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- Jul 28, 2025
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William Hanna (July 14, 1910 - March 22, 2001)
He was an American animator most well known for being the creator of the classic cartoon Tom & Jerry.
Alongside Joseph Barbara he founded the company "Hanna-Barbara" and created many notable cartoons throughout the mid 20th century.
Hanna was a college dropout, and worked as a construction engineer for some time, where he worked on the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. He ended up losing that job due to the Great Depression and found new work at a car wash.
Hanna would eventually go on to work for a company that would separate from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to produce its own independent cartoons, and in 1936 Hanna was given the opportunity to direct his first cartoon, "To Spring."
In 1940, Hanna and Barbara worked together on a short called "Puss Gets The Boot." It would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject. However despite its success, their supervisor, Fred Quimby, wanted a more diverse portfolio and didn't want anymore cat and mouse cartoons. They decided to ignore Quimby and continue working on this theme of cartoon. Eventually they got permission to work on this theme upon Quimby realizing that the outfit that originally had taken credit for "Puss Gets The Boot" hadn't actually worked on it, despite their taking credit for it. The result of this collaboration was their most successful creation, "Tom & Jerry."
This cartoon focused more on animation than dialogue, and was often criticized for being overly violent. It won its first Academy Award for the episode, "The Yankee-Doodle Mouse," a war-time adventure. The show would go on to be nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning 7.
Hanna died in 2001 to throat cancer in North Hollywood at the age of 90.
After his death, Cartoon Network aired a 20-second segment honoring him.
He was an American animator most well known for being the creator of the classic cartoon Tom & Jerry.
Alongside Joseph Barbara he founded the company "Hanna-Barbara" and created many notable cartoons throughout the mid 20th century.
Hanna was a college dropout, and worked as a construction engineer for some time, where he worked on the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. He ended up losing that job due to the Great Depression and found new work at a car wash.
Hanna would eventually go on to work for a company that would separate from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to produce its own independent cartoons, and in 1936 Hanna was given the opportunity to direct his first cartoon, "To Spring."
In 1940, Hanna and Barbara worked together on a short called "Puss Gets The Boot." It would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best (Cartoon) Short Subject. However despite its success, their supervisor, Fred Quimby, wanted a more diverse portfolio and didn't want anymore cat and mouse cartoons. They decided to ignore Quimby and continue working on this theme of cartoon. Eventually they got permission to work on this theme upon Quimby realizing that the outfit that originally had taken credit for "Puss Gets The Boot" hadn't actually worked on it, despite their taking credit for it. The result of this collaboration was their most successful creation, "Tom & Jerry."
This cartoon focused more on animation than dialogue, and was often criticized for being overly violent. It won its first Academy Award for the episode, "The Yankee-Doodle Mouse," a war-time adventure. The show would go on to be nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning 7.
Hanna died in 2001 to throat cancer in North Hollywood at the age of 90.
After his death, Cartoon Network aired a 20-second segment honoring him.
