Spence interest in drawing began in his youth, when he provided cartoons for his high school newspaper (along with classmate William Hanna).
Spence animated for Milt Gross (on the Count Screwloose cartoons), Hugh Harman, and for the Bill Hanna/Joe Barbera unit.
Spence's first credit in a Tom and Jerry short was in The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), which received an Academy Award for Best Animated Short; Spence would continue to work on the series, albeit discontinuously, until his final departure from MGM in 1956, with his final credit appearing on 1957's Timid Tabby.
[3] Both films star various staff members who worked in the studio at the time, such as Bill Littlejohn, Pete Burness, Michael Lah, Ray Patterson, Jack Zander, and Ed Barge among others.
), DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (Roland and Ratfink, The Ant and the Aardvark), and Ralph Bakshi (Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, Wizards, and the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings).