The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and other Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters continue to frolic about in a world devoid of logical consequences, but the animator who created them, Ed Benedict, has been dead for more than a month, the Associated Press reports (link via The Beat).
Benedict died in his sleep Aug. 28 in Auburn in northern California, his longtime friend and fellow animator David Sheldon confirmed Tuesday. "He was quite an interesting fellow, that's for sure," Sheldon said. "He was the main character designer for all the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw."
Benedict, who worked at MGM, Universal and other studios on short, theatrical cartoons, joined Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera soon after the pair launched their groundbreaking Hanna-Barbera TV animation studio in the late 1950s. Among his many designs for them were the characters for their first series, 1957's The Ruff & Reddy Show.
The story also points out that in The Flintstones, Benedict created a visual world aimed at both adults and children. There's no word on why it took so long for news of Benedict's death to come out, but he probably wouldn't want you to mourn. Whatever your age, just raise a humongous rack of ribs to his memory, and for God's sake avoid the 1994 John Goodman-Rick Moranis live-action Flintstones movie.