Rudolf Carl Ising was an American animator, film producer, film director, voice actor, and United States Army major. An early collaborator of Walt Disney and a key figure in the golden age of American animation, Ising and his longtime collaborator Hugh Harman founded Harman-Ising Pictures in 1929. Harman-Ising created the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series for Warner Bros. Pictures, and Warners' first cartoon star, Bosko, setting the foundation for what would later become the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio.