FILMATION
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: ''For the unrelated isometric graphics engine used by Ultimate Play the Game in their 8-bit computer games, see Filmation engine.''
'Filmation Associates' was an American production company that produced animation for television during the later half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963. During a period lasting from the 1960s through the 1980s, the only real competitors to Hanna-Barbera Productions in the field of TV cartoons were Filmation and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Filmation's founders and principal producers were Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott.
A trademark of the company's productions beginning in the early 1970s was a rotating "Produced by" (and on some shows, "Executive Producers") credit seen in the end credits (and in later productions, the opening sequences) of Filmation programs, a device that was supposedly created to allow them to share equal billing (previously, Scheimer's name was placed above Prescott's), although later Filmation productions credited only Scheimer, in the form of his signature ("Lou Scheimer, Executive Producer"), starting with 1982's ''Gilligan's Planet''.
Many of its shows—particularly the productions of the late 1970s and 1980s—are notable for imparting a simple moral or life-lesson (explained by a key character, in a child-friendly manner) in the epilogue.
Lou Scheimer and Filmation's main director, Hal Sutherland met while working at Larry Harmon Pictures on the made-for-TV Bozo and Popeye cartoons. Eventually Larry Harmon closed the studio. 'SIB Productions', a Japanese firm with U.S. offices in Chicago, approached Scheimer and Sutherland about producing a cartoon called 'Rod Rocket'. The two agreed to take on the work and also took on a project for 'Family Films', owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, for ten short animated films based on the life of Christ. The project enabled Scheimer and Sutherland to finance their own small Los Angeles animation studio 'True Line'. Paramount Pictures soon purchased SIB Productions, and True Line's staff increased; including the arrival of former radio disc-jockey Norm Prescott, who became a partner in the firm. He had already been working on the animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space which was soon released by a Belgian company, and also brought in the Journey Back To Oz project, which would be released over ten years later by Filmation. Both Rod Rocket and the life of Christ series credited "Filmation Associates" with "Production Design" in addition to Scheimer and Sutherland as directors; but True Line was not officially changed into the Filmation Associates corporation until Rod Rocket entered syndication in 1963. [1]
(SIB Productions, whose logo bore a resemblance to the original Filmation logo, would soon go on to become "Sib-Tower 12 Productions" and produce the first few of Chuck Jones' Tom & Jerry films for MGM, until becoming MGM Animation/Visual Arts for the remainder of the films).
The new Filmation studio would for the next few years make TV commercials, until approached by CBS executive Fred Silverman to do a Superman cartoon. This premiered in 1966, and was followed by several of the other DC Comics heroes, and then in 1968, the first Archie show. Both series greatly helped Filmation's popularity to increase, into the 1970s, when it really scored big with several of its shows (see below).
As with other producers of Saturday morning cartoons, Filmation was more concerned with quantity rather than quality; however, they did make a number of attempts to rise above the standard animated fare and produce reasonably well-written cartoons. The best-known example of this is their animated adaptation of the '' series, which included scripts contributed by well-known science fiction writers and starred most of the original cast. Other favorably remembered Filmation series included a 16-part animated serial of ''Flash Gordon'' (originally intended as a movie for theatrical release but shown in its entirety only thrice on NBC); ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'', an animated educational series created by and starring Bill Cosby; and ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'', based on the popular line of Mattel toys. The animated adaptations of the Archie Comics characters were also noteworthy for the pop music produced for it, particularly the song, "Sugar, Sugar", which was a #1 hit single.
Filmation has a reputation for exploiting the technique of limited animation to produce a number of animated series with a distinct look. They made heavy use of rotoscoping, and they also re-used the same animated sequences over and over, many times, to the point where the Filmation style was instantly recognizable (and often despised by TV critics and animation scholars). The studio is noteworthy for refusing to rely upon animation studios outside the United States for the bulk of its production. However, many praise Filmation for the quality of its artwork, particularly its lavish background paintings. (One Filmation trademark was the recurring use of long establishing shots in which the camera would pan slowly across a very wide background painting, thus filling up screen time with sequences requiring little or no animation.) Filmation also pioneered novel animation technologies, particularly in ''Flash Gordon'', which included moire effects to represent energy fields and a unique method of generating 3-D vehicle animation by filming black-outlined white miniatures against white backgrounds and printing the film to produce animation cels that were then hand-painted; a similar technique was featured in He-Man (and later She-Ra).
Characters, as well as plots, seemed formulaic and repetitive. For example, most episodes of ''Ghost Busters'' had the same scheme (Bad guys develop an evil plan, the heroes are needed but always absent, Ghost Buggy the talking car complains about their dangerous position, Tracey the Gorilla pulls out of his back pack exactly the miscellaneous item the Ghost Buster needs in a moment of despair, Eddie doing a number of clumsy/stupid things etc.) Many of the sounds and explosion effects used in their cartoons are also very familiar.
However it can be argued that episodes of He-Man and Bravestarr, in substance, and often animation, were pioneers of their time and paved the way for broader storytelling (e.g., He-Man's "The Problem With Power" dealt with He-Man believing he had killed an innocent bystander, "Teela's Quest" introduced a now famous mythology on The Sorceress being Teela's mother, whom she is heir to the mantle of safeguarding Grayskull, the versed continuity shared between He-Man and She-Ra, etc). Likewise, the scripts for , which were often by the same people who had written for the live-action version of the show, tended to be quite sophisticated, and garnered the franchise's first Emmy award.
