Kids

‘Tom And Jerry’, ‘Scooby Doo’ creator Joseph Barbera passes away

Published

19 years ago

December 20, 2006

MUMBAI: Animation icon Joseph Barbera who created popular characters like Tom And Jerry and Scooby Doo passed away at the age of 95.

He was also part of the famous Hanna-Barbera team.

Born in the Little Italy section of New York City, New York, on March 24, 1911, Barbera and his partner William Hanna (who passed away in March of 2001) created hundreds of beloved cartoon characters during their 60-plus-year partnership. They enjoyed one of the most enduring and successful relationships in entertainment history and together created some of the world‘s most recognisable and beloved characters including Tom and Jerry, Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear among many others.

Barbera worked as a New York banker until the 1930‘s when Collier‘s Magazine published some of his hand drawn “comics.” After studying art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Barbera honed his animation skills at the Van Beuren animation studios in New York. It wasn‘t until 1937 when Barbera was hired by MGM as as an animator and writer that he met William Hanna, whom MGM had also just hired as a director and story editor. Hanna‘s precise comedic timing and ability to manage top creative talent were the ideal complement to Barbera‘s strong animation skills and storytelling instincts.

The pair‘s first collaboration at MGM was entitled Puss Gets the Boot, which led to the creation of the immortal Tom and Jerry. The duo won tremendous acclaim in the 1940s when their cartoon cat and mouse danced alongside Gene Kelly in the motion pictures Anchors Aweigh and Invitation to Dance and alongside Esther Williams in Dangerous When Wet. Over the years, Tom and Jerry have been honored with seven Academy Awards.

Concerned by the advent of television, MGM eliminated the studio‘s animation department and, suddenly unemployed, Hanna and Barbera decided to make cartoons directly for the small screen. In 1957, twenty years after the birth of Tom and Jerry, Hanna-Barbera Studios opened its doors as one of the first independent animation studios to produce series television.

The fledgling studio‘s first production was Ruff and Reddy followed by The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958. The lovable blue canine became an immediate hit and won Hanna-Barbera its first Emmy Award, marking the first time an animated television series had been honored with an Emmy. The studio‘s next series Quick Draw McGraw premiered in 1959 and showcased the lanky, Stetson-wearing horse on two legs, ol‘ Quick Draw McGraw himself. The series also introduced America to Jellystone Park‘s most famous bears, Yogi and Boo Boo, and the mischievous mice, Pixie and Dixie.

Breaking new ground became a tradition at the Hanna-Barbera Studios. In 1960, the team created television‘s first animated family sitcom, The Flintstones, a series marked by a number of other firsts — the first animated series to air in primetime, the first animated series to go beyond the six or seven-minute cartoon format, and the first animated series to feature human characters. “The Flintstones” ran for six years and went on to become the top-ranking animated programme in syndication history, with all original 166 episodes currently seen in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone, along with Betty and Barney Rubble are some of Hanna-Barbera‘s most celebrated classic characters and have spawned spin-off television series, specials and feature films. Hanna and Barbera served as executive producers of 1994‘s The Flintstones feature film and even made a cameo appearance. The Flintstones soon paved the way for other primetime cartoons including The Jetsons, Top Cat and The Adventures of Jonny Quest.

Another popular offering from Hanna-Barbera featured a cowardly Great Dane named Scooby-Doo, who eventually made his own place in television history. The popular series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? remained in production for 17 years and maintains the title as television‘s longest-running animated series. In 2002, the character returned with an all-new series aptly-titled What‘s New Scooby-Doo? The popular snack-eating canine has inspired a pair of live-action feature films, and an ongoing series of direct-to-video movies that now numbers in double-digits. As further testament to the character‘s everlasting appeal, the new series Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! currently airs on the block Kids‘ WB! on US broadcaster The CW.

In addition to their animated series, Hanna-Barbera also produced animated feature films including the award-winning Charlotte‘s Web and Heidi‘s Song a full-length animated musical based on Johanna Spyri‘s classic novel Heidi.

After nearly 50 years of making animation magic, Barbera and his partner William Hanna were elected by their peers to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences‘ Hall of Fame in 1994. During his 80s and even in his 90s, Barbera continued to report to his office regularly, taking an active role in the creation of new Hanna-Barbera projects.

In 2000, Cartoon Network in the US launched the Boomerang Network. This was created specifically as a showcase for the Hanna-Barbera library. The cable network airs animated programmes thus bringing the delights of the Hanna-Barbera legacy to new generations.

Barbera wrote his autobiography My Life In Toons in 1994. He is survived by his wife Sheila, and his three children by a previous marriage — Jayne, Neal and Lynn

Kids

Om Nom bites into India as Warner Bros. Discovery picks up the series

Published

1 month ago

January 20, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: The little green hero is making a big leap east. Zeptolab has struck a major distribution deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing its hit animated series Om Nom Stories to audiences across the Indian subcontinent.

