated into appearances in some of MGM's live-action films, most notably "Anchors Aweigh" (1945) and "Invitation to the Dance" (1955), both with Gene Kelly. Though Hanna and Barbera were the series' creators and chief architects, the shorts were credited to their supervisor, Fred Quimby, who accepted each of its Oscars without inviting the animation pair to the stage. Eventually, Hanna and Barbera would replace Quimby as heads of MGM's animation division. Unfortunately, their ascent preceded the studio's decision to close the department in 1957. MGM had been steadily losing revenue to television, and found that licensing their old material was more cost effective that creating new cartoons. Hanna and Barbera quickly launched their own short-lived company, Shield Productions, with animator Jay Ward, creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle. After this entity folded, Hanna and Barbera launched their own production company, initially called H-B Enterprises, which was soon redubbed Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Hanna's talent for story construction and connections to top artists was key in the creation of their first series, "The Ruff & Reddy Show" (NBC, 1957), which concerned a cat and dog voiced by Daws Butler and Don Messick, who would go on to provide the voices for nearly all of Hanna-Barbera's programs. Though only a modest success, "Ruff & Reddy" proved that Hanna-Barbera could produce quality animation for television on a small budget, and soon led to their first substantial hits, "The Huckleberry Hound Show," which also featured a segment devoted to a scheming bear named Yogi, who starred on his own syndicated series from 1961 to 1962. The program became the first animated series to win an Emmy for Best Children's Program in 1959, and was quickly followed by "The Quick Draw McGraw Show" (syndicated, 1959-1961). When Hanna and Barbera discovered that nearly half of the viewing audience for "Huckleberry" was comprised of adults who were drawn to the show by its wry humor, they decided to expand their efforts to a primetime animated series.

The result was "The Flintstones," a parody of "The Honeymooners" (CBS, 1955-56) that concerned the comic adventures of a Stone Age family. A Top 30 hit during its first three seasons on air, it was followed by a futuristic variation on the same premise called "The Jetsons." Both programs proved extremely popular in syndication, while "The Flintstones" would enjoy three decades of spin-offs and theatrical features while reaping considerable financial rewards through numerous product tie-ins and licensing efforts. By the end of the decade, Hanna-Barbera was unquestionably the most prolific and successful television animation studio in the business, with such series as "Top Cat" (ABC, 1961-62), "Wally Gator" (ABC, 1962-63), "Jonny Quest," "Space Ghost" (CBS, 1966-68) and the live-action "Banana Splits Adventure Hour" (NBC, 1968-1970) populating the airwaves. One of their most enduring characters, the mystery-solving Great Dane Scooby-Doo, would premiere during this period with "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" (CBS, 1969-1972), and like "The Flintstones," would be revived in various iterations over the next three decades.

These and other Hanna-Barbera series followed a basic story formula that revolved around a close partnership between two or more friends, often with divergent personalities, as seen in the relationships between Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy and countless others. The friendship (or friendly competition) between the characters was seen as reflective of Barbera's own relationship with Hanna, which remained close and unchanged for nearly six decades. Part of the reason for their successful collaboration was due to the fact that both men rarely socialized with each other outside of their work; Hanna preferred the company of other animators and loved the outdoors, while Barbera could be frequently seen with other celebrities at fine restaurants or upscale locations. Regardless of their different interests, both men worked together in harmony, complementing each other's strengths while balancing their respective weaknesses. Their compatibility was often seen as the key to the longevity of their business. Despite stiff competition from other television animation companies like Filmation, Rankin-Bass and Ruby-Spears, Hanna-Barbera continued to reign as the dominant producers of TV cartoons in the 1970s. A combination of shows featuring new characters like "Hong Kong Phooey" (ABC, 1974) and "Josie and the Pussycats" (CBS, 1970-72) with established characters from their catalog like "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" (CBS, 1972-74) and new programs featuring characters from the past like "The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show" (ABC, 1975-76), helped to secure their position within the industry. One of their greatest successes of the decade was "Super Friends," which showcased DC Comics' iconic stable of superheroes, including Superman and Batman.

