Ben Hardaway

Known for WritingBorn 1895-05-21Died 1957-02-05Belton, Missouri, USA

Joseph Benson 'Ben' (a.k.a. 'Bugs') Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. While at the Leon Schlesinger / Warner Bros. studio during the late 1930s, Hardaway, in 1938, co-directed Porky's Hare Hunt, the first film to feature a rabbit. When this unnamed, embryonic rabbit was given a new model sheet for a later short, since, according to Chuck Jones, Hardaway "didn't draw it very well", designer Charlie Thorson inadvertently offered a permanent name by titling the model sheet "Bugs' Bunny" since it was meant for Hardaway's unit. By the time the rabbit was redesigned and refined for the film A Wild Hare, the name was already being used in relation to the character in studio publicity materials. In 1940, Hardaway joined the staff of Walter Lantz Productions, where he helped Walter Lantz in creating the studio's most famous character, Woody Woodpecker. Hardaway wrote or co-wrote most of the stories for the 1940–1950 Woody Woodpecker shorts, as well as supplying Woody's voice between 1944 and 1949. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]Read more

Movies & web series

Under the Spreading Blacksmith Shop

The Woody Woodpecker Polka

The Overture to 'William Tell'

The Coo Coo Bird

Who's Cookin Who?

Woody Woodpecker and Friends

The Reckless Driver

Smoked Hams

Fire! Fire!

School Days

The Wacky Weed

Rabbit Every Monday

Sioux Me

Count Me Out

Fair Weather Fiends

Springtime for Thomas

The Yankee Doodle Mouse

Fish Fry

Bathing Buddies

Hysterical Highspots in American History

The Screwdriver

Knock Knock

Wet Blanket Policy

Kiddie Koncert

Dog Tax Dodgers

Playful Pelican

Woody the Giant Killer

Mousie Come Home

The Pied Piper of Basin Street

Hobo Gadget Band

Breakdowns of 1939

The Beach Nut

Woody Woodpecker

Puppy Love

Wacky-Bye Baby

Africa Squeaks

The Loose Nut

Apple Andy

Daffy Duck & Egghead

The Hollywood Matador

The Loan Stranger

Wild and Woody!

Hare-um Scare-um

It's an Ill Wind

Fagin's Freshman

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company "B"

Chew-Chew Baby

Porky's Hare Hunt