Harman-Ising Productions

Background
Harman-Ising Productions was the animation division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. The studio was founded in 1934 by former Leon Schlesinger Productions employees Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising when they signed a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to start a new series of Bosko shorts. The studio closed in 1937 when the Happy Harmonies series ran over budget. In that same year, Harman and Ising were fired from MGM, and the studio would succeed by MGM Cartoons, a in-house animation division of MGM.

At times, Harman and Ising used separate cards for their own production saying "A Hugh Harman Production" and "A Rudolph Ising Production".

1st Logo (September 1, 1934-May 25, 1935)
Harman-Ising Productions (Red BG Variant, 1934-1935)Harman-Ising Productions logo

Nicknames: "The Symphony", "Happy Harmonies Titles"

Logo: On a dark red (or dark cyan) background, the words "HARMAN-ISING" appear on a symphony, with "HUGH" and "RUDOLF" above the company name. There is the letter "A" in script above it, and "PRODUCTION" below. Underneath is the MGM-psuedo logo. On later cartoons, it says "CARTOON" instead of "PRODUCTION".

Series Logo: Above the phrase the words "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents" is seen and under it is "HAPPY HARMONIES", in either red or light orange, with quotation marks next to the title, followed by the title card of an episode in which the series title fades out. However, in "The Discontented Canary" (1934), the first episode of the "Happy Harmonies", we see "A METRO COLOR CARTOON" in white on a dark red background instead of "HAPPY HARMONIES".

Closing Title: Same as the opening, except the phrase is moved to above. Above the logo the words "The End" appear written in script, then it fades to a large 1924-1983 MGM psuedo-logo.

FX/SFX: None for the intro, except for the ending variant.

Music/Sounds: None, just the intro/outro of the short.

Availability: Currently seen on Happy Harmonies on Boomerang.

Editor's Note: It depends.

2nd Logo (September 21, 1935-August 28, 1937)
Harman-Ising Productions logo 2Harman-Ising Productions logo 3

Nickname: "Happy Harmonies Titles II"

Logo: Same as the 1st logo, except "PRODUCTION" is replaced with "CARTOON". Also, it is on either a white/sky blue or cobalt blue/blue background.

Series Title: Above the phrase we have the words "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents" with "HAPPY HARMONIES" under it.

Closing Title: The MGM-psuedo logo is above the phrase. Then we fade to "The End" in script from logo 1.

FX/SFX: Same as the first logo.

Music/Sounds: See above.

Availability: Can be seen on Happy Harmonies on Boomerang reruns.

Editor's Note: Same as the first logo.

3rd Logo (December 15, 1937-March 12, 1938)
Harman-Ising Productions logo 4Harman-Ising Productions logo 5

Logo: Same as logos 1 and 2, except they are now in Arial Narrow font. Above it, we now have the words "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents" in its pre-1983 MGM corporate font.

Closing Title: We now have a small MGM-psuedo logo below the phrase. Sometimes the words "THE END" appear above the phrase in green Arial lettering.

FX/SFX: Same as recent.

Music/Sounds: Same as above.

Availability: Seen on Happy Harmonies on Boomerang as well as Little Buck Cheeser.

Editor's Note: Same as the recent logos.

4th Logo (April 15, 1939-July 17, 1943)
Hugh Harman Productions (1939)Hugh Harman Productions (1939)Rudolf Isign Productions (1940)Rudolf Isign Productions (1939)Hugh Harman Productions (1939)Hugh Harman Productions (1939)Rudolf Isign Productions (1940)Rudolf Isign Productions (1942)Rudolf Isign Productions (1942)Rudolf Isign Productions (1942)Rudolf Isign Productions (1942)Rudolf Isign Productions (1943)

Logo: On a blue sunburst background are the words "A Hugh Harman (or "Rudolf Ising") PRODUCTION". Below are the MPDA and Western Electric Sound System logos.

Variants: On the re-release print of The Little Goldfish (1939), the Rudolf Ising logo is on an underwater background. On the re-release print of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1939), the Hugh Harman logo is on a green background. On the re-release print of The Blue Danube (1939), the Hugh Harman logo is smaller and the copyright stamp is in a 1950s style. On the re-release print of The Fishing Bear (1940), the Rudolf Ising logo is on a pound background. On Little Gravel Voice (1942), the Rudolf Ising logo is on a background with a red light. On Bats in the Belfry (1942), the Rudolf Ising logo is seen on a church bell. On Chips off the Old Block and Wild Honey (both released in 1942), the logo is on a simple red background. On Barney Bear's Victory Garden (1942), the logo is on the same background used for the 1942-1946 MGM Cartoons end title. On Bah Wilderness (1943), the logo is on a blue gradient background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Extremely rare. It can be usually seen when the MGM cartoons (especially Barney Bear) are reran on Boomerang.

Editor's Note: Medium. The creepy Hugh Harman and Rudolf Isign script may scare a few people.