Jane! Stop this crazy thing!

December 18, 2006 became a sad day for nearly every baby boomer, and just about any kid who has ever watched “Cartoon Network,” as the news of Joseph Barbera’s passing became public. He was the co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions, the animation powerhouse that produced nearly every famous cartoon show from 1957 to 1998. American pop culture will sorely miss him.

Born on March 24, 1911 in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, he began working for Van Beuren Studio as an animator and scriptwriter. In 1937, Barbera moved from New York to California to work at MGM’s cartoon unit. There, he teamed up with William Hanna, and animation history was born.

Hanna and Barbera had a 17-year partnership on “Tom and Jerry,” the cartoon featuring a cat and mouse, and yielded them 7 Academy Awards, and 14 total nominations. In 1955, MGM put them in charge of running the animation division, but less than two years later, MGM shut it down. Following this, the two formed H-B Enterprises, which soon changed its name to the now-famous Hanna-Barbera Productions. They were the first animation studio to successfully make cartoons for television, and these cartoons were not run-of-the-mill cartoons just made to fill in broadcast time. These were shows that were produced for prime-time broadcast, and competed with the famous television shows from the 1960s and 1970s.

In competing for prime-time slots, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced some of the greatest and most famous cartoons of all-time. Classics like “The Jetsons,” “The Yogi Bear Show,” and “The Flintstones” endure to this day, and even have their own television channel dedicated to them (the “Boomerang” channel). They even had a full-length live-action movie made of their cartoon, “Scooby-Doo.”

With the passing of William Hanna in 2001, Hanna-Barbera Productions was absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation, and the last production of Hanna-Barbera was “Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase.” Even up until his death, Joseph Barbera continued to work for Warner Bros. Animation.

The ironic quality of these two great animators is one interesting fact - neither originally wanted to be a cartoonist. Barbera originally went in to banking. After that, he turned his doodles into cartoons for magazines (notably “The NY Hits Magazine”), and then worked for Van Beuren Studios. Hanna originally went into animation because he needed a job, after studying engineering and journalism.

Joseph Barbera passed away of natural causes on December 18, 2006, alongside his wife in their home. William Hanna preceded him on March 22, 2001, passing away from throat cancer. As the Hanna-Barbera team is now officially gone, let us remember these two American greats, and remember their impact on the millions of children that eagerly anticipated every Saturday morning cartoon. And while you are at it, grab a pic-a-nic basket, and watch the reruns of some of the greatest cartoons made.