Hanna-Barbera also experimented with theatrical and made-for-TV features during this period, earning hits with the feature-length adaptation of "Charlotte's Web" (1973) and the Emmy-winning ABC drama "The Gathering" (1977). But their grip on the market weakened in the 1980s, due in part to the success of Filmation's "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (syndicated, 1983-85) and financial difficulties on the part of their parent company, Taft Broadcasting, which had purchased them in 1966. As a result, Hanna-Barbera was forced to outsource much of their animation, which affected the quality of their product. They enjoyed some success during this period, most notably with the Emmy-winning "Smurfs," a joint effort with Belgian companies Dupuis Audiovisual and SEPP International S.A. But the end of the decade found the company on the auction block as a result of the debts incurred by Great American Broadcasting, which had purchased Taft Broadcasting in 1987. Most of Hanna-Barbera's animation staff moved to Warner Bros. during this period, leaving the company as a shell of its former self.

In 1991, Turner Broadcasting and the Apollo Investment Fund purchased Hanna-Barbera in a joint venture for $320 million. Former MTV executive Fred Seibert was put in charge of Hanna-Barbera, which soon changed its name to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, with Hanna and Barbera remaining as co-chairmen. Seibert hired a host of up-and-coming animation talent, including Craig McCracken, Seth McFarlane and Genndy Tartakovsky, to produce a slate of new programming, while re-launching established brands like Tom and Jerry and "The Flintstones" in new series. Feature-length versions of "Tom and Jerry" (1993) and a trio of animated films, including "The Pagemaster" (1993) and "Cats Don't Dance" (1993), were box-office failures, but Hanna-Barbera's product received a sparkling new showcase with The Cartoon Network, which launched in 1992. The company's vast library of animated work was introduced to a whole new audience, while new programming, including "The Powerpuff Girls," "Dexter's Laboratory" (Cartoon Network, 1995-2004) and "Johnny Bravo" (Cartoon Network, 1997-2004) established Hanna-Barbera as a viable production house in the 21st century. New direct-to-video movies featuring Scooby-Doo and revived series for "Jonny Quest" and Tom and Jerry, as well as live-action versions of "The Flintstones (1994) and "Scooby-Doo" (2004) also continued to reach viewers.

In 1996, Hanna-Barbera became part of Time Warner as a result of the merger between the company and Turner Broadcasting. Two years later, their lot on Cahuenga Boulevard in Studio City was closed, and operations were moved to the Warner Bros. Television Animation division in nearby Sherman Oaks. Hanna and Barbera continued to supervise Warner Bros. animated projects until Hanna's death from throat cancer on March 22, 2001. Barbera would remain a fixture of the company, co-directing and producing the Tom and Jerry short "The Karate Guard" (2005) and penning the story for the feature-length "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale" (2007), which marked his final work on the venerable franchise. On Dec. 18, 2006, Barbera died of natural causes at the age of 95. At the close of their careers, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were among the most honored animation producers in Hollywood, with seven Oscars and eight Emmys to their name, as well as a 1960 Golden Globe, the 1988 Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and several Annie Awards, among countless other tributes. In 2005, a wall sculpture at the Television Academy's Hall of Fame Plaza was dedicated to Hanna and Barbera. By Paul Gaita

Credits

Scooby Doo och Spökhuset - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerrys musikaliska kaos - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerry i rymden - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Scooby Doo and the Werewolves - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Scooby Doo och vampyrerna - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerrys Food Fight - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Scooby Doo och filmmonstren - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom och Jerrys världsmästerskap - sv.tal

Producer
Show
2016

Scooby Doo and the Sea Monsters - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerrys magiska otur - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerry på äventyr - sv.tal

