Joseph Barbera American animator, animation artist, script artist for film studios Date of Birth: 24.03.1911 Country: USA

1. Biographical Information about Joseph Barbera
2. Bibliography

Biographical Information about Joseph Barbera

Joseph Barbera, an American animator, cartoonist, and scriptwriter, was born in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, USA, to Sicilian immigrant parents. Beginning his career as a newspaper artist, Barbera became captivated by Walt Disney's film "The Skeleton Dance" in 1929 and longed to meet Disney personally. Although the meeting never took place, Barbera was determined to become an animator. In 1930, he joined Max Fleischer's studio, starting as a cel washer before becoming a layout artist. After leaving Fleischer's studio, Barbera moved to Van Beuren Studios, where he worked as a scriptwriter for animated films.

In 1935, Barbera joined TerryToons, the animation division of Paul Terry's studio, when Van Beuren Studios faced financial difficulties. Two years later, he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and met fellow animator William Hanna, with whom he would collaborate for the rest of his career. In 1940, their first cartoon featuring Tom and Jerry, then known as Jasper and Jinx, was released. The popular Tom and Jerry series earned Barbera and Hanna seven "Oscar" awards.

In 1957, Barbera and Hanna founded their own animation studio, Hanna-Barbera, which produced a vast array of television cartoons, including "The Jetsons," "The Flintstones," and "Yogi Bear." In the mid-1980s, the studio ceased operations, and Barbera and Hanna moved to the animation department at Warner Bros. In the 1990s, Barbera served as an executive producer for numerous projects in the animation department. Following Hanna's death in 2001, Barbera worked on the short film "The Karateguard" featuring Tom and Jerry.

Joseph Barbera passed away at the age of 95 from natural causes in his Los Angeles, California home, culminating a successful seventy-year career in animation. His wife, Sheila, was with him at the time, according to Warner Brothers representative Gary Mirin.

Bibliography

- Autobiography: "My Life In Toons" (1994), published by Turner Publishing.
- "Hanna Barbera Cartoons" - written by Mikhail Mallory.