There were very few original animated characters created by the studio. Two examples were Fraidy Cat, a timid feline who has lost 8 of his 9 lives, which come back to haunt him; and Wacky and Packy, a caveman and his pet mammoth (Packy as in pachyderm) who enter the modern age through a time warp. Both of these originally aired as segments of the ''Uncle Croc's Block'' show on ABC (hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly). Apparently the show did so poorly that ABC ceased ordering programs from Filmation. So in a period where ideas for cartoons had run dry (comedy was heavily scrutinized for violence, and everything else seemed to copy the popular Scooby Doo format), Filmation's strong point was its adaptations of popular TV shows. (The studio also reportedly wanted to do a ''M
★ A
★ S
★ H'' cartoon, but was turned down; leading them to do the canine ''M
★ U
★ S
★ H'' spoof, which was the third animated segment on ''Uncle Croc's Block'').
Filmations's other strong area (which, according to some, featured the most original concepts) was its live-action shows, including ''Space Academy'', its spin-off ''Jason of Star Command'', ''Ark II'', ''Shazam!'' (based on the DC Comics character Captain Marvel), and ''Isis''. Filmation also produced a live-action series called ''The Ghost Busters'' in 1975; following the release of an unrelated 1984 movie of almost the same name, Filmation capitalized on the momentum by producing a new cartoon based on their earlier series.
Also deserving mention was a special featuring several of Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' stars (paired with Filmation's own Groovie Goolies, a group of classic monsters). This aired on ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' in 1972. While most of the Warner Brothers characters were drawn well (veteran Warners animator Virgil Ross was working there at the time), and voiced by veteran voice actor Mel Blanc, the special is not liked by many fans of classic Warner Bros. animation because of its limited animation, as well as a weak storyline. This was not Filmation's last dalliance with classic cartoon characters; in the late 1970s the company produced new series based on the characters from the Terrytoons archive (''Mighty Mouse'' and ''Heckle & Jeckle'') and a new ''Tom & Jerry'' series as well.
Filmation also ventured into the feature film business. In fact, one of Filmation's first projects was ''Journey Back To Oz'', an animated sequel to the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz''. Begun in 1964, the project was held back for eight years when Filmation did not have enough money to finish the film. It was only after its successes with their other series that the company was profitable enough to complete "Journey" for theatrical release in 1972.
In their final years, Filmation produced feature film versions of their ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'' franchises, as well as unofficial animated sequels to other established films, such as ''Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night'' and ''Happily Ever After''.
Like other animation studios, Filmation had its stock company of voice-over actors. Some of the most famous included Dallas McKennon (best known as the voice of Archie), Adam West (who recreated his role as ''Batman'' for Filmation's 1977 animated incarnation), Jane Webb, and good friends and colleagues Ed Asner and Linda Gary (Gary voiced a majority of Filmation's work in the 1980s and 1990s), along with John Erwin (voice of Reggie Mantle, and later the voice of He-Man), Alan Oppenheimer (character actor in TV and film), George DiCenzo (John BlackStar; Hordak), Melendy Britt, Pat Fraley, Charlie Adler, Ed Gilbert, Susan Blu, Erika Scheimer (daughter of Lou Scheimer), and even Lou Scheimer himself (either uncredited, or under the pseudonym of "Erik (sometimes "Eric") Gunden").
According to the booklets accompanying some of the DVD's of Filmation's shows, legendary composer Ray Ellis (who was assisted by his son Marc Ellis[2]) had produced the background music for most Filmation series under the pseudonyms "Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael."[1] Yvette Blais was Ellis' wife, while "Jeff" and "Michael" were the names producer Norm Prescott's two sons. (It isn't clear what part Prescott played in the music other than hiring the composers and musicians). The full length features ''Treasure Island'' and ''Oliver Twist'' credit "''George'' Blais". Ellis' name does appear in Archie [3] and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch credits, and both "Ray Ellis", and "Jeff Michaels" appear side by side on "Groovie Goolies" credits, where "Ellis" is credited for "Sabrina background Music", and "Michaels" is credited for "Groovie Goolies background music".
Much of Ellis' background music in the early 70's had a distinct, richly orchestrated sound not found on many other made-for-TV cartoon series of that period; though as time went on, it became more synthesized. Ellis' work at the studio lasted from 1968 to 1982, and beginning with 1983's ''He Man'', Haim Saban produced the studio's music, along with the other studios he produced score for.
The Filmation studio was owned by The TelePrompTer Company in the early 1970s, then by Westinghouse (through its Group W Productions division) in 1982, though in 1988 it was purchased by the L'Oreal cosmetics company. L'Oreal promptly closed the studio on February 3 1989 and ended Filmation's legacy. Animation scholars and fans believe the studio was closed for tax purposes. Filmation's last production was the feature film ''Happily Ever After'' (an unofficial sequel to the story of Snow White), released to theaters in 1993. Also, at the time of the closing, two new animated TV shows, ''Bugzburg'' and ''Bravo'' (a spinoff of Bravestarr), were beginning production.
Since then, most of the Filmation back catalog has come under the ownership of Hallmark Cards, through their Hallmark Entertainment subsidiary; however, since a large amount of Filmation's output was based on characters licensed from other companies, many titles (also under Entertainment Rights ownership) are actually under the control of other studios (such as Paramount and Warner Bros.).
In March 2004, ownership of the Filmation back catalog which was under the ownership of Hallmark was sold to a British company called Entertainment Rights. Entertainment Rights have since made the revelation that when Hallmark converted all of their Filmation shows to digital format in the 1990s, only PAL-format copies were made, with the original film prints apparently discarded. This was due to Hallmark's previously unknown (but long suspected) short-sighted policy of only distributing Filmation shows outside of the United States. As a result, many of Entertainment Rights' DVD releases (distributed by BCI Eclipse in the United States) are based on the international versions (which have PAL prints). Because they were taken from PAL-based prints, without correction, these releases exhibit the so-called "PAL speedup" effect in which the soundtrack plays 4% too fast resulting in the pitch being a half-step higher than it was originally (see PAL and Telecine for more information). The exception appears to be at least four titles from ER's library: Groovie Goolies, Ark II, and both the live-action and animated "Ghostbusters" series. These series appear to have been sourced from their original NTSC prints for their U.S. release by BCI.
''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' was first released on DVD in Late 2004, first with a "best-of" collection, then later with collections of the first two seasons (each with an audio CD featuring songs from the show). Their Halloween and Christmas specials were also released on DVD. All ''Fat Albert'' DVDs are released in the US and Canada by Urban Works Entertainment. As of 2007, they are now out of print.
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - 5 Episodes - December 14th 2004
★ Fat Albert's Greatest Hits The Ultimate Collection - 20 Episodes - December 14th 2004
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 1 - Episodes 1-12 - March 8th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Easter Special - March 8th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Halloween Special - September 6th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Christmas Special - October 11th 2005
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 2 - Episodes 13-24 - October 11th 2005
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 3 - Episodes 25-36 - July 11th, 2006
''He-Man'' was distributed by BCI Eclipse as part of their Ink and Paint label in the fall of 2005 as ''The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (10 Episode Collector's Edition)''. Following the success and critical acclaim for this set, BCI Eclipse on January 16th 2006, struck a long-term exclusive deal with Entertainment Rights for distribution rights to their entire Filmation catalog (with the exception of the Archie series which was acquired by Genius Products). [4]
BCI Releases to Date:
★ The Best Of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Top 10 Collector's Edition' DVD Set July 12th 2005
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 1 Volume 1' October 18th 2005
★ He-Man And She-Ra A Christmas Special December 6th 2005
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 1 Volume 2' February 14th 2006
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 2 Volume 1' June 6th 2006
★ The Best Of She-Ra: Princess Of Power: 'Top 5 Episodes & "Secret Of The Sword" Collector's Edition' July 18th 2006
★ Flash Gordon – 'The Complete Series' July 18th 2006
★ Space Sentinels:' The Complete Series' + Freedom Force: 'The Complete Series' August 22nd 2006
★ Blackstar — T'he Complete Series' August 22nd 2006
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 2 Volume 2' September 19th 2006
★ Groovie Goolies — 'The Saturday "Mourning" Collection' October 24th 2006
★ Journey Back To Oz — Special Edition October 24th 2006
★ She-Ra: Princess Of Power: 'Season 1 Volume 1' November 7th 2006
★ Ark II – 'The Complete Series' November 7th 2006
★ Space Academy — 'The Complete Series' January 16th 2007
★ Ghost Busters: The Animated Series 'Volume 1' February 27th 2007
★ She-Ra: Princess of Power: 'Season 1, Volume 2' April 3rd 2007
★ The Ghost Busters: Live Action — 'The Complete Series' April 17th, 2007
★ Jason of Star Command — 'The Complete Series' May 8th, 2007
★ Mission Magic — 'The Complete Series' May 8th, 2007
★ Hero High — 'The Complete Series' May 22nd, 2007
★ Snow White: Happily Ever After: 'Special Edition' (feature film) June 5th, 2007
★ Ghost Busters: The Animated Series 'Volume 2' July 3rd, 2007
★ The Best of Bravestarr: 'Top 5 Episodes & Bravestarr: the Legend' July 3rd, 2007
★ The Secrets of Isis — 'The Complete Series' July 24th, 2007
★ She-Ra: Princess of Power: 'Season 2' September 4th, 2007
Upcoming BCI Releases:
★ TBD
Announced for 2007 but currently unscheduled
★ The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat 'Volume 1'
★ The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat 'Volume 2'
★ Zorro & The Lone Ranger 'Volume 1'
★ Zorro & The Lone Ranger 'Volume 2'
★ Bravestarr: 'Volume 1'
★ Bravestarr: 'Volume 2'
★ Fabulous Funnies — 'The Complete Series'
★ A Snow White Christmas
BCI has contracted Andy Mangels to produce Special Features content for about 40 DVD releases.[5]
On November 21st 2006 Paramount released a DVD collecting all 22 episodes of the Filmation-produced '', to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the ''Trek'' franchise.
★ Star Trek The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek - November 21st 2006
The rights to The Brady Kids also rest with Paramount (along with all other Brady Bunch media). However, there are currently no plans for a release of the series at this time. A potential release is also further complicated by the fact that one episode features an appearance by Wonder Woman, a character owned by Time Warner through its DC Comics subsidiary.
★ New Adventures of Superman - Season One - June 26th, 2007[6]
★ New Adventures of Batman (1977) - Complete Series - June 26th, 2007[7]
★ Adventures of Aquaman - Complete Series - October 23rd, 2007[8]
Warner Bros. has also released a single episode of ''Shazam!'', included as a bonus disc with the release of the third-season ''Wonder Woman'' DVD set. So far there is still no word on releases for The Gilligan’s Island/Planet, the original Batman animated series, or ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show''.
A DVD release of The Archie Show was released July 31st, 2007 by the partnership of Genius Products and The Weinstein Company.[9]
FOX presumably owns the rights to the Journey to The Center of the Earth and Fantastic Voyage TV series. However, there are currently no plans for a DVD release of either series, at this time.
