R.I.P. Joe Barbera
Joe Barbera, co-creator of some of the longest lasting cartoon series ever, died Monday in California. His longtime business partner, Bill Hanna died in 2001.
Co-Creator of such classics as Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, and The Jetsons, Joe Barbera started out as a banker. However his on-the-job doodling led to a stint first as a magazine writer and later as an animator.
Except for the Flintstones, a cartoon that ran prime-time in the ’60’s, Hanna-Barbera didn’t enjoy a great deal of success within the American network television hierarchy. But as The Jetsons took off in syndication, Joe Barbera quickly learned that syndication was the way to go. Scooby-doo continued in Syndication and on Cartoon Network, which purchased Hanna-Barbera through Turner Broadcasting.
Joe Barbera was the jokester of the Hanna-Barbera duo, and his slapstick comedy, simply for the sake of comedy, will be sorely missed today.
Good bye, Joe Barbera.