William Hanna

William Hanna was born 1910 in Melrose, New Mexico, where he quickly found he had a liking for music and poetry. This ability carried itself with Hanna until, as a young man, the Harman-Ising studio hired him, where he soon became in charge of the ink and paint department. After Harman-Ising dissolved their relationship with Warner Bros., Hanna decided to follow Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising on their way to other projects, one of which was Hanna’s directorial debut in “To Spring” (1936). It was in 1937 that Hanna met Joe Barbera, who was touted as “a great story man.” The two joined forces soon after the Harman-Ising-created animation division within MGM studios shut down.

Hanna-Barbera’s first collaboration was in 1940 with Tom and Jerry’s “Puss Gets the Boot” and “The Night Before Christmas,” both of which were nominated for Oscars. The next three Tom and Jerry cartoons the duo worked on “Yankee Doodle Mouse,” (1943), “Mouse Trouble,” (1944) and “Cat Concerto,” (1945), won the Hanna-Barbera team consecutive Oscars. When MGM closed their cartoon division in 1957, Hanna and Barbera began their own cartoon company (the name “Hanna-Barbera” was the result of a coin toss for whose name would go first). Since then, Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera were responsible for the creation of more than 300 characters. As a team, they have won nearly every entertainment award possible, including eight Emmys. The duo has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, and given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.