Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was the American film company's in-house animation department during the Golden Age of theatrical animation. Operating principally from 1937 until its closure on May 15, 1957, it produced animated short subjects that accompanied MGM feature films in Loew's theaters and were later distributed internationally through MGM's theatrical network. Its library became one of the most influential bodies of American cartoon work, particularly because it combined high production values, elaborate musical scoring, fast-paced visual comedy, and a roster of distinctive directors and characters. MGM's involvement with animation began before the formal studio existed. During the early 1930s the company distributed cartoons made by Ub Iwerks, including the Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper series. In 1934 MGM entered a new arrangement with Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, former Warner Bros. animation producers, resulting in the Happy Harmonies series. The shorts were designed as lavish Technicolor competitors to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, but repeated budget overruns contributed to MGM's decision to establish its own department and recruit much of the available animation talent in Hollywood. The new studio was organized in 1937 under production executive Fred Quimby. Its first project, The Captain and the Kids, was unsuccessful and ended after fifteen shorts. Harman and Ising subsequently returned to MGM, where Ising developed Barney Bear and Harman produced more ambitious one-shot films, including Peace on Earth. The studio's fortunes changed decisively in 1940. Rudolf Ising's The Milky Way became the first non-Disney film to win the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), while William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Puss Gets the Boot introduced the cat-and-mouse relationship that evolved into Tom and Jerry. Tom and Jerry became MGM's principal animated property. The series generated major theatrical returns, licensing activity, repeated Academy Award recognition, and international familiarity. Seven Tom and Jerry shorts won the Academy Award, including The Yankee Doodle Mouse, Mouse Trouble, Quiet Please!, The Cat Concerto, The Little Orphan, The Two Mouseketeers, and Johann Mouse. The studio also became known for Tex Avery's highly exaggerated comic films. Avery introduced or popularized characters and series including Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, George and Junior, and various one-shot comic figures. His films influenced the timing, violence, surrealism, and visual inventiveness of later American animation. The department employed or attracted numerous important animators, story artists, layout artists, musicians, and technical specialists. Scott Bradley composed most of the studio's scores, blending jazz, classical music, popular songs, and themes from MGM feature films. The studio's creative output also included Barney Bear, various wartime and public-service shorts, and one-shot films made by directors including Harman, Ising, Hanna, Barbera, Avery, George Gordon, and Michael Lah. In 1955, following Fred Quimby's retirement, Hanna and Barbera assumed leadership of the department. MGM nevertheless closed the studio in 1957 as theatrical short production became less economically attractive. Hanna and Barbera took much of the staff with them and established H-B Enterprises, soon known as Hanna-Barbera Productions. The studio's characters and films continued to circulate after closure through television syndication, theatrical reissues, home video, licensing, and compilation programming. Turner Broadcasting System acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library in 1986 through Turner Entertainment Co.; after Turner later merged with Time Warner, the library became associated with the Warner-controlled Turner catalog. The MGM cartoon studio therefore survives primarily as a historic production label and library rather than as an operating animation company.

MGM's cartoon operation developed from the studio system's use of short subjects as theatrical supplements. After distributing Ub Iwerks' Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper cartoons, MGM contracted Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising in 1934. Their Happy Harmonies films were ambitious color productions modeled partly on Disney's successful musical shorts, but their costs repeatedly exceeded MGM's expectations. In 1937 MGM decided to internalize production, hired Fred Quimby to organize a department, and recruited artists from Harman and Ising, Warner Bros., Screen Gems, Terrytoons, and other studios. The first in-house series, The Captain and the Kids, failed to establish a durable audience. Harman and Ising returned in 1939, with Ising concentrating on Barney Bear and Harman making serious or elaborate one-shot films. Peace on Earth, released in 1939, demonstrated that MGM cartoons could address themes beyond slapstick and received an Academy Award nomination. The breakthrough came in 1940: The Milky Way won the Academy Award, and Hanna and Barbera's Puss Gets the Boot created the foundation for Tom and Jerry. During the 1940s Tom and Jerry dominated the department's production schedule and became one of the most successful theatrical cartoon series in history. The films relied on tightly timed physical comedy, expressive animation, elaborate backgrounds, and Scott Bradley's sophisticated scores. At the same time Tex Avery brought a more aggressively surreal and self-conscious style to MGM. His work used rapid escalation, extreme poses, visual non sequiturs, and adult-oriented comic timing. Droopy, introduced in Dumb-Hounded in 1943, became his most enduring MGM character. The studio also produced Barney Bear films, wartime material, public-service subjects, and numerous one-shot cartoons. Its personnel included directors, animators, story artists, musicians, and layout specialists who later shaped television animation and other theatrical studios. In 1955 Hanna and Barbera replaced the retiring Quimby as studio leaders. MGM closed the unit in 1957, reflecting the weakening economics of theatrical shorts and changing patterns of film exhibition. Hanna and Barbera founded H-B Enterprises, taking many former MGM employees and helping establish the television animation model that would dominate the following decades. After closure, MGM's cartoon library remained commercially valuable. It was repeatedly reissued in theaters, syndicated to television, licensed for merchandise, and released in home-video collections. Turner Broadcasting System acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library in 1986, and the library later became part of the Warner-controlled Turner catalog after the 1996 Time Warner merger. The original studio no longer operates, but its characters, especially Tom and Jerry and Droopy, remain central to the historical identity of American animation.

