American animator, artist, director and producer Barbera Joseph was born in 1911 on December 18 in New York. His parents, Italians from Sicily, lived in a small area called Little Italy.
Walt Disney
From childhood, Joseph Barbera discovered his ability to draw, and at a young age he got a job as a newspaper designer. Once a young man visited a movie theater and saw a Walt Disney cartoon called "Skeleton Dance" there. The plot of the cartoon was simple - four skeletons dance a simple choreographic picture for ten minutes. But Joseph saw the sketch through the eyes of a professional artist and was shocked by the coherence of the movements of the characters and how Disney animators managed to put so much expression into a simple ten-minute cartoon. The impression was so strong that he decided at all costs to meet with the creator of the masterpiece.
Beginning of a creative career
And although the rendezvous with the master did not take place, Joseph Barbera firmly decided to devote himself to animated cinema art. In 1930, the young artist joined the studio of Max Fleischer, a famous animator, where he began cleaning celluloid blanks. Soon, having shown diligence and certain abilities, Barbera became a phase and storyboard artist.
Two years later, the animator moved to Beuren's animation studio, where he began to work as a screenwriter. However, he was not lucky here: the owner was barely making ends meet, and his enterprise eventually had to be closed. The next job for Joseph was the Terry Tuns animation department, where he also had to write scripts.
Studio "Metro-Goldwin-Mayer"
Full-length cartoons at that time were produced mainly only at the Walt Disney film studio, but for a simple artist the legendary production was not available, had to be content with what was offered.
In 1937, Joseph Barbera was admitted to the Metro-Goldwin-Mayer film studio, where he met William Hannah, the animated film director who became a friend and ally of the artist for his whole future life.
"Tom and Jerry"
The first significant project carried out by Joseph Barbera and William Hannah at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio was a multi-part cartoon about the adventures of a malicious cat and a defenseless mouse.
The animated series was launched in 1940 and was created continuously for six years. The plots were exceptionally witty and informative. The popularity of two "friends" - a cunning and absolutely unprincipled cat on the one hand, and a mouse that at first glance can not even fend for itself - began to roll over as soon as the series appeared on the screen.
The Tom and Jerry project turned out to be so successful that the creators received seven Oscars at once. In 1957, the animators founded their own studio under the auspices of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which was called Hanna-Barbera ("Hannah-Barbera"). A new creative education released several series at once, among which were instantly popular Flintstones, Jetsons, Johnny Quest, Scooby-Doo and others.
The Flintstones
He is the second most popular after the TV series "Tom and Jerry", it is a beloved multi-part film about two couples living nearby. Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty. The characters are so colorful that the audience sincerely empathizes with what is happening with the characters. Unlucky Fred always gets into an extreme situation, then he calls his faithful wife Wilma to help. It is felt that he would simply disappear without her.
The Flintstones, Wilma and Fred, live over the fence from their neighbors Rabblov. Therefore, when Fred is at work, Betty often visits his wife, and sometimes Barney, when he is free from work. The neighbors live together, celebrate celebrations together, go on vacation, help each other in everything. The impression is as if it is one family.
The main character of the animated series Fred Flintstone works in career development - he is the driver of a huge excavator. A powerful machine is a good dinosaur that never gets tired and loves its owner very much.
A small town called Bedrock never misses: either Fred Flintstone will be detained by the police, then Barney will be fined. And always their wives will come to the rescue. The plot of the film is really kind, the characters fell in love with moviegoers once and for all.
America's Best Animation Studio
The list of animated masterpieces by 1971 at the Hannah Barbera studio exceeded three hundred films. This unprecedented performance has attracted cartoon specialists from across America. Everyone wanted to work with Joseph and Williams. Many of them managed to take part in the creation of various projects. Multipliers admitted that the work gave them real pleasure, quarrels and conflicts never arose, the whole process took place in an atmosphere of complete mutual understanding.
In 1955, Joseph Barbera replaced the full-time producer Fred Quimby, who led all the films in the Tom and Jerry series, forced to resign due to health reasons. The success of the animator in the new position was undeniable.
Until 1990, Joseph Barbera, whose series have already been watched all over the world, tried together with William Hannah to improve the quality of the animation. Technologies for creating hand-drawn pictures are considered the most complex, but the time-consuming process is more than offset by the colorful image. Artists relied on the contrast of the contour, and this technique was fully justified.
Full-length cartoons began to be released less often, the creators of the series tried to limit themselves to twenty-minute animated films, which were most popular with viewers. Short films were also more profitable.
Longevity of the creative workshop
Hanna-Barbera Studio has been successfully operating for forty-five years, its activity decreased only after the death of one of the founders, William Hannah. The death of a friend and partner was a heavy blow for Joseph: he became depressed and for several years assistants and assistants were engaged in the production of cartoons. Thanks to the established process, the series were released on time, and this was one of the main conditions for success.
In 1992, the Hannah Barbera studio was renamed the Cartoon Network, Animation Network.
Animator death
Joseph Barbera outlived his friend and colleague by only five years. The legendary animator died in Los Angeles in his own house at the age of 91, he was buried in the Forest Lawn cemetery, where celebrities such as Hollywood megastar Clark Gable, king of pop Michael Jackson and Walt Disney himself are buried.