Joseph Barbera

Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera in 1993
Born	Joseph Roland Barbera March 24, 1911 Little Italy, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Died	December 18, 2006 (aged 95) Los Angeles, California, USA
Gender	Male
Occupation	Co-founder of Hanna-Barbera

Joseph Barbera was a co-founder of Hanna-Barbera and co-creator of the original Jonny Quest series.

General overview

Jonny Quest credits:

• Jonny Quest (1964) - producer and co-director on all 26 episodes
  • The Mystery of the Lizard Men - co-writer
• Jonny Quest (1986) - executive producer on all 13 episodes
• Jonny's Golden Quest (1993) - executive producer
• Jonny Quest Versus the Cyber Insects (1995) - executive producer

Quotes

Joe Barbera: "We haven't had anything where kids can identify with high adventure. 'Jonny Quest' is escapism, the stuff of which daydreams are made."

— September 18, 1964

Except from a 1980s article in Starlog magazine, Barbera comments on the history of Jonny Quest, and the new series:

While mainstays like the Flintstones and Yogi Bear have remained popular throughout the years, Barbera has recently noticed a surge of interest in some less visible characters.

Like Jonny Quest.

Jonny Quest, (COMICS SCENE series 2 #1), according to Barbera, was one of the most popular Hanna-Barbera programs of the 1960s and a syndication success story. But incredible interest in Quest has inspired H-B to produce 13 new half-hour episodes after 21 years of reruns.

And writer/director Fred Dekker, whose credits include Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad (FANGOR1A #66), hopes to direct a live-action Quest. Barbera admits he has discussed the possibilities with United Artists, but nothing has been set yet.

"All aspects of Jonny Quest are excellent," Barbera says. "The cult keeps growing. 1 would say Jonny Quest has equalled The Jetsons in popularity."

Films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Romancing the Stone have helped hype awareness of the adventure genre and interest in Jonny Quest. Barbera is also quick to point out that Jonny came first, "long before Indiana Jones was a twinkle in George Lucas' eye."

And he admits, while Jonny Quest has essentially remained true to its original incarnation, there have been changes in the adventure series. For one thing, new gadgets and weapons have been introduced. There's now more attention being paid to "neater things" like hi-tech airplanes and sea-skimmers which can turn into wheeled jeep-like vehicles on land and zip through forests at 80 MPH.

External links

• Joseph Barbera on the Internet Movie Database
• Joseph Barbera on Wikipedia