Ruby-Spears Productions

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears started their careers as sound editors at Hanna-Barbera before moving into story development. In 1969, they created the format that became *Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!*, one of the longest-running franchises in television animation. In 1977, they left to form their own studio, Ruby-Spears, as a division of Filmways.

The studio's productions often focused on action and adventure, frequently incorporating comic-book talent to enhance the visuals. These included *Fangface*, the post-apocalyptic *Thundarr the Barbarian* with designs by Jack Kirby and Alex Toth, *Mister T*, the Saturday-morning *Alvin and the Chipmunks*, *Centurions*, and a 1988 revival of *Superman*. While the work was technically strong and visually distinctive, the studio remained a secondary force in the television animation industry.

In 1981, Ruby-Spears was acquired by Taft Broadcasting, which also owned Hanna-Barbera, the studio from which Ruby and Spears had originally come. The two companies operated under the same parent but competed for the same limited number of network time slots.

As the Saturday-morning cartoon model declined in the 1990s, the partnership dissolved. The majority of Ruby-Spears' pre-1991 library was sold to Ted Turner along with Hanna-Barbera, later becoming part of Time Warner's holdings. The studio itself shut down in 1996 after nearly two decades, its characters absorbed into the catalog of the very industry it had long pursued.