Harman and Ising
| File:Looney tune cartoon.png | |
| Industry | Animation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1929 |
| Founders | Hugh Harman Rudolf Ising |
| Defunct | Template:End date and age |
| Fate | Absorbed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Successors | Studio: MGM Cartoons Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons Library: Warner Bros. (via Turner Entertainment Co.) (Happy Harmonies exclusively) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Animated theatrical short films |
| Owner | Loew's, Inc. (1934–1938) |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Pictures (1929–1933) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1934–1938) |
The American animation duo, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, were instrumental in establishing the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation divisions. Formed in 1929 under the name Harman-Ising Productions, they were responsible for creating Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Leon Schlesinger between 1930 and 1933. Subsequently, from 1934 until 1938, they developed the Happy Harmonies series, during which time William Hanna was among their staff.
Early history
Harman and Ising initiated their careers in animation in 1922 at Walt Disney's Laugh-O-Gram Studio located in Kansas City. Following Disney’s move to California, both briefly explored other opportunities before returning in 1925 to contribute to the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit projects. In 1927, Ising was released from his position after Disney secured a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures. Throughout this period, Harman and Ising crafted a unique animation style that would later be closely linked with Disney’s work.
When producer Charles Mintz ended his association with Disney, most animators, including Harman and Ising, transferred to Mintz’s new enterprise producing Oswald cartoons under George Winkler’s oversight. Their creations during 1928-29 exhibited the hallmark style that would come to define their subsequent Warner Bros. productions. By late 1929, Universal Pictures replaced Mintz’s studio with Walter Lantz’s for Oswald cartoons, resulting in Harman and Ising becoming unemployed.
Warner Bros. and Van Beuren
The entrepreneurial founders Harman and Ising created the animated character Bosko in 1928. After departing from Winkler’s studio, they established Harman-Ising Productions, drawing numerous animators from both Disney and Winkler studios. Their Bosko demonstration film Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid captured the attention of Warner Bros. executive Leon Schlesinger, who contracted them to produce the Looney Tunes series starring Bosko. Their debut theatrical short, Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930), achieved commercial success. While Harman took charge of directing Looney Tunes, Ising oversaw Merrie Melodies, which concentrated on standalone narratives.
In 1933, following disagreements over budgetary matters with Schlesinger, Harman and Ising exited Warner Bros. and entered into an agreement with Van Beuren Studios to create the Cubby Bear series for RKO Radio Pictures. They completed two cartoons before a contractual conflict terminated their collaboration. They maintained ownership of a third cartoon, which they released during the 1940s.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In 1934, Harman and Ising secured a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to develop the Happy Harmonies cartoon series. They retained ownership of Bosko and occasionally included him, continuing their previous division of labor: Harman focused on Bosko shorts, while Ising handled standalone cartoons. In 1935, Harman redesigned Bosko to resemble a recognizable African-American child, which ultimately resulted in the character's discontinuation. Their efforts to introduce new flagship characters for MGM were unsuccessful, as their musically oriented shorts consistently exceeded budget limits. By 1937, MGM terminated their contracts and created an in-house animation department under the leadership of Fred Quimby.
Following this dismissal, Harman and Ising worked as freelancers, assisting Walt Disney during delays in producing Snow White and creating Merbabies for Disney’s Silly Symphonies series. However, Disney abandoned plans for further collaborations due to distribution constraints imposed by RKO; consequently, Harman and Ising sold these cartoons to MGM. Quimby rehired them, and during this period Ising developed MGM’s character Barney Bear, modeled after himself.
Harman’s 1939 production Peace on Earth, a moral narrative addressing humanity’s destructive tendencies, received an Academy Award nomination. In 1940, Ising produced the first cartoon by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Puss Gets the Boot, which introduced characters that would evolve into Tom and Jerry. Despite receiving credit, Barbera noted Ising had little direct involvement in this project. That same year, Ising’s The Milky Way won an Academy Award—the first short to do so outside of Disney—highlighting their ongoing creative impact despite limited output from MGM under their supervision.
In 1941, Harman departed MGM to establish a new studio with former Disney artist Mel Shaw, while Ising stayed until 1942 before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces’ animation division.
Later career and legacy
By 1951, Harman and Ising reunited to produce industrial and commercial films, including "Good Wrinkles" for the California prune industry. Additionally, Harman freelanced and wrote the 1954 Woody Woodpecker short Convict Concerto for Walter Lantz.
In 1960, they created a pilot episode for a television cartoon series titled The Adventures of Sir Gee Whiz on the Other Side of the Moon, which was never picked up. Rudy Ising provided the voice for the main character. Following this project, both men retired from animation work.
Although frequently labeled as imitators of Disney, Harman and Ising sought to craft refined cartoons distinguished by superior quality rather than imitation. Their emphasis on high production standards often led to disputes with producers and restricted their ability to develop lasting characters. Nevertheless, they founded studios that eventually generated iconic animated figures.
Ising and Harman were portrayed by David Henrie and Hunter Gomez respectively in the feature film Walt Before Mickey.