• 1986

  Cartoon library passes to Turner

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Turner Broadcasting System retains the pre-May 1986 MGM library, including the studio's cartoons.

• 1957

  Studio closes

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  MGM shuts the cartoon department on May 15; Hanna and Barbera subsequently establish their own company.

• 1955

  Hanna and Barbera take studio leadership

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Following Quimby's retirement, Hanna and Barbera become heads of the MGM cartoon department.

• 1943

  Droopy debuts

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  The character first appears in Avery's Dumb-Hounded.

• 1942

  Tex Avery joins MGM

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Avery begins his MGM career with Blitz Wolf, bringing a more extreme comic style to the studio.

• 1940

  The Milky Way wins an Oscar

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  MGM earns its first Academy Award for a cartoon, and the studio's animation profile rises sharply.

• 1940

  Puss Gets the Boot launches the Tom and Jerry concept

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's first cat-and-mouse short introduces the relationship that becomes Tom and Jerry.

• 1939

  Barney Bear debuts

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Rudolf Ising introduces Barney Bear in The Bear Who Couldn't Sleep.

• 1937

  In-house studio is established

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  MGM forms its own cartoon department under Fred Quimby and opens a dedicated facility in Los Angeles.

• 1934

  Happy Harmonies agreement

  [1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  MGM signs Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising to produce a new series of high-budget color cartoons.

Showing the 10 most recent.

Prestige theatrical animation built around high-quality color production, musical scoring, visual comedy, and recurring characters.

• Theatrical animated short series · 1940

  Tom and Jerry

  MGM's defining animated property, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera from the 1940 short Puss Gets the Boot. The series centers on the repeated contests between a cat and a mouse and became known for elaborate chase choreography, visual gags, expressive animation, and musical synchronization. Seven entries won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), while the characters became major subjects of licensing, television distribution, and later film and video releases.

• Theatrical animated short series · 1943

  Droopy

  Tex Avery's restrained, slow-speaking comic character debuted in Dumb-Hounded in 1943. Droopy's understated delivery contrasts with the increasingly chaotic situations around him, creating a distinctive form of deadpan cartoon comedy. He appeared in Avery shorts and later received a formal series, becoming one of MGM's most recognizable characters outside Tom and Jerry.

• Theatrical animated short series · 1939

  Barney Bear

  Rudolf Ising's Barney Bear was MGM's first original recurring cartoon star. The character is an anthropomorphic bear whose sleepy, accident-prone behavior supports domestic and slapstick stories. Barney appeared regularly from his 1939 debut through the 1950s, although he never achieved the international profile of Tom and Jerry.

• Predecessor animated short series · 1934

  Happy Harmonies

  A high-budget color series produced for MGM by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising before the formal in-house department was established. The shorts used Technicolor, musical presentation, and elaborate animation to compete with Disney's theatrical output. Production ended after financial and budget difficulties led MGM to build its own studio.

• Theatrical animated short series · 1938

  The Captain and the Kids

  MGM's first in-house cartoon series, based on Rudolph Dirks' Katzenjammer Kids characters. The studio produced fifteen shorts, but the creative team struggled to adapt the newspaper strip's humor and the series was discontinued after a short run.

• 1957

  MGM ends theatrical cartoon productionStrategy

  Background

  The economics of producing theatrical short subjects had weakened as the film industry changed.

  Action taken

  MGM closed the cartoon department on May 15, 1957.

  Aftermath

  Hanna and Barbera formed H-B Enterprises with many former MGM employees, while MGM retained the completed cartoon library.

  Source

• 1940

  MGM expands the cat-and-mouse seriesProduct launch

  Background

  Puss Gets the Boot received strong critical and commercial attention, including an Academy Award nomination.

  Action taken

  MGM assigned Hanna and Barbera to continue making cat-and-mouse shorts and formalized the characters as Tom and Jerry.

  Aftermath

  Tom and Jerry became the studio's leading animated franchise and generated repeated awards and licensing activity.

  Source

• 1937

  MGM brings cartoon production in-houseStrategy

  Background

  MGM's arrangements with outside producers, especially the expensive Happy Harmonies program, did not provide sufficient budget control or consistency.

  Action taken

  The company established a dedicated cartoon department, hired Fred Quimby, and recruited animation talent from several rival studios.

  Aftermath

  The new department initially struggled with The Captain and the Kids but later produced MGM's most important animated properties.

  Source

• 1986

  Turner acquires the pre-1986 MGM library[1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Turner Broadcasting System retained the pre-May 1986 MGM film and cartoon library after selling back MGM's production operations.

• 1957

  MGM closes its cartoon studio[1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The department ceased operations on May 15, 1957. Hanna and Barbera subsequently formed their own animation company with much of the former MGM staff.

• 1940

  The Milky Way wins the Academy Award[1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Rudolf Ising's The Milky Way became the first non-Disney cartoon to win the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).

• 1940

  Tom and Jerry becomes MGM's leading animated property[1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Product generation

  Following the success of Puss Gets the Boot, MGM commissioned further cat-and-mouse shorts and developed the characters into the studio's most successful animated series.

• 1937

  MGM establishes an in-house cartoon studio[1]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  MGM created its own cartoon department after problems with the independently produced Happy Harmonies series and recruited animation personnel from across Hollywood.

1. 1Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studioen.wikipedia.org