Joseph Barbera, who, with his longtime partner William "Bill" Hanna, created such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw and Jonny Quest, died of natural causes Monday at his Studio City home. He was 95.
During the 1940s, Barbera and Hanna were MGM's blue-ribbon cartoon directors, winning seven Oscars for the "Tom and Jerry" shorts. After MGM closed its animation unit in 1957, they moved to television, where they created a series of hits in the 1960s, beginning with "The Flintstones," the first animated series in prime time.
By the 1970s, Hanna-Barbera was the dominant studio in Saturday morning cartoons, making shows for the three major networks and accounting for as much as 70% of the so-called kid-vid programming in some seasons.
"Joe Barbera was a passionate storyteller and a creative genius who, along with his late partner Bill Hanna, helped pioneer the world of animation," Sander Schwartz, president of Warner Bros. Animation, said in a statement. "Bill created a landmark television production model and Joe filled it with funny, original show ideas and memorable characters that will stand for all time as his ultimate legacy."
During their six-decade partnership, Barbera and Hanna produced more than 300 series for network and syndicated TV. They also adapted comic books and live-action series and made theatrical features, direct-to-video releases and TV specials.
They sold their production company in 1967 but remained involved in the company's management. In his 90s, Barbera was still helping to shape new projects and was reporting to his office until a few weeks ago, according to spokesman Gary Miereanu. Hanna died in 2001 at 90.
Born March 24, 1911, in New York City to immigrant parents, Joseph Roland Barbera displayed an early aptitude for drawing. Although he graduated from the American Institute of Banking, he intensely disliked his first job at the Irving Trust bank. While employed there, he took classes at the Pratt Institute, Art Students League and New York University and sold cartoons to Collier's magazine.
A screening of Walt Disney's 1929 "The Skeleton Dance" sparked his interest in animation. After working at the Van Buren and Terrytoons studios in the New York City area, Barbera moved to Los Angeles in 1937 to join MGM's cartoon unit.
