The studio was founded in 1960 as "S I B Productions, Inc." by Walter Bien, which in 1962 had hired the just developing
Filmation Associates to animate a syndicated series called
Rod Rocket. Separately Tower 12, Inc. was formed in 1962 by
Chuck Jones to produce theatrical shorts, as well as informational and educational shorts, industrial and corporate films, and television programming. It was afterward taken over by SIB Productions, Inc. and evolved into "Sib Tower 12, Inc.", being taken over by Jones after he was fired from
Warner Bros. Cartoons, because he was in violation of his contract where he had served for over 30 years directing the
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies series. A number of animators who had worked under Jones during his Warner Bros. career followed him to Sib Tower 12, as did voice actor
Mel Blanc and storyman and writer
Michael Maltese. Sib Tower 12 Productions received a contract from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to produce a new series of
Tom and Jerry cartoons, which proved successful. As a result, MGM purchased the Sib Tower 12 studio from the bankrupt SIB Productions and renamed it
MGM Animation/Visual Arts in 1964. This studio continued with Jones'
Tom and Jerry shorts until 1967. In addition to the
Tom and Jerry cartoons, Jones worked on the one-off shorts
The Dot and the Line (1965), an abstract piece based upon a children's book by
Norton Juster which won that year's
Academy Award for Animated Short Film; and ''
The Bear That Wasn't'' (1967), an adaptation of the book of the same name by Jones' onetime Warner Bros. colleague
Frank Tashlin. The studio also turned to television, producing two highly acclaimed TV specials based on books by
Dr. Seuss.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which aired in 1966, and
Horton Hears a Who! in 1970. The studio's most ambitious work was its 1970 feature film
The Phantom Tollbooth, adapted from another Norton Juster book, which had been completed in 1968 but was held up from release until two years later due to internal studio problems. After the studio closed in late 1970, Chuck Jones went on to found
Chuck Jones Film Productions which produced television specials based on the stories of
Rudyard Kipling and of
The Cricket in Times Square series. In 1993, MGM opened a new animation studio,
MGM Animation. == Filmography ==