William Denby Bill Hanna July 14 1910 March 22 2001 was an American animator director producer television director television producer and cartoon artist whose movie and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the 20th century When he was a young child Hannas family moved frequently but they settled in Compton California by 1919 There Hanna became an Eagle Scout Hanna graduated from Compton High School in 1928 He briefly attended Compton City College but dropped out at the onset of the Great DepressionAfter working odd jobs in the first months of the Depression Hanna joined the Harman and Ising animation studio in 1930 During the 1930s Hanna steadily gained skill and prominence while working on cartoons such as Captain and the Kids In 1937 while working at MetroGoldwynMayer MGM Hanna met Joseph Barbera The two men began a collaboration that was at first best known for producing Tom and Jerry and live action films In 1957 they cofounded HannaBarbera which became the most successful television animation studio in the business producing programs such as The Flintstones The Huckleberry Hound Show The Jetsons ScoobyDoo The Smurfs and Yogi Bear In 1967 HannaBarbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting for 12 million but Hanna and Barbera remained heads of the company until 1991 At that time the studio was sold to Turner Broadcasting System which in turn was merged with Time Warner owners of Warner Bros in 1996 Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisorsHanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards Their cartoons have become cultural icons and their cartoon characters have appeared in other media such as films books and toys HannaBarberas shows have a global audience of over 300 million people and have been translated into more than 20 languages
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