Sad news in the world of animation tonight: Joseph Barbera, half of the mega-successful animation team of Hanna-Barbera, died today of natural causes. He was 95.As most people know, Barbera and his partner William Hanna were responsible for creating the most endearing cartoon characters of all time. From their first major creation, Tom and Jerry, they went on to create memorable characters like Yogi Bear, The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo, and Jabberjaw (well, the last one was only memorable to me, I think). Hanna died in 2001, so this is the end of an era.
The AP obituary for Barbera mentioned that his strengths, according to Leonard Maltin, were comic gags and the ability to capture emotion with subtle drawing techniques (never thought HB cartoons were subtle, huh?), while Hanna was good at timing and conveying warmth. Say what you will about how they cheapened animation with their TV cartoons, especially the ones from the seventies; they've inspired many an animator in the last fifty-plus years.
This is one of those "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" type things, but a close friend of mine actually attended college with the grandson of Joseph Barbera, one-half of the famous Hanna-Barbera team who were responsible for most of our childhood memories by creating charcters like Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, and about fifty gajillion others. Google Video has a seven part interview with Mr. Barbera conducted by Leonard Maltin for the Archive of American Television. The entire interview clocks in at about four hours, and I've been watching little snippets here and there. It's interesting to watch, but I find it's much easier on my eyes if I just let the audio play and do things about the house as I listen to it. At any rate, if you're a fan I encourage you to 
Joseph Barbera 
On Friday, January 27 at 9 p.m., Cartoon Network will debut a brand new Tom and
Jerry short, titled "The Karateguard." The short, directed by Joseph "I Thought He Was Dead"
Barbera, will pit Jerry the Mouse against the tenacious Tom... well, it's a Tom and Jerry cartoon for crying out loud,
they pretty much all follow the same basic plot. Tom and Jerry, like most cartoons from that era, were created as
theatrical shorts to be shown before MGM films (much like Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies were shown before Warner
Brothers films). Barbera created the cat and mouse duo sixty-five years ago with the late William Hanna.
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
