''Barney Bear'' is an American series of
animated cartoon
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
short subject
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s produced by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. The title character is an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
who often is in pursuit of nothing but peace and quiet.
26 Barney Bear cartoons were produced between 1939 and 1954.
History
The character was created for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by director
Rudolf Ising, who based the bear's grumpy yet pleasant disposition on his own and derived many of his mannerisms from the screen actor
Wallace Beery. The character was voiced by
Rudolf Ising from 1939 to 1941,
Pinto Colvig in 1941,
Billy Bletcher from 1944 to 1949,
Paul Frees from 1952 until 1954,
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
in 1980,
Lou Scheimer in 1980,
Jeff Bergman in 2004,
and
Richard McGonagle from 2012 to 2013. Barney Bear made his first appearance in ''
The 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 short ''
The Rookie Bear''. Ising left the studio in 1943.
Ising's original Barney design contained a plethora of detail: shaggy fur, wrinkled clothing, and six
eyebrows; 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 of
Preston Blair and
Michael Lah. These cartoons tended to have a hint of
Tex Avery's influence and more stylized, rubbery movements—which wasn't surprising, as both worked as animators (and Lah ultimately as co-director) on several of Avery's pictures. Avery himself never directed a Barney short. The last original Barney Bear cartoons were released between 1952 and 1954, and
Dick Lundy was responsible for those. In the films from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Barney's design was streamlined and simplified, much the same as those of
Tom and Jerry were.
In the 1941 cartoon ''The Prospecting Bear'', Barney is paired with a donkey named Benny Burro. 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 Tex Avery cartoon ''
Screwball Squirrel,'' Barney Bear is mentioned by Sammy Squirrel as he talks to
Screwy Squirrel at the beginning.
Barney Bear would not appear in new material again until
Filmation's ''
The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' in 1980. More recently, Barney Bear appeared in the direct-to-video films ''
Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse'' in 2012 and in ''
Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure'' in 2013. ''Giant Adventure'' once again paired Barney with Benny Burro. Barney Bear also made cameo appearances in ''
Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes'' in 2010 and ''
Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz'' in 2016.
Plot
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, Barney tends to over-do 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 talk.
At times he pairs with a donkey named Benny Burro, a curious donkey who accompanies Barney on several occasions, but mostly when he's in the west (Benny Burro never spoke, but he did speak in comic books).
Controversy
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 in
black 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
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
and
Boomerang would usually omit these scenes on re-airings.
MGM filmography
Home media
A selection of Barney Bear cartoons have been released on VHS tapes and Happy Harmonies Cartoon Classics laserdisc by
MGM/UA Home Video in the 1980s and 1990s.
The following cartoons can be found as extras on DVDs or Blu-rays of classic Warner Home Video films of the period:
* ''The Fishing Bear'' is on the DVD and the Blu-ray of
''Pride and Prejudice''
* ''The Rookie Bear'' is on the DVD of
''Lady Be Good''
* ''Bah Wilderness'' is on the DVD of
''Du Barry Was a Lady''
* ''Bear Raid Warden'' is on the DVD of ''
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo''
* ''The Unwelcome Guest'' is on the DVD of ''
Easy to Wed''
* ''The Bear and the Hare'' is on the DVD of ''
On an Island with You'' (albeit with fake stereo sound)
* ''Barney's Hungry Cousin'' is on the Blu-ray of ''
Kiss Me Kate''
* ''Cobs and Robbers'' is on the DVD of
''Easy to Love'' (albeit with fake stereo sound)
In 2017, most of the Barney Bear shorts were released on the
Boomerang streaming app.
Comic books
''Barney Bear'' began appearing in comic books in 1942.
Dell Comics licensed various MGM characters, including Barney Bear. He appeared in backup stories in ''Our Gang Comics'' (1942–49) starting in the first issue; then—from 1949—in ''Tom and Jerry Comics'' (later just ''Tom and Jerry'') and its spinoffs. From ''Our Gang'' #11-36 (1944-1947),
Carl Barks
Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...
took over the writing and drawing of the series. Barks regularly teamed Barney up with Benny Burro; later, the obnoxious neighbor Mooseface McElk was also introduced.
Mooseface was created for Barks by
Western Publishing colleague
Gil Turner
Gil Turner (born Gilbert Strunk; May 6, 1933 – September 23, 1974) was an American folk singer-songwriter, magazine editor, Shakespearean actor, political activist, and for a time, a lay Baptist preacher. Turner was a prominent figure in th ...
, who wrote and drew the Barney stories for several years after Barks' run ended. Later, post-Turner talents introduced other characters, including Barney's nephews Fuzzy and Wuzzy. Other artists who've worked on ''Barney Bear'' have been Lynn Karp.
In 2011,
Yoe Books issued a hardback volume collecting
Carl Barks
Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of Scrooge McDuck ...
' work on the series.
List of comics
* ''Our Gang Comics'' (1947) (Dell)
* ''Our Gang With Tom & Jerry'' (1949) (Dell)
* ''Barney Bear Comics'' (1949) (Magazine Management-Australia)
* ''Barney Bear's Bumper Book Of Comics'' (1950) (Rosnock-Australia)
* ''Woody Woodpecker Back to School'' (1952) (Dell)
* ''Tom & Jerry Winter Carnival'' (1952) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M.'s Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #3'' (1954) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M.'s Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #4'' (1955) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M.'s Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #5'' (1956) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M.'s Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #6'' (1957) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M's The Mouse Musketeers'' (1957) (Dell)
* ''Tom and Jerry's Summer Fun'' (1957) (Dell)
* ''M.G.M.'s Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #7'' (1958) (Dell)
* ''Tom & Jerry Picnic Time'' (1958) (Dell)
* ''Tom and Jerry Comics'' (1962) (Dell)
* ''Golden Comics Digest'' (1970) (Gold Key)
* ''TV Comic Annual'' (1975) (Polystyle)
* ''Tom and Jerry Winter Special'' (1977)
* ''Tom and Jerry Holiday Special'' (1978) (Polystyle)
* ''Tom and Jerry'' (1979) (Gold Key)
* ''Barks Bear Book'' (1979) (Editions Enfin)
* ''Tom & Jerry Julehefte'' (1987) (
Semic International)
* ''Tex Avery's Wolf & Red #1'' (1995) (Dark Horse Comics) (appearance as a plush toy bear)
* ''Carl Barks' Big Book of Barney Bear'' (2011) (IDW Publishing)
References
External links
Barney Bearat
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archivedfrom the original on August 27, 2015.
{{Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoons
Animated film series
Bear, Barney
Bear, Barney
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films
Comedy film series
Fictional anthropomorphic characters
Film characters introduced in 1939
Film series introduced in 1939
Films adapted into comics
Bear, Barney
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio film series