Director
Show
2016

Tom & Jerry: House Pets

Director
Show
2016

Tom And Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers

Executive Producer
Show
2015

Tom and Jerry: Whiskers Away

Actor
Show
2015

Tom and Jerry: Whiskers Away

Director
Show
2015

Tom and Jerry: Meet Sherlock Holmes

Writer
Show
2015

Tom and Jerry in Space

Producer
Movie
2013

Scooby Doo och snövarelserna - sv.tal

Director
Show
2012

Scooby Doo and the Circus Monsters - sv.tal

Director
Show
2012

Tom & Jerry: Follow that Duck! - sv.tal

Director
Show
2012

Tom & Jerry: Follow that Duck! - sv.tal

Screenwriter
Show
2012

Scooby-Doo and the Circus Monsters

Director
Show
2012

Tom and Jerry's Summer Holidays

Director
Show
2012

Scooby-Doo and the Pirates - sv.tal

Director
Show
2011

Scooby Doo! and the Ghosts

Director
Movie
2011

Tom & Jerry: Paws for a Holiday

Director
Show
2010

Tom & Jerry's World Champions

Producer
Show
2010

MGM Favorites

Director
Show
2010

Tom & Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale

Executive Producer
Movie
2007

Tom & Jerry - En nötknäckarsaga - sv.tal

Executive Producer
Movie
2007

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!

Executive Producer
Show
2006

Tom and Jerry Tales

Executive Producer
Show
2006

Scooby-Doo!: Winter Wonderdog

Director
Movie
2006

Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars

Executive Producer
Show
2005

Tom et Jerry: Destination Mars

Executive Producer
Movie
2005

Tom & Jerry Full fart mot Mars - sv.tal

Executive Producer
Movie
2005

Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry

Executive Producer
Movie
2005

Tom and Jerry Blast Off to Mars!

Executive Producer
Movie
2005

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Writer
Movie
2004

Scooby-Doo et le monstre du Mexique

Executive Producer
Movie
2003

Scooby Doo and the Monster of Mexico

Executive Producer
Movie
2003

Scooby-Doo et les Vampires

Executive Producer
Movie
2003

Scooby-Doo! And the Legend of the Vampire

Executive Producer
Movie
2003

Scooby-Doo! Winter WonderDog

Director
Show
2002

What's New, Scooby-Doo?Stream

Executive Producer
Movie
2002

Tom & Jerry - Den magiska ringen - sv.tal

Executive Producer
Movie
2002

Scooby-DooStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2002

Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring

Executive Producer
Movie
2002

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at LawStream

Writer
Series
2001

Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

Executive Producer
Movie
2001

Tom & Jerry: Största äventyr

Director
Show
2000

Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases

Director
Show
2000

Scooby-Doo och inkräktarna från rymden - sv.tal

Executive Producer
Movie
2000

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

Executive Producer
Movie
2000

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

Writer
Movie
2000

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

Executive Producer
Movie
2000

Flintstones Little Big League

Executive Producer
Show
1998

Yogi's Great Escape

Executive Producer
Show
1997

Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics

Executive Producer
Show
1994

Yogi, the Easter Bear

Executive Producer
Show
1994

The FlintstonesStream

Executive Producer
Movie
1994
23%

I Yabba-Dabba Do!

Voice
Joe Barbera
Movie
1993

Yo, Yogi!

Executive Producer
Show
1991

Tom y Jerry en Su 50 Aniversario

Host
Show
1990

The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda

Executive Producer
Show
1990

Tom & Jerry Kids

Executive Producer
Show
1990

Jetsons: The Movie

Director
Movie
1990

Jetsons: The Movie

Producer
Movie
1990

Paddington BearStream

Executive Producer
Series
1989

Rockin' With Judy Jetson

Executive Producer
Movie
1988

Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School

Executive Producer
Movie
1988

Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose

Executive Producer
Movie
1987

The Good, the Bad and the Huckleberry Hound

Executive Producer
Movie
1987

Ultraman: The Adventure Begins

Executive Producer
Movie
1987

Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats

Executive Producer
Movie
1987

Flintstone Kids

Executive Producer
Show
1986

The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible

Executive Producer
Show
1985

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Executive Producer
Show
1985

Snorks

Executive Producer
Show
1984

Pink Panther and Sons

Executive Producer
Show
1984

The New Scooby Doo MysteriesStream

Executive Producer
Series
1984

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Executive Producer
Show
1984

The DukesStream

Executive Producer
Series
1983

Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas CaperStream

Executive Producer
Special
1982

The SmurfsStream

Executive Producer
Series
1981

Belle Starr

Executive Producer
Movie
1980

Scooby Goes Hollywood

Executive Producer
Show
1979

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-DooStream

Executive Producer
Series
1979

The World's Greatest Super Friends

Executive Producer
Show
1979

Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone

Executive Producer
Movie
1979

C.H.O.M.P.S.

