Many of you will already have seen the news that Jo Barbera has died. What’s odd for me is that as a confirmed Tex Avery fan, and as someone who never really had a passion for the Hanna-Barbera cartoons in general, I find myself more moved than I’d have expected by his passing.
Although I studiously avoided characters like Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, and Snaggle Puss, I made a point of being in front of the television for Scooby Doo (although you’d have had to threaten me with boduily harm to get me to even countenance watching Scrappy Doo…), and Scoob has the honour of being the World’s longest-lived animated TV character, I believe. HB, without a doubt, did a great deal to integrate 20-minute or longer cartoons into the mainstream. Prior to their work, most were “shorts” of three minutes or so.
So perhaps without me realising it, HB were part of my childhood, part of those afternoons (along with Roobarb, Thunderbirds, and Tom and Jerry) that defined my early tastes and made sure that today, many decades later, I’m still watching cartoon and collecting animation.
Thanks Jo, William, Tex, Fred, and Gerry. Your legacy lasts.
“Scoob has the honour of being the World’s longest-lived animated TV character, I believe”
How does that one work? Surely the rest of the gang must be as long lived. Plus, didn’t Betty Boop have a cameo in Roger Rabbit? That probably puts her in the lead…
Hmm, this one didn’t post before that last one. Repost time!
“And of course Hanna and Barbera were responsible for directing all the really good Tom & Jerry cartoons as well (and Chuck Jones for some of the worst, for all his genius). Two decades worth of Oscar-winning cartoons, from 1940 to the late 50s.
It’s strange to look at their early work in Tom & Jerry and contrast them with the stuff that made them famous in their own right. Unfortunately for a large number of people it’s the cheap (but massively commerically successful) stuff that both will be remembered for rather than their entire careers, which have huge artistic merit as well as financial success. “
I believe that Scoob and the gang have the longest period covered by recurring new series and spin-offs. Betty hasn’t had a cartoon show of her own for some time. (Unless, of course, you know different…)
As for the T&J stuff, I never could cope with the Chuck Jones versions of those cartoons. As time went on and the quality degraded, I used to long for the name “Fred Quimby” to appear at the end of the opening credits, a sign that I was about to settle down to 5 minutes of sheer quality.
*sigh*
Still don’t think Scoob wins that one either… I think Tom & Jerry would win that. It does depend how long a gap you allow, but Tom & Jerry has basically been in production from 1940 to 2005, with only a few years off. (1982 to 1990 is probably the longest gap, between “The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show” and “Tom and Jerry Kids”.)
Actually, Porky and Daffy have been kicking around longer and are still in production… Daffy would definitely be a contender, given “Duck Dodgers”.
:)
Ok, you win with Duck Dodgers! 400 years outstrips all other contenders.