★ ''The New Adventures of Superman'' (1966–1967 CBS)
★ ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'' (1967–1968 CBS)
★ ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1967 ABC)
★ ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1968 ABC)
★ ''Aquaman'' (1968 CBS)
★ ''The Archie Show'' (1968 CBS)
★ ''The Batman/Superman Hour'' (1968–1969 CBS)
★ ''The Archie Comedy Hour'' (1969 CBS)
★ ''The Adventures of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder'' (1969–1970 CBS)
★ ''The Hardy Boys'' (1969 ABC)
★ ''Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?'' (1970 ABC)
★ ''Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies'' (1970 CBS & ABC)
★ ''Archie's Funhouse'' (live-action/animation hybrid) (1970 CBS)
★ ''Sabrina The Teenage Witch'' (1971–1974 CBS)
★ ''Archie's TV Funnies'' (1971 CBS)
★ ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (1972 CBS)
★ ''The Brady Kids'' (1972–1974 ABC)
★ ''Lassie's Rescue Rangers'' (1973–1974 ABC)
★ '' (1973 NBC)
★ ''My Favorite Martians'' (1973 CBS)
★ '' (1973 ABC)
★ ''The U.S. of Archie'' (1974)
★ ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'' (1974 ABC)
★ ''Shazam!'' (live-action TV series) (1974 CBS)
★ ''The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty'' (1975 NBC)
★ ''The Secrets of Isis'' (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
★ ''The Ghost Busters'' (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
★ ''Uncle Croc's Block'' (1975 ABC) (featuring ''Fraidy Cat'', ''Wacky and Packy'', and ''M
★ U
★ S
★ H'')
★ ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' (1976 CBS)
★ ''Ark II'' (live-action TV series) (1976 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Batman'' (1977 CBS)
★ ''Space Academy'' (live-action TV series) (1977 CBS)
★ ''Space Sentinels'' (1977 NBC)
★ ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' (1978 CBS)
★ ''Fabulous Funnies'' (1978 NBC)
★ ''The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse with Heckle & Jeckle, & Quackula'' (1979 CBS)
★ ''Jason of Star Command'' (live-action TV series) (1979 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Flash Gordon'' (1979–1981 NBC)
★ ''The Brown Hornet'' (single segment on Fat Albert) (1979 CBS)
★ ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' (1980 CBS)
★ ''The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour'' (1980–1981 CBS)
★ ''Blackstar'' (1981 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Zorro'' (1981 CBS)
★ ''Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!'' (1981 NBC)
★ ''The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour'' (1981–1982 CBS)
★ ''Sport Billy'' (1982 NBC)
★ ''Gilligan's Planet'' (1982 CBS)
★ ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (1983–1985 Synd)
★ ''The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (1984–1985 Synd)
★ ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' (1985–1987 Synd)
★ ''The Original Ghostbusters (animated)'' (1986–1988 Synd)
★ ''Bravestarr'' (1987–1989 Synd)
★ List of Filmation titles at the Internet Movie Database
★ Entertainment Rights Official website
★ Official list of Filmation toons owned by Entertainment Rights
★ Lou Scheimer Productions Website of Lou Scheimer
★ Comic-Con - 2005 Guest: Lou Scheimer
★ Jim's Filmation Page
★ Unofficial Live-Action Filmation Appeciation Pages
★ International Hero - Filmation Cartoon Superheroes
★ Toon Tracker- Rod Rocket (Early History, with screenshots from prenatal "SIB Productions" shows)
★ Guide To Animated Star Trek - Filmation Associates
★ Animated Views - A Fond Look Back At Filmation (Part 1) (October 31, 2004)
★ Animated Views - A Fond Look Back At Filmation (Part 2) (November 13, 2004)
★ LouScheimerProductions.com - My Dad: The Trend Setter (Archive)
★ TAG Blog - The Largest Animation Studio (in 1985) (April 30, 2006)
★ He-Man.org - Playthings: Lou Scheimer Interview (June 1987)
★ The Unofficial Isis Appeciation Page - Lou Scheimer Interview (July 2002)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 1) (June 28, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 2) (July 5, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 3) (July 12, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 4) (July 18, 2006)
★ Masters Cast - Comic-Con: Lou & Erika Scheimer Interview (Quicktime) (July 30, 2006)
★ Animation World Magazine - Lou Scheimer Interview (November 7, 2006)
★ Two Morrows - Bruce Timm Interview
★ Platypus Comix - Tom Ruegger Interview
★ X-Entertainment - Larry DiTillio Interview
★ Retro Crush - David Teague Interview
★ Phase II - Jackson Bostwick Interview
★ He-Man.org - Bob Foward Interview (September 1997)
★ Animation World Magazine - Robby London (October 1997)
★ Louis Kessler - Robby London Interview (April 1998)
★ Small Art Works - Chuck Comisky Interview (August 1999)
★ The Unoffical Disney Archive - Ellen Woodbury Interview (October 29, 2003)
★ TVShowsOnDVD.com - David Gerrold Interview (July 26, 2004)
★ The Unoffical Disney Archive - Glen Keane Interview (August 22, 1990)
★ Disney History Network - Glen Keane Interview (May 2, 1997)
★ Shaun’s Quadrant - He-Man DVD Staff Interviews: Andy Mangels, Jeff Hayne, James Eatock, Val Staples, and Casey Nolan (February 2006)
★ Comic Book Bin - Jeff Hayne Interview (May 29, 2006)
1. Mangels, Andy, DVD booklets for Space Sentinels/The Freedom Force, Hero High, The Ghost Busters, Space Academy, Jason of Star Command, and The Secrets of Isis
The first Filmation logo.
