Hugh Harman

Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising signed a contract on October 3, 1939 to provide the major portion of M-G-M's cartoon product for the 1939-1940 production season. The contract spanned seven years and under it, Harman and Ising each would head a unit producing nine pictures (cartoons) annually. Fred Quimby would continue as head of the Metro (cartooon) department, and Milt Gross would continue his work on the current (1938-1939) product.

Hugh Harman was one of the pioneers of animation. While not a great animator, (compared to co-worker, Rudolf Ising) he was present during the early days. He began his work with Walt Disney in 1922, working on Disney's early Laugh-o-Gram toons. When that company went bankrupt, Harman and partner Rudolf Ising tried to start a new series based on the Arabian Nights, but were unable to obtain funding. Disney called them back when he began work for Charles Mintz, producing the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. After a dispute over pricing, Mintz forced out Disney and kept Harman and Ising on for another year, when they in turn were forced out (and replaced by a young Walter Lantz). Harman, Ising, and a few other ex-Disney animators put together a pilot short, "Bosko the Talkink Kid", which was used by producer Leon Schlesinger to obtain a contract with Warner Brothers' studios to produce animated cartoons. Harman and Ising started the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, and produced them for several years.