Hanna, William

Hanna, William (Denby)

(1910– ) film animator/producer; born in Melrose, N.M. and Barbera, Joseph (Roland) (1911– ) film animator/producer; born in New York City. Hanna had been working in Hollywood as a story editor, lyricist, and composer since 1930 when in 1937 he went over to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). That same year Barbera joined MGM after having worked as an accountant and free-lance magazine cartoonist. Hanna and Barbera, working with producer Fred Quimby, soon created the Tom and Jerry cartoon characters and went on to make some 100 short cartoons featuring the cat and mouse—winning 7 Academy Awards along the way. In 1957 they left MGM and set up their own production company, Hanna-Barbera, concentrating on cartoon series for television, including The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, and Huckleberry Hound.