Hugh Harman (Hugh Harman)

Hugh Harman

Cartoon Animator. A pioneer in animation, he helped to create ‘Daffy Duck’ and ‘Bugs Bunny’ among other Looney Tune characters. He began his career in 1922 when he got a job working for the Walt Disney, working on the Laugh-o-Gram toons. After Disney went bankrupt he and his partner, Rudolf Ising tried to start a new series based on the Arabian Nights, but never obtained funding. He later began working for Disney again, but at the time of the Disney callback he was working for Charles Mintz, for whom he produced, ‘Oswald The Lucky Rabbit.’ After bickering with Disney over money with Mintz, Disney let Harman go. Mintz kept Harman and Ising for another year and let them go when he came across a young Walter Lantz, who later created ‘Woody Woodpecker.’ Later together with other animators he put together a cartoon short, ‘Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid’ which was later used by producer Leon Schlesinger to obtain a contract with Warner Brothers Studio to produce animated cartoons. Harman along with Ising created Loony Toons and Merrie Melodies and produced them for many years. In 1933 after an argument with Schlesinger over money they left and joined MGM, where they produced, “Happy Harmonies.” After they left MGM over yet another money dispute, they opened there own studio, H&I, but it wasn’t a success. They were hired back by MGM but by this time there Disney style of animation was gone, being outdone by the likes of Hanna/Barbara and Fred ‘Tex’ Avery. In the 1940s and 1950s, both Harman and Ising did animation work for Walter Lantz Studios. Some animated cartoons he worked on include, “Alice In Wonderland” “Cinderella” “Plane Crazy” “Barnyard Babies” “The Calico Dragon” “Bottles” and “The Field Mouse.” (bio by: K)  Family links:  Parents:  Fred C. Harman (1871 – 1944)  Birdie Olive Harman (1874 – 1921)

Born

  • August, 31, 1903
  • USA

Died

  • November, 11, 1982
  • USA

Other

  • Cremated

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