Under the agreement, Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired the series for exclusive Pay TV broadcast and non-exclusive digital streaming in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The move marks a significant expansion for Zeptolab as it pushes one of its most successful original IPs into one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment markets.

As part of the deal, all 26 seasons of Om Nom Stories will be rolled out across Cartoon Network, Pogo, Discovery Kids and Discovery+, offering both linear and digital access to the franchise’s slapstick humour and expressive, dialogue-free storytelling.

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring Om Nom Stories to the Indian subcontinent,” said Zeptolab executive producer Manaf Hassan, noting that the broadcaster’s reach and legacy make it a strong fit for the series’ growing global fanbase.

Warner Bros. Discovery, meanwhile, sees the acquisition as a natural addition to its children’s portfolio. Warner Bros. Discovery head of factual entertainment, lifestyle and kids for South Asia Sai Abishek, said the series aligns with the network’s focus on cheerful, imaginative and universally appealing content for families across the region.

The timing adds an extra layer of significance. The expansion coincides with Om Nom’s 15th anniversary, underlining the franchise’s staying power and its evolution from a mobile game character into a global animation brand. With this latest bite at the Indian subcontinent, Om Nom’s adventures look set to find a whole new generation of fans.

Kids

Colour outside the lines Chhota Bheem sketches a new play with Faber Castell

Published

2 months ago

January 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: If childhood memories had a colour palette, Chhota Bheem would likely be right in the middle of it and now, quite literally, in children’s pencil boxes too. Green Gold Animation has announced a landmark licensing partnership with Faber-Castell India, marking the global stationery major’s first-ever licensed character collaboration. The association brings Chhota Bheem to a specially curated range of student art and creative products, blending everyday learning tools with one of India’s most recognisable homegrown characters.

The move is a notable expansion of Chhota Bheem’s footprint beyond screens, reinforcing the character’s status as a multi-generational IP that has steadily grown from a television favourite into a cultural constant. For Green Gold Animation, the partnership signals a sharpened focus on extending its intellectual property into daily touchpoints, where entertainment meets education and habit.

In its first phase, the collaboration will roll out Chhota Bheem-themed products across key student art categories, including watercolour cakes, wax crayons, poster colours, sketch pens, oil pastels and creative bundling kits. The range is aimed squarely at school-going children, tapping into Bheem’s strong emotional connect while encouraging imagination, creativity and hands-on expression.

Green Gold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka noted that Chhota Bheem’s journey has long moved beyond episodic storytelling. He said the partnership reflects a deliberate attempt to embed the character into moments of learning and creativity, while building a more purpose-led licensing ecosystem around Indian IP through collaboration with a globally established brand.

From Faber-Castell India’s perspective, the tie-up marks a strategic first. Faber-Castell India director marketing Sonali Shah said the collaboration opens a new chapter by pairing the brand’s long-standing reputation for quality and safety with a character that already commands trust and affection among Indian children. The aim, she added, is to make creativity more engaging and relatable without diluting product standards.

The launch will be backed by a 360-degree promotional push, spanning digital campaigns, social media storytelling, creative usage content and on-ground retail activations across select markets. Both companies have confirmed that this is only the starting point, with additional Chhota Bheem-themed products across new categories planned in the months ahead.

Headquartered in Hyderabad, Green Gold Animation continues to scale its ambition of building globally competitive Indian IPs, with Chhota Bheem leading the charge. This latest collaboration suggests that the brand’s next phase of growth may be less about what children watch and more about what they create.

Kids

Sony tightens grip on Peanuts with $457 million stake buy

Published

2 months ago

December 22, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

JAPAN: Sony has doubled down on the power of legacy brands, snapping up a majority stake in the Peanuts intellectual property in a late-year deal valued at about $457 million.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan have acquired the roughly 41 per cent holding in Peanuts Holdings LLC previously owned by Canadian children’s entertainment company WildBrain. The move lifts Sony’s ownership to 80 per cent, with the Schulz family retaining the remaining 20 per cent.

The deal brings one of pop culture’s most durable franchises, home to Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang, firmly under the Sony umbrella. The characters were created by Charles M Schulz, whose daily comic strip ran for half a century before ending in 2000.

Sony had already been a long-time partner in the business. The latest transaction consolidates control and sharpens the group’s hand as it looks to keep the characters front and centre across film, television, music and consumer products.

President and group ceo of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Shunsuke Muramatsu, said the additional stake would allow Sony to further elevate the Peanuts brand by drawing on the group’s global reach and creative expertise, while preserving the legacy of Schulz and his family.

President and ceo of Sony Pictures, Ravi Ahuja, said the combined ownership gives Sony the ability to protect and shape the future of the characters for new generations, expanding their relevance without diluting their charm.

Peanuts long ago escaped the confines of the comic strip, cementing its place in popular culture through perennial television specials such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. More recently, WildBrain kept the franchise active with animated series including Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show.

Now, with Sony firmly in control, the message is unmistakable. In an industry obsessed with the next big thing, nostalgia still sells and Sony is betting big on a doghouse that refuses to age.