Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna have a meeting with their alter egos Yogi and Fred. Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation.

Joe's strength was he had a personality that didn't quit. He was accessible, Joe was very hands on, as was Mr. Hanna, especially for men that had their names on the building. They weren't just a figureheads -- they both were very actively participating in the production of every single thing that went on there. I think because they both worked at everything from the beginning, they both weren't afraid, at any point during their careers, to roll up their sleeves and dive in to do whatever had to be done to get the job done well.

and friendly and always cheerful and somebody you would want to know.

Joe taught me that if it's not fun in the environment that we're making the cartoon, specifically in the recording studio, then it's not going to be a fun cartoon. He taught me to have fun making cartoons.

Andrea Romano

You'd have these moments where you'd be sitting in Mr. Barbera's office, and he'd be talking about how hard it was to get a project made, or how there's no budgets for anything, or how no one will listen to you, and I was thinking, "I can't believe I'm hearing the same kind of problems that every producer has, is coming out of this great, out of the great man himself," so it was always cool stuff.

He was breaking down a Tom and Jerry scene for us. He'd act the cartoon out for you. That's kind of common with animators and directors, and usually you could tell which character has more of that person in it. Which character really shows who that person is. But as he was acting this cartoon out, I was thinking to myself, "Is he more like Tom or is he more like Jerry?" But as he acted them out, the things he would go through, as he would mimic Jerry's cute walk, and Tom waiting around a corner for him, it hit me -- he's Tom AND Jerry. He's 100% of both of those guys. And that was really a moment I'll never forget.

Tony Cervone (with Spike Brandt)

He had a mesmerizing way about him, a hypnotic power, and he could just take hold of you - whether you were a reporter or a network executive. He was a very quick study -- a man who could look at somebody and within moments come back with something fascinating to say to them. He figured everyone out real quick.

Yogi Bear was very much like Joe. And Fred Flintstone was very much like Bill. They were both pegged on those personalities. I mean, that bear could just get anything he wanted. Picnic baskets, whatever -- and that was Joe.

John Michaeli

In many place in the world, Scooby-Doo is more recognizable than Mickey Mouse. Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation.

Joe had a wonderful natural talent for humor and the quick sight gag. He was a very funny man. Joe's strength was as a story artist, and as an idea person. He had a great sense of physical comedy, he had a great sense of character.

Joe and Bill were very loyal to the founders of the company because when Hanna-Barbera was at its peak, with like 2,000 employees, you walked around and it was like a Who's Who of Animation. There were animation legends in every room and every cubicle. You could look into each room and it was like a history of animation. There were people that worked at Disney and for Max Fleisher who had worked on Looney Tunes... I feel like everyone worked there sooner or later.

I'll best remember Joe as a man with a great smile, a great sense of humor, and a great sense of camaraderie. Even though the man was obviously very wealthy, very famous, at the top of his industry, he was not above a "how you doin" poke in the arm sort of thing.

It's sort of funny because Joe always talked about what he wanted to talk about. So you'd walk in and you'd want to ask him about a particular artist or production and he would always look at you and say "Let me tell you about how I sold Banana Splits." (laugh)

Tom Sito

He loved the cartoons, even after having done it all those years. He'd still go into a session and he'd just bubble up with enthusiasm. I think his legacy will be the fact that those characters will live on and on. They'll be played back and rerun for many, many years.

Don Jurwich

Joe Barbera was the pitch master. Legend has it that he sold shows on the fly when his original pitch wasn't sticking with the execs. Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation.

Joe's strength was humor. To me, Joe Barbera was the most charming, humorous guy I ever met. He was a fantastic salesman. I used to think he could just tell you his phone number and it would be funny.

Ken Spears

We were having a pitch meeting with Fred Silverman and everyone from Saturday morning and Joe was pitching this show about a bear. So Joe is going on about the gags and the personality, saying "The bear does this" and "the bear does that" and, right in the middle of explaining a gag, Fred says, "I hate bears." And without skipping a beat, Joe says, "Did I say Bear? So the dog comes into the kitchen..." And he sold it.

Joe Ruby

Joe was great in helping me to learn to be a better voice actor, He didn't just says things like "make it bigger" or "louder." He always was character oriented, and he'd always speak about the character -- Jonny wants this, Jonny thinks that. We'd always talk about who the character was.

I learned more just being around him and watching him be the lord of the manor because he was a very generous man, a very sweet man to everybody. It was a wonderful place, a happy place ... and a fun factory that just churned out these great cartoons.

Tim Matheson