Biographies

Hugh Harman Born: August 31, 1908, Pagosa Springs, Colorado Died: November 25, 1982 Image: [JC]

Rudolf Ising Born: August 7, 1903 Died: July 18, 1992, Newport Beach, California; (cancer) Image: [JC]

Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Harman and Ising. Harman-Ising. Harmonizing. These two men were among the group of Kansas City animators who worked with Walt Disney on the Laugh-O-Gram cartoons in 1922. When Walt went bankrupt, they teamed with Carmen Maxwell on a proposed series of "Arabian Nights" cartoons, but the series was never sold. A few years after Walt left for Hollywood, he called for Harman and Ising to join him at his newly formed studio. There they worked on the Alice in Cartoonland series, and later on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. Producer Charles Mintz seized control of this studio and fired Disney, who went off on his own (and would soon create Mickey Mouse). Harman and Ising stayed with Mintz for one year, after which Universal Pictures seized control of the studio replaced them with Walter Lantz. Harman, Ising, and some of the other ex-Disney animators got together and created a film called Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid, which was their pilot for a potential series.

Leon Schlesinger was able to sell the series to Warner Bros., and he became the production manager of the new studio that Harman and Ising had created. The duo began work on the Looney Tunes series, which starred their creation: Bosko. A year later the Merrie Melodies series was started. It was at this time that the pair split their duties; Harman directed the Looney Tunes, while Ising directed the Merrie Melodies. Meanwhile, Friz Freleng's responsibilities at the studio increased, and he is believed to have directed a few cartoons in both series.

In 1933, Harman and Ising broke with Schlesinger after a dispute over budgets. They had wanted more money to improve the quality of their cartoons, and to eventually move into color production. Schlesinger refused, so the duo found someone who would: MGM. There they created the Happy Harmonies series, and the effect of the increased budgets immediately appeared on the screen. Since they had owned Bosko, they were able to use him in this new series. They left his design intact at first, but soon transformed him into a young black boy. Unfortunately, many of the Happy Harmonies were dull and had a tendency to be overlong. MGM fired Harman and Ising in 1937 and formed their own cartoon studio. When this venture failed, MGM hired the veteran animators back, though they would soon be replaced by newer units. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera created Tom & Jerry in an Ising-produced cartoon, and based on this success Hanna & Barbera were given their own unit where they created Tom & Jerry cartoons for the next 15 years. MGM also hired Tex Avery in the early 1940s, and with these new talents on board, Harman and Ising were no longer needed.

Rudolf Ising would go on to produce war cartoons during the mid 1940s, and Hugh Harman did some work for Walter Lantz in the 1950s. [TAF!, HC and OM&M]

For more biographical information on these men, refer to their entries in The Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion.

Above are three images of Harman and Ising with the Disney staff in the 1920s. [WIW, TAF!, WIW]

Credits

Acting:

Directing:

*not theatrically released

Other Credits: Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising