| Barney Bear | |
|---|---|
 The opening sequence | |
| Directed by | Rudolf Ising George Gordon Preston Blair Michael Lah Dick Lundy William Hanna (supervision only) Joseph Barbera (supervision only) |
| Story by | Rudolf Ising Heck Allen Jack Cosgriff |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates | June 10, 1939 – July 31, 1954 |
Running time | 6–9 minutes(per short) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Barney Bear is an American series ofanimated cartoonshort subjects produced byMGM Cartoons. The title character is ananthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepybear who often is in pursuit of nothing except for peace and quiet.[1]26 cartoons were produced between 1939 and 1954.[2]
The character was created forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer by directorRudolf Ising, who based the bear's grumpy yet pleasant disposition on his own and derived many of his mannerisms from the screen actorWallace Beery. The character was voiced byRudolf Ising from 1939 to 1943,[3]Pinto Colvig in 1941,Billy Bletcher from 1944 to 1949,Paul Frees from 1952 until 1954,Frank Welker in 1980,Lou Scheimer in 1980,Jeff Bergman in 2004,[4] andRichard McGonagle from 2012 to 2013. Barney Bear made his first appearance inThe Bear That Couldn't Sleep in 1939, and, by 1941, was the star of his own series, getting an Oscar nomination for his fourth cartoon, the 1941 shortThe Rookie Bear. Ising left the studio in 1943. Three additional cartoons were produced and directed byGeorge Gordon before he too left in 1945.
Ising's original Barney design contained a plethora of detail: shaggy fur, wrinkled clothing, and sixeyebrows; as the series progressed, the design was gradually simplified and streamlined, reaching its peak in three late 1940s shorts, the only output of the short-lived directorial team ofPreston Blair andMichael Lah. Lah and Blair's cartoons had a direction much more closer to cartoons by Hanna-Barbera andTex Avery. Both worked as animators (and Lah ultimately as co-director) on several of Avery's pictures.[5] The last original Barney Bear cartoons were released between 1952 and 1954, directed by Ex-Disney/Lantz animatorDick Lundy. Lundy used Avery's unit to produce these cartoons while the latter was taking a one-year sabbatical from the studio. In the films from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Barney's design was streamlined and simplified, much the same as those ofTom and Jerry.
In the 1941 cartoonThe Prospecting Bear, Barney is paired with a donkey named Benny Burro.[6] Though Benny would only make two further cartoon appearances, he would later feature as Barney's partner in numerous comic book stories. In the 1944 Avery cartoonScrewball Squirrel, Barney Bear is mentioned by Sammy Squirrel as he talks toScrewy Squirrel at the beginning.
Barney Bear would not appear in new material again untilFilmation'sThe Tom and Jerry Comedy Show in 1980. More recently, Barney Bear appeared in the direct-to-video filmsTom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse in 2012 andTom and Jerry's Giant Adventure in 2013.Giant Adventure once again paired Barney with Benny Burro. Barney Bear also made cameo appearances inTom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes in 2010 andTom and Jerry: Back to Oz in 2016.
The series begins with the title character, Barney Bear, usually trying to accomplish a task in his series. He can be a bit lazy, but not too lazy. But he tends to overdo or do his task the wrong way. He also has a hard time going to sleep, but when he finally does go to sleep, he is a heavy sleeper. Mostly, he doesn't talk, but sometimes, he does.
At times, he was paired with Benny Burro, a curious donkey who accompanies him on several occasions, but mostly when he's in the west (Benny never spoke, but he did in the comic books).
Like many animated cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1950s,Barney Bear featured racial stereotypes. After explosions, for example, characters with blasted faces would resemble stereotypical blacks, with large lips, bow-tied hair and speaking inblack vernacular.
In one particular cartoon,The Little Wise Quacker, when the duck kite hit the electricity cables, and Barney's face turned black because the electricity hit him, he rocked the duckling (also in blackface) and sang "Shortnin' Bread".Cartoon Network andBoomerang would usually omit these scenes on re-airings.
| # | Title | Directed by | Produced by | Release Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Bear That Couldn't Sleep | Rudolf Ising | Rudolf Ising Fred Quimby | June 10, 1939 | The firstBarney Bear cartoon. |
| 2 | The Fishing Bear | January 20, 1940 | |||
| 3 | The Prospecting Bear | March 8, 1941 | |||
| 4 | The Rookie Bear | May 17, 1941 | Oscar nominee | ||
| 5 | The Flying Bear | November 1, 1941 | |||
| 6 | The Bear and the Beavers | March 28, 1942 | |||
| 7 | Wild Honey (Or How to Get Along Without a Ration Book!) | November 7, 1942 | |||
| 8 | Barney Bear's Victory Garden | December 26, 1942 | Narrated by Frank Bingman[7] | ||
| 9 | Bah Wilderness | February 13, 1943 | |||
| 10 | Barney Bear and the Uninvited Pest | July 17, 1943 | |||
| 11 | Bear Raid Warden | George Gordon | Fred Quimby | September 9, 1944 | |
| 12 | Barney Bear's Polar Pest | December 30, 1944 | |||
| 13 | The Unwelcome Guest | George Gordon Michael Lah | February 17, 1945 | Although Gordon is often cited as the director, Lah claimed to have also directed this cartoon.[8] | |
| 14 | The Bear and the Bean | Preston Blair Michael Lah | January 30, 1948 | Also supervised byWilliam Hanna andJoseph Barbera | |
| 15 | The Bear and the Hare | June 26, 1948 | |||
| 16 | Goggle Fishing Bear | January 15, 1949 | |||
| 17 | The Little Wise Quacker | Dick Lundy | November 8, 1952 | ||
| 18 | Busybody Bear | December 20, 1952 | |||
| 19 | Barney's Hungry Cousin | January 31, 1953 | |||
| 20 | Cobs and Robbers | March 14, 1953 | |||
| 21 | Heir Bear | May 30, 1953 | |||
| 22 | Wee-Willie Wildcat | June 20, 1953 | |||
| 23 | Half-Pint Palomino | September 26, 1953 | |||
| 24 | The Impossible Possum | March 20, 1954 | |||
| 25 | Sleepy-Time Squirrel | June 19, 1954 | |||
| 26 | Bird-Brain Bird Dog | July 31, 1954 | LastBarney Bear cartoon. |
A selection ofBarney Bear cartoons have been released on VHS tapes andHappy Harmonies Cartoon ClassicsLaserDisc byMGM/UA Home Video in the 1980s and 1990s.
The following cartoons can be found as extras on DVDs or Blu-rays of classicWarner Home Video films of the period:
In 2017, most of theBarney Bear shorts were released on theBoomerang streaming app.
Barney Bear began appearing in comic books in 1942.Dell Comics licensed various MGM characters, including Barney Bear. He appeared in backup stories inOur Gang Comics (1942–49) starting in the first issue; then—from 1949—inTom and Jerry Comics (later justTom and Jerry) and its spinoffs. FromOur Gang #11-36 (1944-1947),Carl Barks took over the writing and drawing of the series.[9] Barks regularly teamed Barney up with Benny Burro; later, the obnoxious neighbor Mooseface McElk was also introduced.
Mooseface was created for Barks byWestern Publishing colleagueGil Turner, who wrote and drew the Barney stories for several years after Barks' run ended.[10] Later, post-Turner talents introduced other characters, including Barney's nephews Fuzzy and Wuzzy. Another artist who worked onBarney Bear was Lynn Karp.[11]
In 2011,Yoe Books issued a hardback volume collectingCarl Barks' work on the series.