'Filmation Associates' was an American production company that produced animation for television during the later half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963. During a period lasting from the 1960s through the 1980s, the only real competitors to Hanna-Barbera Productions in the field of TV cartoons were Filmation and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Filmation's founders and principal producers were Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott.
A trademark of the company's productions beginning in the early 1970s was a rotating "Produced by" (and on some shows, "Executive Producers") credit seen in the end credits (and in later productions, the opening sequences) of Filmation programs, a device that was supposedly created to allow them to share equal billing (previously, Scheimer's name was placed above Prescott's), although later Filmation productions credited only Scheimer, in the form of his signature ("Lou Scheimer, Executive Producer"), starting with 1982's ''Gilligan's Planet''.
Many of its shows—particularly the productions of the late 1970s and 1980s—are notable for imparting a simple moral or life-lesson (explained by a key character, in a child-friendly manner) in the epilogue.
Origins
Lou Scheimer and Filmation's main director, Hal Sutherland met while working at Larry Harmon Pictures on the made-for-TV Bozo and Popeye cartoons. Eventually Larry Harmon closed the studio. 'SIB Productions', a Japanese firm with U.S. offices in Chicago, approached Scheimer and Sutherland about producing a cartoon called 'Rod Rocket'. The two agreed to take on the work and also took on a project for 'Family Films', owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, for ten short animated films based on the life of Christ. The project enabled Scheimer and Sutherland to finance their own small Los Angeles animation studio 'True Line'. Paramount Pictures soon purchased SIB Productions, and True Line's staff increased; including the arrival of former radio disc-jockey Norm Prescott, who became a partner in the firm. He had already been working on the animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space which was soon released by a Belgian company, and also brought in the Journey Back To Oz project, which would be released over ten years later by Filmation. Both Rod Rocket and the life of Christ series credited "Filmation Associates" with "Production Design" in addition to Scheimer and Sutherland as directors; but True Line was not officially changed into the Filmation Associates corporation until Rod Rocket entered syndication in 1963. [1]
(SIB Productions, whose logo bore a resemblance to the original Filmation logo, would soon go on to become "Sib-Tower 12 Productions" and produce the first few of Chuck Jones' Tom & Jerry films for MGM, until becoming MGM Animation/Visual Arts for the remainder of the films).
The new Filmation studio would for the next few years make TV commercials, until approached by CBS executive Fred Silverman to do a Superman cartoon. This premiered in 1966, and was followed by several of the other DC Comics heroes, and then in 1968, the first Archie show. Both series greatly helped Filmation's popularity to increase, into the 1970s, when it really scored big with several of its shows (see below).
Animation style
A layout artist working on a key-frame of animation for ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''. This was a typical working desk for animators, layout artists, and background designers at Filmation in 1983.
Artist: Lindsay Dawson
Artist: Lindsay Dawson
Quality issues
Filmation has a reputation for exploiting the technique of limited animation to produce a number of animated series with a distinct look. They made heavy use of rotoscoping, and they also re-used the same animated sequences over and over, many times, to the point where the Filmation style was instantly recognizable (and often despised by TV critics and animation scholars). The studio is noteworthy for refusing to rely upon animation studios outside the United States for the bulk of its production. However, many praise Filmation for the quality of its artwork, particularly its lavish background paintings. (One Filmation trademark was the recurring use of long establishing shots in which the camera would pan slowly across a very wide background painting, thus filling up screen time with sequences requiring little or no animation.) Filmation also pioneered novel animation technologies, particularly in ''Flash Gordon'', which included moire effects to represent energy fields and a unique method of generating 3-D vehicle animation by filming black-outlined white miniatures against white backgrounds and printing the film to produce animation cels that were then hand-painted; a similar technique was featured in He-Man (and later She-Ra).
Characters, as well as plots, seemed formulaic and repetitive. For example, most episodes of ''Ghost Busters'' had the same scheme (Bad guys develop an evil plan, the heroes are needed but always absent, Ghost Buggy the talking car complains about their dangerous position, Tracey the Gorilla pulls out of his back pack exactly the miscellaneous item the Ghost Buster needs in a moment of despair, Eddie doing a number of clumsy/stupid things etc.) Many of the sounds and explosion effects used in their cartoons are also very familiar.
However it can be argued that episodes of He-Man and Bravestarr, in substance, and often animation, were pioneers of their time and paved the way for broader storytelling (e.g., He-Man's "The Problem With Power" dealt with He-Man believing he had killed an innocent bystander, "Teela's Quest" introduced a now famous mythology on The Sorceress being Teela's mother, whom she is heir to the mantle of safeguarding Grayskull, the versed continuity shared between He-Man and She-Ra, etc). Likewise, the scripts for , which were often by the same people who had written for the live-action version of the show, tended to be quite sophisticated, and garnered the franchise's first Emmy award.
Original characters
There were very few original animated characters created by the studio. Two examples were Fraidy Cat, a timid feline who has lost 8 of his 9 lives, which come back to haunt him; and Wacky and Packy, a caveman and his pet mammoth (Packy as in pachyderm) who enter the modern age through a time warp. Both of these originally aired as segments of the ''Uncle Croc's Block'' show on ABC (hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly). Apparently the show did so poorly that ABC ceased ordering programs from Filmation. So in a period where ideas for cartoons had run dry (comedy was heavily scrutinized for violence, and everything else seemed to copy the popular Scooby Doo format), Filmation's strong point was its adaptations of popular TV shows. (The studio also reportedly wanted to do a ''M
★ A
★ S
★ H'' cartoon, but was turned down; leading them to do the canine ''M
★ U
★ S
★ H'' spoof, which was the third animated segment on ''Uncle Croc's Block'').
