Animation History

Learn the History of Animation from our Animation Magazine Articles. Read About Movie Animation History.

Hugh Harmon & Rudolf Ising: Animators (Film Daily, 1939)

A short account regarding Hugh Harman (1903 – 1982) and Rudy Ising (1903 – 1992) who were a team of Oscar winning animators best known for founding the animation studios at Warner Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In the last decade the animated cartoon has developed from its early grotesque form to its present lofty state and this development is really a miracle in art and achievement in entertainment… The significance of the animated cartoon can be realized only when we consider its world wide appeal and power of influence.

The same year this article went to press, Harmon-Ising produced their much admired anti-war cartoon, Peace on Earth.

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Afternoon at Terry-Toon Studios (Photoplay Magazine, 1930)

PHOTOPLAY’s Frances Kish spent some time with the animators at Terry-Toon studios and filed this report detailing all the efforts that go into the production of just one Terry-Toon film:

The major animator begins begins the work. The thin white paper he uses for his drawings has holes punched at the top, like pages for a loose-leaf note book…The figures are about three inches high…

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Paul Terry: The Other Animator (Film Daily, 1939)

A short profile on Paul Terry, torn from the pages of a prominent Hollywood trade rag:

During Paul Terry’s notable career in the film industry, he has produced more than 1,000 pictures. In October of the current year he celebrates 25 years of continuous work in the cartoon field, which he helped to pioneer.

Today, the fountain of Terry-Toons is a thoroughly modern studio in New Rochelle, employing some 130 hands, all skilled in the imparting of life, voice and voice expression to the characters created on the drawing boards.

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Second Oscar for Tom and Jerry (The Lion’s Roar, 1946)

All told, the animated cartoon series Tom and Jerry would be awarded seven (7) Academy Awards before Oscar’s attention turned elsewhere.


This 1946 article sings the praises of Fred Quimby (1886 – 1965), the animation producer who ran the shop at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio between the years 1937 and 1954:

Doff the cap to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Fred Quimby, producer of Tom and Jerry’, the only cartoon stars to have copped the coveted Oscar for two consecutive years. Even the distinguished Donald Duck has only been Oscarized once.

‘Tom and Jerry‘ reflect in broad comedy the faults and foibles of human beings, even as you and I. Here we have a thoroughly egotistical cat and a very shrewd mouse… a cartoon representation of the eternal conflict between HERO and VILLAIN. Toma always hopes to outwit Jerry who symbolizes the underdogs of the world.

This short notice appeared in The Lion’s Roar, which was the monthly publicity rag for M.G.M. Studio.

Second Oscar for Tom and Jerry (The Lion’s Roar, 1946) Read More »