Harman and Ising

**Hugh Harman** (August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982) and **Rudolf “Rudy” Ising** (August 7, 1903 – July 18, 1992) were an American animation team and company best known for founding the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation studios. They created and produced many animated characters and series, such as Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Happy Harmonies, Barney Bear, and Peace on Earth. They were also pioneers in synchronizing sound and music to animation, and experimented with various techniques and genres of animation.

## Early career

Harman and Ising first met in Kansas City, Missouri, where they both worked for United Film Ad Service, a company that produced animated commercials. In 1922, they joined Walt Disney's Laugh-O-Gram Studio, where they worked on short cartoons based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes. When Disney moved to California in 1923 to start his own studio, Harman and Ising followed him and worked on his *Alice Comedies* and *Oswald the Lucky Rabbit* series.

In 1928, after a dispute between Disney and his distributor Charles Mintz over the rights to Oswald, Harman, and Ising left Disney along with most of his animators and joined Mintz's studio, which was run by his brother-in-law George Winkler. There, they continued to work on Oswald cartoons until Universal Pictures, who owned the character, decided to start their own animation studio headed by Walter Lantz in 1929.

## Harman-Ising Productions

Harman and Ising had long aspired to start their own studio and had created and copyrighted a cartoon character named Bosko in 1928. Bosko was a black-and-white humanoid figure with a cheerful personality and a knack for music. Harman and Ising made a short demonstration film called Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, in which Bosko interacted with his animator (played by Ising in live-action). The film showcased their ability to synchronize sound and animation using the Vitaphone system.

They showed the film to various producers, but none of them were interested until they met Leon Schlesinger, who worked at Warner Bros. Schlesinger was impressed by the film and hired Harman and Ising to produce a new series of cartoons starring Bosko for Warner Bros. He named the series Looney Tunes, as a parody of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. The first Looney Tunes cartoon, *Sinkin' in the Bathtub*, was released in 1930 and was a success.

In 1931, Schlesinger asked Harman and Ising to create another series of cartoons that would feature different characters and stories in each episode. He called this series Merrie Melodies, as another parody of Disney's series. The first Merrie Melodies cartoon was *Lady, Play Your Mandolin!*, which introduced Foxy, a character that resembled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Harman and Ising produced both Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Schlesinger until 1933, when they left him over budget disputes. They wanted more money to improve the quality of their cartoons, but Schlesinger refused to pay them more than he did before. They took Bosko with them, as they owned the rights to the character, and went to work for Van Beuren Studios, which was making cartoons for RKO Radio Pictures. There, they made two more Bosko cartoons: *Bosko's Picture Show* (1933) and *Bosko's Mechanical Man* (1934). However, they soon realized that Van Beuren was not interested in developing their ideas or characters, but only wanted them to imitate Disney's style. They left Van Beuren after making only four cartoons for him.

## MGM

In 1934, Harman and Ising approached Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), one of the major Hollywood studios at the time, with an offer to start an animation department for them. MGM agreed to give them a contract and a budget of $10,000 per cartoon (much higher than what Schlesinger paid them). They named their new studio Harman-Ising Productions and began producing a series of cartoons called Happy Harmonies. The series was similar to Merrie Melodies in that it featured different characters and stories in each episode, but it also had more elaborate animation, color (using Technicolor), musical scores (using MGM's orchestra), and special effects. Some of the notable Happy Harmonies cartoons were *The Old Mill Pond* (1936), a jazzy mood piece featuring frogs; *The Calico Dragon* (1935), a fantasy adventure with a toy dragon; and *Good Little Monkeys* (1935), a parody of the *Three Wise Monkeys*. Several of the Happy Harmonies cartoons were nominated for Academy Awards, but none of them won.

Harman and Ising also created some original characters for MGM, such as Barney Bear, a grumpy and lazy brown bear who often got into trouble with other animals; and Butch and Toodles Galore, two cats who later became part of the *Tom and Jerry* series. However, they also faced some difficulties at MGM, such as interference from the studio executives, competition from other animation studios (especially Disney), and rising production costs. In 1937, MGM decided to end the Happy Harmonies series and reduce the budget for Harman-Ising Productions. Harman and Ising tried to negotiate a better deal, but failed. They left MGM in 1938, after making 36 cartoons for them.

## Later years

After leaving MGM, Harman and Ising tried to find another studio to work for, but none of them were willing to give them the creative freedom and budget they wanted. They also tried to make some independent films, such as *Peace on Earth* (1939), an anti-war cartoon that depicted a world where humans have gone extinct, and animals live in harmony. The film was widely praised by critics and audiences, and was nominated for an Academy Award, but it did not make enough money to cover its costs.

In 1940, Harman and Ising returned to MGM, but this time as employees rather than independent producers. They worked on various projects for the studio, such as *The Milky Way* (1940), a cartoon about three kittens who travel to outer space, which won an Academy Award; *The Alley Cat* (1941), the first cartoon to feature Tom and Jerry (although they were not named yet); and *The Adventures of Sir Gee Whiz on the Other Side of the Moon* (1960), a pilot for a proposed TV series that was never made.

Harman and Ising retired from animation in the early 1960s. They remained friends until their deaths in 1982 and 1992, respectively. They were both honored with the Winsor McCay Award in 1980 for their lifetime achievements in animation.

## Legacy

Harman and Ising are considered to be among the pioneers and innovators of American animation. They helped establish Warner Bros. and MGM as major players in the animation industry and created many memorable characters and cartoons that are still enjoyed by audiences today. They also experimented with various techniques and genres of animation, such as sound synchronization, color, musical scores, special effects, fantasy, comedy, drama, and social commentary. They influenced many other animators and filmmakers, such as Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Gene Deitch, Ralph Bakshi, John Kricfalusi, Matt Groening, Seth MacFarlane, and Trey Parker.