Live-action shows
Filmations's other strong area (which, according to some, featured the most original concepts) was its live-action shows, including ''Space Academy'', its spin-off ''Jason of Star Command'', ''Ark II'', ''Shazam!'' (based on the DC Comics character Captain Marvel), and ''Isis''. Filmation also produced a live-action series called ''The Ghost Busters'' in 1975; following the release of an unrelated 1984 movie of almost the same name, Filmation capitalized on the momentum by producing a new cartoon based on their earlier series.
Looney Tunes/Groovie Goolies crossover
Also deserving mention was a special featuring several of Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' stars (paired with Filmation's own Groovie Goolies, a group of classic monsters). This aired on ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' in 1972. While most of the Warner Brothers characters were drawn well (veteran Warners animator Virgil Ross was working there at the time), and voiced by veteran voice actor Mel Blanc, the special is not liked by many fans of classic Warner Bros. animation because of its limited animation, as well as a weak storyline. This was not Filmation's last dalliance with classic cartoon characters; in the late 1970s the company produced new series based on the characters from the Terrytoons archive (''Mighty Mouse'' and ''Heckle & Jeckle'') and a new ''Tom & Jerry'' series as well.
Feature Films
Filmation also ventured into the feature film business. In fact, one of Filmation's first projects was ''Journey Back To Oz'', an animated sequel to the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz''. Begun in 1964, the project was held back for eight years when Filmation did not have enough money to finish the film. It was only after its successes with their other series that the company was profitable enough to complete "Journey" for theatrical release in 1972.
In their final years, Filmation produced feature film versions of their ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'' franchises, as well as unofficial animated sequels to other established films, such as ''Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night'' and ''Happily Ever After''.
Voice Talent
Like other animation studios, Filmation had its stock company of voice-over actors. Some of the most famous included Dallas McKennon (best known as the voice of Archie), Adam West (who recreated his role as ''Batman'' for Filmation's 1977 animated incarnation), Jane Webb, and good friends and colleagues Ed Asner and Linda Gary (Gary voiced a majority of Filmation's work in the 1980s and 1990s), along with John Erwin (voice of Reggie Mantle, and later the voice of He-Man), Alan Oppenheimer (character actor in TV and film), George DiCenzo (John BlackStar; Hordak), Melendy Britt, Pat Fraley, Charlie Adler, Ed Gilbert, Susan Blu, Erika Scheimer (daughter of Lou Scheimer), and even Lou Scheimer himself (either uncredited, or under the pseudonym of "Erik (sometimes "Eric") Gunden").
Background Musical Talent
According to the booklets accompanying some of the DVD's of Filmation's shows, legendary composer Ray Ellis (who was assisted by his son Marc Ellis[2]) had produced the background music for most Filmation series under the pseudonyms "Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael."[1] Yvette Blais was Ellis' wife, while "Jeff" and "Michael" were the names producer Norm Prescott's two sons. (It isn't clear what part Prescott played in the music other than hiring the composers and musicians). The full length features ''Treasure Island'' and ''Oliver Twist'' credit "''George'' Blais". Ellis' name does appear in Archie [3] and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch credits, and both "Ray Ellis", and "Jeff Michaels" appear side by side on "Groovie Goolies" credits, where "Ellis" is credited for "Sabrina background Music", and "Michaels" is credited for "Groovie Goolies background music".
Much of Ellis' background music in the early 70's had a distinct, richly orchestrated sound not found on many other made-for-TV cartoon series of that period; though as time went on, it became more synthesized. Ellis' work at the studio lasted from 1968 to 1982, and beginning with 1983's ''He Man'', Haim Saban produced the studio's music, along with the other studios he produced score for.
Final logo
Ownership
The Filmation studio was owned by The TelePrompTer Company in the early 1970s, then by Westinghouse (through its Group W Productions division) in 1982, though in 1988 it was purchased by the L'Oreal cosmetics company. L'Oreal promptly closed the studio on February 3 1989 and ended Filmation's legacy. Animation scholars and fans believe the studio was closed for tax purposes. Filmation's last production was the feature film ''Happily Ever After'' (an unofficial sequel to the story of Snow White), released to theaters in 1993. Also, at the time of the closing, two new animated TV shows, ''Bugzburg'' and ''Bravo'' (a spinoff of Bravestarr), were beginning production.
Since then, most of the Filmation back catalog has come under the ownership of Hallmark Cards, through their Hallmark Entertainment subsidiary; however, since a large amount of Filmation's output was based on characters licensed from other companies, many titles (also under Entertainment Rights ownership) are actually under the control of other studios (such as Paramount and Warner Bros.).
In March 2004, ownership of the Filmation back catalog which was under the ownership of Hallmark was sold to a British company called Entertainment Rights. Entertainment Rights have since made the revelation that when Hallmark converted all of their Filmation shows to digital format in the 1990s, only PAL-format copies were made, with the original film prints apparently discarded. This was due to Hallmark's previously unknown (but long suspected) short-sighted policy of only distributing Filmation shows outside of the United States. As a result, many of Entertainment Rights' DVD releases (distributed by BCI Eclipse in the United States) are based on the international versions (which have PAL prints). Because they were taken from PAL-based prints, without correction, these releases exhibit the so-called "PAL speedup" effect in which the soundtrack plays 4% too fast resulting in the pitch being a half-step higher than it was originally (see PAL and Telecine for more information). The exception appears to be at least four titles from ER's library: Groovie Goolies, Ark II, and both the live-action and animated "Ghostbusters" series. These series appear to have been sourced from their original NTSC prints for their U.S. release by BCI.
