RIP Joseph Barbera

[dragonboy]

Animation legend Joseph Barbera has died at his home in Studio City, California. He was 95. The co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Studios, Barbera was born in New York in 1911 and began his career as a banker before teaming up with William Hanna in the late 1930s to create beloved cartoon characters like Tom & Jerry, The Jetsons and The Flintstones during their 60-year partnership. The pair's first collaboration was entitled Puss Gets The Boot, which became the first outing for Tom & Jerry. Hanna and Barbera picked up seven Oscars for their Tom & Jerry cartoons. The acclaimed animators then created one of the first independent animation studios to produce TV series in 1957 and the hits kept coming with The Huckleberry Hound Show and Quick Draw McGraw. But the duo landed one of their most beloved shows in 1960 when The Flintstones debuted - the first animated series to air in primetime. The show, about a stone age community, ran for six years and went on to become the top-ranking animated program. Other hits for Barbera and his partner included Top Cat, Scooby-Doo and Smurfs, which earned the pair two Daytime Emmy Awards in 1982 and in 1983 for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series and a Humanitas Award in 1987.