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Scooby
Doo was created by the very talented William
Hanna was born in Melrose, New Mexico on July
14, 1910. Hanna initially studied to become
a structural engineer but dropped out of college
when the Depression struck the country. His
talent for drawing led him to join the Harman-Ising
animation studio in 1930 where he worked for
seven years in the story and layout departments.
After the establishment of the MGM animation
unit, Hanna became one of its first staff members
and directed many of the Captain and the Kids
cartoons in 1938-39 with William Allen. 1938
was the first year he was paired with Joeseph
Barbera working on Gallopin' Gals. Joseph Barbera
was born in New York City in 1911.
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Barbera
then became associated with the Van Beruren
Studio in 1932 after unsuccessfully working
as a magazine cartoonist. After the duo worked
on Gallopin' Gals they collaborated again on
Puss Gets the Boot, the first in the Tom and
Jerry series in 1939 which originally used human
characters instead of the familiar cat and mouse.
The Tom and Jerry series was a huge success
earning Hanna & Barbera 7 Academy Awards during
the next 18 years in over 200 Tom and Jerry
cartoons.
During the 1940's, the duo then won critical
acclaim when thier cartoon characters danced
with Gene Kelly in the motion picture Anchors
Away and Invitation to Dance, and with Esther
Williams in the film Dangerous When Wet. Hanna-Barbera
were now inseparable. They continued to design
more cartoons (over 2000 characters) which include
Huckleberry Hound, Yogi and Boo-Boo, the Flinstones,
Jonny Quest, the Smurfs, and the canine we have
grown to love, Scooby-Doo.
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