Filmation on DVD
Urban Works Entertainment
''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' was first released on DVD in Late 2004, first with a "best-of" collection, then later with collections of the first two seasons (each with an audio CD featuring songs from the show). Their Halloween and Christmas specials were also released on DVD. All ''Fat Albert'' DVDs are released in the US and Canada by Urban Works Entertainment. As of 2007, they are now out of print.
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - 5 Episodes - December 14th 2004
★ Fat Albert's Greatest Hits The Ultimate Collection - 20 Episodes - December 14th 2004
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 1 - Episodes 1-12 - March 8th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Easter Special - March 8th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Halloween Special - September 6th 2005
★ Fat Albert's Christmas Special - October 11th 2005
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 2 - Episodes 13-24 - October 11th 2005
★ Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 3 - Episodes 25-36 - July 11th, 2006
BCI's Ink and Paint
''He-Man'' was distributed by BCI Eclipse as part of their Ink and Paint label in the fall of 2005 as ''The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (10 Episode Collector's Edition)''. Following the success and critical acclaim for this set, BCI Eclipse on January 16th 2006, struck a long-term exclusive deal with Entertainment Rights for distribution rights to their entire Filmation catalog (with the exception of the Archie series which was acquired by Genius Products). [4]
BCI Releases to Date:
★ The Best Of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Top 10 Collector's Edition' DVD Set July 12th 2005
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 1 Volume 1' October 18th 2005
★ He-Man And She-Ra A Christmas Special December 6th 2005
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 1 Volume 2' February 14th 2006
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 2 Volume 1' June 6th 2006
★ The Best Of She-Ra: Princess Of Power: 'Top 5 Episodes & "Secret Of The Sword" Collector's Edition' July 18th 2006
★ Flash Gordon – 'The Complete Series' July 18th 2006
★ Space Sentinels:' The Complete Series' + Freedom Force: 'The Complete Series' August 22nd 2006
★ Blackstar — T'he Complete Series' August 22nd 2006
★ He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe: 'Season 2 Volume 2' September 19th 2006
★ Groovie Goolies — 'The Saturday "Mourning" Collection' October 24th 2006
★ Journey Back To Oz — Special Edition October 24th 2006
★ She-Ra: Princess Of Power: 'Season 1 Volume 1' November 7th 2006
★ Ark II – 'The Complete Series' November 7th 2006
★ Space Academy — 'The Complete Series' January 16th 2007
★ Ghost Busters: The Animated Series 'Volume 1' February 27th 2007
★ She-Ra: Princess of Power: 'Season 1, Volume 2' April 3rd 2007
★ The Ghost Busters: Live Action — 'The Complete Series' April 17th, 2007
★ Jason of Star Command — 'The Complete Series' May 8th, 2007
★ Mission Magic — 'The Complete Series' May 8th, 2007
★ Hero High — 'The Complete Series' May 22nd, 2007
★ Snow White: Happily Ever After: 'Special Edition' (feature film) June 5th, 2007
★ Ghost Busters: The Animated Series 'Volume 2' July 3rd, 2007
★ The Best of Bravestarr: 'Top 5 Episodes & Bravestarr: the Legend' July 3rd, 2007
★ The Secrets of Isis — 'The Complete Series' July 24th, 2007
★ She-Ra: Princess of Power: 'Season 2' September 4th, 2007
Upcoming BCI Releases:
★ TBD
Announced for 2007 but currently unscheduled
★ The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat 'Volume 1'
★ The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat 'Volume 2'
★ Zorro & The Lone Ranger 'Volume 1'
★ Zorro & The Lone Ranger 'Volume 2'
★ Bravestarr: 'Volume 1'
★ Bravestarr: 'Volume 2'
★ Fabulous Funnies — 'The Complete Series'
★ A Snow White Christmas
BCI has contracted Andy Mangels to produce Special Features content for about 40 DVD releases.[5]
Paramount
On November 21st 2006 Paramount released a DVD collecting all 22 episodes of the Filmation-produced '', to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the ''Trek'' franchise.
★ Star Trek The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek - November 21st 2006
The rights to The Brady Kids also rest with Paramount (along with all other Brady Bunch media). However, there are currently no plans for a release of the series at this time. A potential release is also further complicated by the fact that one episode features an appearance by Wonder Woman, a character owned by Time Warner through its DC Comics subsidiary.
Warner Bros.
★ New Adventures of Superman - Season One - June 26th, 2007[6]
★ New Adventures of Batman (1977) - Complete Series - June 26th, 2007[7]
★ Adventures of Aquaman - Complete Series - October 23rd, 2007[8]
Warner Bros. has also released a single episode of ''Shazam!'', included as a bonus disc with the release of the third-season ''Wonder Woman'' DVD set. So far there is still no word on releases for The Gilligan’s Island/Planet, the original Batman animated series, or ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show''.
Genius Products/The Weinstein Company
A DVD release of The Archie Show was released July 31st, 2007 by the partnership of Genius Products and The Weinstein Company.[9]
FOX
FOX presumably owns the rights to the Journey to The Center of the Earth and Fantastic Voyage TV series. However, there are currently no plans for a DVD release of either series, at this time.
