Joseph Barbera
Television Animation / Creator/ Producer
About This Interview
Joseph Barbera (1911-2006) was interviewed for three-and-a-half hours in Studio City, CA. Barbera discussed his start as a young animator at the Van Beuren Studios in New York, before his move to California and MGM's cartoon studio. He recalled working for executive Fred Quimby, and his eventual partnership with William Hanna at MGM. This collaboration with Hanna ultimately led to their own cartoon production company, and Barbera shared many stories about the creation of some of their more memorable characters, including: "Tom and Jerry," "Yogi Bear," "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," and the "Smurfs." B-roll consisted of a few Hanna-Barbera related photos including an early studio still with Daws Butler, Don Messick, William Hanna, and Joe Barbera. The interview was conducted by Leonard Maltin on February 26, 1997.
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Highlights
Joseph Barbera on the creation of The Flintstones, and its comparison to The Honeymooners (02m 44s)- Joseph Barbera on Hanna-Barbera’s cost-cutting technique of “limited animation” (01m 11s)
- Joseph Barbera on hiring a Honeymooners writer for The Flintstones (both Herbert Finn and Sydney Zelinka wrote for both), only to discover the unsuitability of the scripts (00m 52s)
- Joseph Barbera on his contribution to his partnership with William Hanna (01m 18s)
- Joseph Barbera on merchandising The Flintstones' “Pebbles” doll (00m 53s)
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his early years and education.
- Chapter 2
- On his early work as an animator; on the differences between Walt Disney and Warner Bros. animation.
- Chapter 3
- On the formation of his partnership with William Hanna; on their work on Tom and Jerry; on selling Ruff and Ready, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi; on theme songs
- Chapter 4
- Full Chapter Four
- Chapter 5
- On the creation of Jonny Quest, and The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo; the sale of the company; producing Charlotte's Web
- Chapter 6
- On The Smurfs, The Jetsons, and Jonny Quest; on the live-action TV movie T he Gathering; on contemporary animation
- Chapter 7
- On the highlights of his career; on his thoughts on Walt Disney, Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, and others.
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lol joe barbara's response to everything, Oh yeah! lmao. Judge: did you kill this girl Joe Barbera: Oh yeah! lmao. jk.
tom and jerry
Leonard, you are a hero for doing this interview and allowing him to take his time and go on tangents telling fun stories, so we can hear real history from a true animation legend. THANK YOU!
He doesn't look 86 on here.
R.I.P.
Joe Barbera
301 views??? Folks this is compelling stuff - obviously I'm in the minority here :)
I wish the interviewer had asked him about Penny Singleton and Janet Waldo.
I always wondered what Joe's thoughts on the Flintstones movie was.
omg this is too cool
legend
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