Joseph Barbera

[big screen satellite]

the guy Rowson is simply a moron - by just dismissing something as 'crap' with no basic explanation is lazy commentating, and to blame H&B for others in the industry also making 'crap' is simply beyond me... perhaps other journalists will start writing 'crap' comments like his, in the future just because he does...

its true that the cartoons were not the best made, but they were certainly not 'crap' and they do still live long in the memories and STILL bring endless joy to children - my daughter, who is 4, for one, loves Scooby Doo (ok it is the same plot, set, basic drawing designs) but its watchable comic fun, which after all is the point, imo.

Just because someone has died its not fair to besmirch his memory by dissing almost his entire work.

[Sean]

He's ignorant. Right off the bat, he needs to know that THEY ARE NOT "ANIMATIONS"!! Animators don't make "ANIMATIONS" you retard! We make "animated films" or "animated shorts" or "animation"....but "animations" is a word used by people who are ignorant about the industry. Bit of a pet peeve of mine and many other animators.

Aside from that, to pin the downswing of animation through the 60's and 70's on anything done by Hanna-Barbera is equally ignorant. It was a brand new medium, still in it's infancy. It had enjoyed a strong beginning thanks to the novelty of moving drawings, but that soon wore off as audiences expected more from it. Evolution of an art form takes time, and it was a while before the whole industry was able to become what it did in the late 80's and really in the 90's. But in the meantime, only an ignorant moron like Rowson would equate limited animation with bad animation. I've seen some beautiful limited animation on an artistic level, and plenty of it that lacks something artistically still makes up for it through quality content, like a lot of the old Hanna-Barbera stuff. Simpsons are another great example. Or Family Guy. Or most anything on Adult Swim.

If Rowson wants to only see a very narrow definition of animation as being worthy of being considered quality work, then that's his problem, but it sucks that he has to sieze upon the death of an animation icon as an opportunity to spout his ignorance. Of course he also criticizes groundbreaking shorts coming out of "the baleful Disney gulag" in the 30's, 40's and 50's, so what does he know?

Okay...that rant felt good.