This is one of those "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" type things, but a close friend of mine actually attended college with the grandson of Joseph Barbera, one-half of the famous Hanna-Barbera team who were responsible for most of our childhood memories by creating charcters like Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear, and about fifty gajillion others. Google Video has a seven part interview with Mr. Barbera conducted by Leonard Maltin for the Archive of American Television. The entire interview clocks in at about four hours, and I've been watching little snippets here and there. It's interesting to watch, but I find it's much easier on my eyes if I just let the audio play and do things about the house as I listen to it. At any rate, if you're a fan I encourage you to check it out.

[via Cartoon Brew]

Joseph Barbera returning to Tom and Jerry to direct a brand new short got me thinking about all my favorite episodes of Tom and Jerry from the past. The famous duo starred in a ton of cartoons together, so I had to leave a few out. At any rate, here's five of my faves, friends. Grab a stick of dynamite and join in the fun:

On Friday, January 27 at 9 p.m., Cartoon Network will debut a brand new Tom and Jerry short, titled "The Karateguard." The short, directed by Joseph "I Thought He Was Dead" Barbera, will pit Jerry the Mouse against the tenacious Tom... well, it's a Tom and Jerry cartoon for crying out loud, they pretty much all follow the same basic plot. Tom and Jerry, like most cartoons from that era, were created as theatrical shorts to be shown before MGM films (much like Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies were shown before Warner Brothers films). Barbera created the cat and mouse duo sixty-five years ago with the late William Hanna.

[via Cartoon Brew]