Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020)[1] was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor.

Ruby would meet Spears in 1959 at Hanna-Barbera, when the studio was being interviewed by Life Magazine[3] and the two would start working together on animated shows.

After graduating, he joined the United States Navy and worked as a sonar operator on a destroyer during the Korean War.

He began as a music editor, knowing it would take a long process to become an experienced animator, but nonetheless pursued his passion at the side as a freelance comic book artist and writer.

[12] After Fred Silverman, then head of daytime programming at CBS, concluded that, after about 15 drafts, a Great Dane was the star of the project,[13] Ruby and Spears tried multiple ideas before settling on a cowardly dog who solves mysteries.

It's the Hair Bear Bunch!, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, among other programs.

[9] Wanting to create competition for Hanna-Barbera, ABC set Ruby and Spears up with their own studio in 1977, as a subsidiary of Filmways.