Hanna

Reference for William Hanna: []

"William Hanna." //Contemporary Authors Online //. Detroit: Gale, 2007. //Gale Biography In Context //. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Born July 14, 1910, in Melrose, NM; died March 22, 2001, in North Hollywood, CA; son of William John and Avice Joyce (Denby) Hanna; married Violet Blanch Wogatzke, August 7, 1936; children: David William, Bonnie Jean. Education:  Studied engineering and journalism at Compton Junior College, 1929-30. Avocational Interests:  Sailing, singing in a barbershop quartet.

Animator, film and television producer, director, and scriptwriter; memoirist. Warner Bros., Burbank, CA, animator, scriptwriter, and story editor, 1931-33; Harman-Ising Animation Studios, Hollywood, animator, scriptwriter, lyricist, and composer, 1933-37; Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, Hollywood, animator, director, producer, and story editor, 1937-57, head of animation department (with Barbera), 1955-57; Hanna-Barbera Productions, Hollywood, CA, founder (with Joseph Barbera) and senior vice president, beginning 1957. Also worked as a structural engineer.

See index for CA  sketch: Born July 14, 1910, in Melrose, NM; died March 22, 2001, in North Hollywood, CA. Animator, director, producer, and author. Hanna was co-animator, co-author, and co-director, with Joseph Barbera, of such television cartoon series as The Flintstones,  a Golden Globe winner, <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tom and Jerry, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> which earned seven Academy Awards, and <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Jetsons. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The duo came together first in 1937 while working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios, where they captured audiences with cartoon-spliced films such as <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anchors Aweigh. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> In 1957 they founded Hanna-Barbera Productions, and in the years thereafter created and drew numerous cartoons. In addition to the dozens of cartoons he developed with Barbera, Hanna's other creative work includes serving as producer of <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Flintstones <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> movie, and as director of such cartoon shorts as <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hard Luck Duck.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Since 1937, when they met and began working together for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios, the duo of Hanna and Barbera has been a nearly ubiquitous presence in the world of cartoon films and television shows. The pair achieved success early with the creation of Tom and Jerry, an ever battling cat and mouse team that earned an Academy Award nomination for best cartoon short in 1940 with their first appearance, in <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Puss Gets the Boot. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Over the course of the next fifteen years, Hanna and Barbera created more than one hundred Tom and Jerry cartoons, garnering twelve nominations and seven Oscars between 1940 and 1952. With the decline in movie-going audiences, Hanna and Barbera moved to television in the 1950s, creating a technique called planned or limited animation, which reduced the amount of original art required for a feature film and allowed for the production of a totally new cartoon on a weekly basis. Their animated television show, <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Huckleberry Hound Show, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> which was the first weekly show composed entirely of original cartoons, won an Emmy Award in 1958 for outstanding achievement in the field of children's entertainment. It was the first cartoon ever to receive this honor. This success was shortly followed by <span class="italics" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Flintstones, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> the first cartoon situation comedy to play in prime time, which aired from 1960 to 1966. Decades of similar successes followed as the market for cartoon shows expanded into Saturday morning and Hanna and Barbera created animated series featuring Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo, the Smurfs, the Jetsons, and a myriad of other animal and human characters to fill the gap. Over the years since its creation in 1957, the production company Hanna-Barbera Productions has developed more than 150 television series, both cartoon and live-action, as well as numerous specials and feature-length films.



<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"William Denby Hanna." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale Biography in Context //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Detroit: Gale, 2010. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale Biography In Context //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hanna was the only son in a family of seven children. Born in Melrose, New Mexico, his family moved to Logan, Utah, in 1915. By 1919, the family was living in California, in Watts. Hanna graduated from Compton High School and briefly attended college. He left college to work as a construction engineer but lost his job during the Depression. His break into the world of animation came when he got a job with Pacific Art and Title, owned by Leon Schlesinger. Hanna learned the basics of the animation process working in the ink and paint department of the cartoon production company. At Pacific Art and Title, he apprenticed under two of the great names in cartooning, Hugh Harman and Rudolph Isling.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1930, Schlesinger merged his company with the animation department of Warner Brothers. Harman and Isling formed their own studio called Harman-Isling Studios. Hanna stayed with Harman and Isling working as a lyricist and composer, and helped create the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Eventually, MGM's cartoon division bought Harman-Isling Studios. Hanna's move to MGM in 1937 would introduce him to his future partner, Joseph Barbera. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Just starting out at MGM, Hanna worked with Barbera to create "Puss Gets the Boot," which introduced a cat and mouse duo that would eventually become Tom and Jerry. "Puss Gets the Boot" received an Oscar nomination, and following this acknowledgement from the Academy, MGM gave Hanna and Barbera the go-ahead to create more episodes. Over time, the Tom and Jerry cartoons garnered a total of seven Academy Awards. Hanna and Barbera also found success blending their animated characters with live action. Jerry danced alongside actor Gene Kelly in the films Anchors Aweigh and An Invitation to the Dance, and both Tom and Jerry frolicked with swimmer and actress Esther Williams in Dangerous When Wet.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1957, the growing popularity of television forced MGM to close its animation department. Hanna and Barbera set out on their own, establishing Hanna-Barbera Studios. Television opened up a new arena for animated series but required a different approach than film. Originally, animated shorts had been made for exhibition in theaters to fill time before or between films; television did not demand the attention to detail that was required for large-scale screenings. Hanna was able to simplify the animation process and save money by farming out animation to other countries. He was the first to use this method of production. Hanna and Barbera were able to combine excellent timing, comedy, and interesting characters with lower production values to create a range of cartoons that consistently entertained.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1960, they launched the first prime-time animated television series, The Flintstones. During the 1960-61 season, The Flintstones ranked among the top 20 television shows. In 1962, The Jetsons debuted. Hanna-Barbera Studios also created such memorable characters as Yogi Bear and Scooby Doo while continuing to develop Tom and Jerry material. Their series Huckleberry Hound and Friends won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming. In total, Hanna-Barbera Studios won eight Emmy Awards, including 1988's Governor's Award, from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">In his late seventies, Hanna's health began to decline. In 1989, he battled throat cancer and in 1990, he underwent heart bypass surgery. Despite his health problems, Hanna kept himself occupied by singing in a barbershop quartet and sailing on his yacht. Hanna also continued to work; in the 1990s, he was executive producer for the feature films Once Upon A Forest and the live-action The Flintstones. He continued to create original cartoon material for the Cartoon Network, including Hard Luck Duck and Wind-Up Wolf. His autobiography, A Cast of Friends, was published in 1996.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hanna died at his North Hollywood home at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Violet, their son and daughter, and seven grandchildren. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Mike Lazzo, senior vice president of programming and production for the Cartoon Network, commented on Hanna's contributions to the entertainment industry in the <span class="italics" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Los Angeles Times: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> "Without Mr. Hanna and Mr. Barbera, TV animation would have definitely taken a different course. They were able to do limited animation without making the characters or the stories suffer. They created 30 years of comedy."

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"William Hanna." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Newsmakers //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Detroit: Gale, 2002. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gale Biography In Context //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.



[]



[]