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Animator Irven Spence spent most of his career at MGM Studios and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. He and the latter studio's co-founder William Hanna were high school pals and worked on a student newspaper together. As an animator, Spence first worked on Flip the Frog shorts with UB Iwerks from the early '30s through 1936 when he left to join MGM. There he helped develop the characters "Tom and Jerry." With Hanna-Barbera, Spence helped devise such characters as "The Flintsones," "The Jetsons" and "Yogi Bear." Spence also worked on a few Hanna Barbera features, including Wizards (1977).