Producer
Movie
1979

Challenge of the Super FriendsStream

Executive Producer
Series
1978

Godzilla

Executive Producer
Show
1978

A Flintstone Christmas

Executive Producer
Show
1977

Blast-Off Buzzard

Executive Producer
Show
1977

The All-New Super Friends Hour

Executive Producer
Show
1977

JabberjawStream

Executive Producer
Series
1976

Devlin

Executive Producer
Show
1974

Super FriendsStream

Executive Producer
Series
1973

The Addams FamilyStream

Executive Producer
Movie
1973

Charlotte's WebStream

Producer
Movie
1973
76%

A Christmas Story

Director
Show
1972

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Director
Show
1972

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Producer
Show
1972

Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm

Director
Show
1971

Josie and the PussycatsStream

Producer
Series
1970

Love, American Style

Director
Series
1969

Love, American Style

Producer
Series
1969

Scooby-Doo Where Are You!Stream

Director
Series
1969

George Jessel's Here Come the Stars

Actor
Show
1968

The New Adventures of Huck Finn

Executive Producer
Show
1968

El joven Gulliver

Director
Show
1968

Wacky RacesStream

Director
Series
1968

Wacky RacesStream

Producer
Series
1968

Yogi Bear & Friends

Director
Show
1967

Sampson and Goliath

Director
Show
1967

Moby Dick & Mighty Mightor

Director
Show
1967

The Man Called Flintstone

Director
Movie
1966

The Man Called Flintstone

Producer
Movie
1966

Alice in Wonderland

Producer
Movie
1966

A Formiga Atômica

Director
Show
1965

Precious Pupp

Director
Show
1965

Tom and JerryStream

Director
Series
1965

Tom and JerryStream

Executive Producer
Series
1965

Tom and JerryStream

Voice
Series
1965

Tom and JerryStream

Writer
Series
1965

The Magilla Gorilla ShowStream

Producer
Series
1964

Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long

Executive Producer
Show
1964

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear

Director
Movie
1964

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear

Producer
Movie
1964

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear

Writer
Movie
1964

The JetsonsStream

Executive Producer
Series
1962

Wally GatorStream

Producer
Series
1962

Yogi Bear: Love Bugged Bear

Director
Show
1961

The Yogi Bear ShowStream

Director
Series
1961

The FlintstonesStream

Creator
Series
1960

The FlintstonesStream

Director
Series
1960

The FlintstonesStream

Producer
Series
1960

Quick Draw McGraw

Director
Show
1959

Quick Draw McGraw

Producer
Show
1959

The Huckleberry Hound ShowStream

Director
Series
1958

The Huckleberry Hound ShowStream

Producer
Series
1958

Scat Cats

Director
Show
1957

Give and Tyke

Director
Show
1957

Good Will to Men

Director
Movie
1955

Good Will to Men

Producer
Movie
1955

The Duck Doctor

Director
Movie
1952

Jerry and the Lion

Director
Movie
1950

Hatch Up Your Troubles

Director
Movie
1949

The Cat Concerto

Director
Movie
1946

The Cat Concerto

Screenwriter
Movie
1946

Tee for Two

Director
Show
1945

The Mouse Comes to Dinner

Director
Movie
1945

Puttin' on the Dog

Director
Movie
1944

Baby Puss

Director
Show
1943

War Dogs

Director
Movie
1943

Dog Trouble

Director
Movie
1942

Fraidy Cat

Director
Movie
1942

The Goose Goes South

Director
Movie
1941

Officer Pooch

Director
Movie
1941

The Night Before Christmas

Director
Movie
1941

Gallopin' Gals

Director
Show
1940

Puss Gets the Boot

Director
Movie
1940

Happy Harmonies

Director
Show
1934