William Hanna
William Denby "Bill" Hanna (
July 14,
1910 in
Melrose, New Mexico –
March 22,
2001) was an
American animator,
director,
producer,
cartoon artist, and co-founder, together with
Joseph Barbera, of
Hanna-Barbera (now known as
Cartoon Network Studios). The studio produced well-known cartoons such as
The Huckleberry Hound Show,
The Flintstones,
The Jetsons, and
Scooby-Doo.
Hanna started his career in
1931 when he learned that
Leon Schlesinger Productions, producers of
animated cartoons for
Warner Bros., were hiring staff. He gained his employment without any formal training and soon became head of their
Ink and Paint Department. When
producer-directors
Hugh Harman and
Rudolph Ising left Schlesinger and Warners in
1933 to become independent and produce cartoons for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (
MGM), Hanna was one of the employees who followed them. He co-produced
Tom and Jerry.
In 1936, Hanna directed his first cartoon,
To Spring, one of the Harman-Ising
Happy Harmonies series entries. In
1937, MGM made a business decision to stop
outsourcing to Harman-Ising and bring production in-house. Hanna was among those hired away from Harman-Ising, and he became a senior director on MGM's
Captain and the Kids series. The same year, they hired storyman
Joseph Barbera from
Terrytoons, and in
1939 the two began what was to be a winning partnership as co-directors.
The first cartoon directed by Hanna and Barbera together was
Puss Gets the Boot, which was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject and introduced their most famous creation from this period, the cat and mouse duo
Tom and Jerry. Hanna supplied all the screams and yelps of Tom in the shorts without credit.
Leonard Maltin says that "Barbera's strength was in gags and story development, while Hanna saw himself more as a director, with a solid sense of timing; they complemented each other perfectly."
Hanna and Barbera's 17-year partnership on the
Tom & Jerry series resulted in 7 Academy Awards for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject, and 14 total nominations, more than any other character-based theatrical animated series. Hanna and Barbera were placed in charge of MGM's animation division in late
1955; this was short-lived, as MGM closed the division in
1957.
From here, Hanna branched out into television, forming the company Shield Productions to partner with animator
Jay Ward, who had created the series
Crusader Rabbit. This fizzled, and in
1957 he reteamed up with his old partner Joseph Barbera to produce the series
The Ruff & Reddy Show, under the company name H-B Enterprises, soon changed to
Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Hanna-Barbera Productions became by the late-
1960s the most successful television animation studio in the business, producing hit programs such as
The Flintstones,
The Jetsons,
Jonny Quest, and
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! by the end of the decade. The studio thrived until
1991, when Hanna and Barbera sold it to
Turner Entertainment. Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors and periodically worked on new Hanna-Barbera shows, including the
What-a-Cartoon! series.
Hanna died on
March 22,
2001 at the age of 90 in
North Hollywood,
Los Angeles,
California. He is buried in Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California.
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List of entertainer pairs*
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William Hanna profile from Tom and Jerry Online
