Life and Career
Quimby was born in Minneapolis, and started his career as a journalist. In 1907, he managed a film theater in Missoula, Montana. Later, he worked at Pathé, rising to become a member of the board of directors before leaving in 1921 to become an independent producer. He was hired by 20th Century Fox in 1924, and then MGM in 1927 to head its short features department. In 1937, he was assigned to put together its animation department.
In 1939, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera presented him with their project for a series of cartoons featuring a cat and a mouse. Quimby approved, and the result was Puss Gets the Boot, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Initially he refused to pursue more Cat and Mouse cartoons after Puss Gets the Boot but success and money earnings that were for the cartoon he agreed to make Tom and Jerry an official cartoon for the MGM cartoon studio. As producer, Quimby became a repeated recipient of the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the Tom and Jerry films without inviting Hanna and Barbera onstage and his name became well known due to its prominence in the cartoon credits. Even though Quimby had taken sole credit for producing The Tom and Jerry series, he never actually worked on it. Besides, Quimby had a difficult relationship with animators and even Hanna and Barbera:
| “ | ...unfortunately for a cartoon producer, no sense of humor to call upon... He knew nothing of animation and cartoons were a strange thing to him. Cast in the role of high school principal opposite the animators' boyish enthusiasms, he acted as liaisons between them and the front office, usually it seemed, turning down requests for bigger budgets, raises and special dispensations of funds. | ” |
Quimby retired from MGM in 1955, with Hanna and Barbera assuming his role as co-heads of the studio. MGM's cartoon division did not last long after; it was closed in 1957. Quimby died in Santa Monica, California in 1965.
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