Cartoon legend snuffs it

It’s sad that Joseph Barbera has died. He was half of Hanna Barbera, who made the most excellent cartoons that people my age grew up with.

It’s always been odd to me that Disney have a bigger name, when Disney’s cartoon characters were frankly rubbish compared to MGM (who Hanna and Barbera previously worked for) and HB studios later. Really, the most minor characters in HB cartoons were better than any of the Disney characters. Rosemary the telephone operator’s bit parts in “Hong Kong Phooey” were more memorable than anything I’ve ever seen Mickey Mouse do. It’s such a shame that HB didn’t open the theme parks. Disneyworld is excellent (I’m gay, remember) but just how excellent would it be if the characters there instead of being lame arse nothingness like Minnie Mouse were instead Scooby Doo (not Scrappy Do though, which was a serious error), Top Cat, Hong Kong Phooey, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Dick Dastardly and Mutley? Disney, or more precisely Pixar, have come up with some excellent characters in recent years but HB were always in the lead when they were still in the game.

Isn’t it curious how if you were to ask people to name a cartoon character, many would say Mickey Mouse first, even though few will have ever seen a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Something to do with branding I suppose.