Filmation series
1960s
★ ''The New Adventures of Superman'' (1966–1967 CBS)
★ ''The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure'' (1967–1968 CBS)
★ ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1967 ABC)
★ ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1968 ABC)
★ ''Aquaman'' (1968 CBS)
★ ''The Archie Show'' (1968 CBS)
★ ''The Batman/Superman Hour'' (1968–1969 CBS)
★ ''The Archie Comedy Hour'' (1969 CBS)
★ ''The Adventures of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder'' (1969–1970 CBS)
★ ''The Hardy Boys'' (1969 ABC)
1970s
★ ''Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?'' (1970 ABC)
★ ''Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies'' (1970 CBS & ABC)
★ ''Archie's Funhouse'' (live-action/animation hybrid) (1970 CBS)
★ ''Sabrina The Teenage Witch'' (1971–1974 CBS)
★ ''Archie's TV Funnies'' (1971 CBS)
★ ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (1972 CBS)
★ ''The Brady Kids'' (1972–1974 ABC)
★ ''Lassie's Rescue Rangers'' (1973–1974 ABC)
★ '' (1973 NBC)
★ ''My Favorite Martians'' (1973 CBS)
★ '' (1973 ABC)
★ ''The U.S. of Archie'' (1974)
★ ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'' (1974 ABC)
★ ''Shazam!'' (live-action TV series) (1974 CBS)
★ ''The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty'' (1975 NBC)
★ ''The Secrets of Isis'' (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
★ ''The Ghost Busters'' (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
★ ''Uncle Croc's Block'' (1975 ABC) (featuring ''Fraidy Cat'', ''Wacky and Packy'', and ''M
★ U
★ S
★ H'')
★ ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' (1976 CBS)
★ ''Ark II'' (live-action TV series) (1976 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Batman'' (1977 CBS)
★ ''Space Academy'' (live-action TV series) (1977 CBS)
★ ''Space Sentinels'' (1977 NBC)
★ ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' (1978 CBS)
★ ''Fabulous Funnies'' (1978 NBC)
★ ''The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse with Heckle & Jeckle, & Quackula'' (1979 CBS)
★ ''Jason of Star Command'' (live-action TV series) (1979 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Flash Gordon'' (1979–1981 NBC)
★ ''The Brown Hornet'' (single segment on Fat Albert) (1979 CBS)
1980s
★ ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' (1980 CBS)
★ ''The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour'' (1980–1981 CBS)
★ ''Blackstar'' (1981 CBS)
★ ''The New Adventures of Zorro'' (1981 CBS)
★ ''Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!'' (1981 NBC)
★ ''The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour'' (1981–1982 CBS)
★ ''Sport Billy'' (1982 NBC)
★ ''Gilligan's Planet'' (1982 CBS)
★ ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' (1983–1985 Synd)
★ ''The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' (1984–1985 Synd)
★ ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' (1985–1987 Synd)
★ ''The Original Ghostbusters (animated)'' (1986–1988 Synd)
★ ''Bravestarr'' (1987–1989 Synd)
External links
★ List of Filmation titles at the Internet Movie Database
★ Entertainment Rights Official website
★ Official list of Filmation toons owned by Entertainment Rights
★ Lou Scheimer Productions Website of Lou Scheimer
★ Comic-Con - 2005 Guest: Lou Scheimer
★ Jim's Filmation Page
★ Unofficial Live-Action Filmation Appeciation Pages
★ International Hero - Filmation Cartoon Superheroes
History
★ Toon Tracker- Rod Rocket (Early History, with screenshots from prenatal "SIB Productions" shows)
★ Guide To Animated Star Trek - Filmation Associates
★ Animated Views - A Fond Look Back At Filmation (Part 1) (October 31, 2004)
★ Animated Views - A Fond Look Back At Filmation (Part 2) (November 13, 2004)
★ LouScheimerProductions.com - My Dad: The Trend Setter (Archive)
★ TAG Blog - The Largest Animation Studio (in 1985) (April 30, 2006)
Lou Scheimer Interviews
★ He-Man.org - Playthings: Lou Scheimer Interview (June 1987)
★ The Unofficial Isis Appeciation Page - Lou Scheimer Interview (July 2002)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 1) (June 28, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 2) (July 5, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 3) (July 12, 2006)
★ Newsarama - Lou Scheimer Interview (Pt. 4) (July 18, 2006)
★ Masters Cast - Comic-Con: Lou & Erika Scheimer Interview (Quicktime) (July 30, 2006)
★ Animation World Magazine - Lou Scheimer Interview (November 7, 2006)
Former Staff Interviews
★ Two Morrows - Bruce Timm Interview
★ Platypus Comix - Tom Ruegger Interview
★ X-Entertainment - Larry DiTillio Interview
★ Retro Crush - David Teague Interview
★ Phase II - Jackson Bostwick Interview
★ He-Man.org - Bob Foward Interview (September 1997)
★ Animation World Magazine - Robby London (October 1997)
★ Louis Kessler - Robby London Interview (April 1998)
★ Small Art Works - Chuck Comisky Interview (August 1999)
★ The Unoffical Disney Archive - Ellen Woodbury Interview (October 29, 2003)
★ TVShowsOnDVD.com - David Gerrold Interview (July 26, 2004)
★ The Unoffical Disney Archive - Glen Keane Interview (August 22, 1990)
★ Disney History Network - Glen Keane Interview (May 2, 1997)
DVD Staff Interviews
★ Shaun’s Quadrant - He-Man DVD Staff Interviews: Andy Mangels, Jeff Hayne, James Eatock, Val Staples, and Casey Nolan (February 2006)
★ Comic Book Bin - Jeff Hayne Interview (May 29, 2006)
1. Mangels, Andy, DVD booklets for Space Sentinels/The Freedom Force, Hero High, The Ghost Busters, Space Academy, Jason of Star Command, and The Secrets of Isis
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