Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Joe Barbera R.I.P.

I'm sure everyone's heard the terrible news that Joe Barbera has passed away.

I think my favorite memory of Joe was reading how kids would go up to him with pictures they drew of Tom & Jerry, Huck, Yogi, and Fred for him to sign... Sometimes they brought Bugs. In a world where a lot of "animators" would flip out if you brought them a competitor's product for them to sign, it takes a real man to just let it go.

Some day I might go on in great detail on why I love the Tom & Jerry series so much, but for right now a few clips over the next few days will do.

It's probably no surprise that Ray Patterson is one of my favorite animators, but I don't think his animation would be as great without Bill and Joe's direction. (Actually, that's true - his animation at Columbia in the early 40s and on Lundy's MGM shorts is great, but his best work was on the Tom & Jerrys.)

Here's a clip from one of my very favorite Tom & Jerry shorts. Moments like this separate good from great animation.

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Texas Tom
Uploaded by thadk

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