Originally
MGM was only the distributor for cartoon shorts produced by other animation
studios such as Ub Iwerks 'Flip the Frog' series.
The MGM Animation Department was formed in 1934 when
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising (shown on the left) were brought in from WB to
start a new Happy Harmonies series with Fred Quimby over the production.
In 1939, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera (shown on the right)
came aboard and went to work to create a
cartoon starring Jasper the Cat and Jinx the mouse. Their first release in
1940 was called 'Puss Gets the Boot'. Afterwards an inter-office contest would
rename them Tom & Jerry.
Between 1943 and 1953 Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry
would earn them a record-breaking seven Oscars for MGM's animated shorts.
In
1942, MGM animation continued to grow with the addition of Frederick 'Tex'
Avery. Avery added several characters to the MGM list such
as Droopy and the Wolf.
MGM did well through the 1940s and early 1950s, but
as profits wained and television became more dominant, MGM decided to close
their animation department in 1957. The team of Hanna-Barbera left to form
their own Production Company.
Posters
Although rival studios were issuing stock
and semi stock
posters for their cartoon releases, MGM issued individual posters for the
most of their major cartoons, and stock and semi stock posters for their smaller
titles.
The oddity is that when they printed the title on the
semi stock posters, they also printed a new NSS number.
Here are their major series:
Barney Bear
Captain and the Kids
Droopy
Happy Harmonies
Tom & Jerry
Others
Stock
Sheets
