Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and principal producers were Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Norm Prescott.

Background

Lou Scheimer and Filmation's main director Hal Sutherland met in 1957 while working at

Larry Harmon Pictures Larry Harmon Pictures was the production company of Larry Harmon, the owner of the characters ''Bozo the Clown'' and ''Laurel & Hardy''. Lou Scheimer was an art director for Larry Harmon Pictures during its brief foray into animated television. ...

on the made-for-TV ''

Bozo Bozo or bozo may refer to: People *Bozo people, a fishing people of the central Niger delta in Mali **Bozo language, languages of the Bozo people * Frédéric Bozo, history Professor at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle *Bozo Miller ...

'' and '' Popeye'' cartoons. Eventually Larry Harmon closed the studio by 1961. Scheimer and Sutherland went to work at a small company called True Line, one of whose owners was Marcus Lipsky, who then owned Reddi-wip whipped cream. SIB Productions, a Japanese firm with U.S. offices in Chicago, approached them about producing a cartoon called ''

Rod Rocket ''Rod Rocket'' is the first animated cartoon with production credited to Filmation, debuting in syndication in 1963. The show was produced in five-minute cliffhanger segments, with five segments making a full story. Television stations could broad ...

''. The two agreed to take on the work and also took on a project for Family Films, owned by the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

, for ten short animated films based on the life of Christ.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

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 ''Pinocchio in Outer Space'' is a 1965 Belgian-American animated science-fantasy film which sets Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio character on a rocketship adventure. Peter Lazer performs the voice of Pinocchio. It was produced by Ray Goossens at Belvis ...

'' which was primarily produced by Belvision Studios.

History

They eventually left True Line, and Scheimer began working on commercials, including for Gillette and others, which began what became Filmation. He met lawyer Ira Epstein, who had worked for Harmon but had left the firm, and now put together the new corporation with Scheimer and Sutherland. It officially became Filmation Associates as of September 1962, so named because "We were working on film, but doing animation"; so putting them together yielded the portmanteau "Filmation". Both ''Rod Rocket'' and the ''Life of Christ'' series credited "Filmation Associates" with "Production Design" in addition to Scheimer and Sutherland as directors. (SIB Productions, whose logo bore a resemblance to the original Filmation logo designed by Ted Littlefield, would soon go on to become "Sib-Tower 12 Productions" and produce the first few of

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

' '' Tom and Jerry'' films for MGM, until becoming MGM Animation/Visual Arts for the remainder of the films). Norm Prescott brought in Filmation's first major project, '' Journey Back to Oz'', an animated sequel to the MGM film ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

'' (1939). Begun in 1962, storyboarding, voice recording, and most of the music scoring and animation had been completed when financial challenges caused the project to be put on hold for nearly eight years. In the meantime, the new Filmation studio turned their attention to a more successful medium, network television. For the next few years they made television commercials and some other projects for other companies and made an unsuccessful pilot film for a Marx Brothers cartoon series. They also tried to develop an original series named ''The Adventures of Stanley Stoutheart'' (later renamed ''Yank and Doodle'') about a boy and a dog, but they were never able to sell it and almost closed down; until approached by DC Comics editor Mort Weisinger to do a ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' cartoon. This premiered on September 10, 1966, and was followed by several of the other DC superheroes, and then, in 1968, the first '' Archie Show''. Both series greatly helped Filmation's popularity to increase into the 1970s, when it scored big with several of its series. The Filmation studio was purchased by the TelePrompTer Corporation in 1969. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, through its Group W Productions division, acquired Filmation along with its purchase of TelePrompTer's cable and entertainment properties in 1981."Group W sells Filmation." ''Broadcasting'', February 13, 1989, pg. 94
/ref> In 1971, Filmation and Warner Bros. signed an agreement to distribute cartoons for film and television. Filmation's last production was the feature film '' Happily Ever After'' (a sequel to the story of Snow White), released to theaters five years later in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Also, at the time of the closing, two new animated series, ''Bugzburg'' (a spin-off of ''Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night'', concerning insect characters who had shown up in that movie) and ''Bravo'' (a spin-off of ''BraveStarr''), were beginning production. In 1989, Westinghouse sold Filmation to Paravision International, an investment consortium led by the French cosmetics company L'Oréal. Before that sale was complete, Westinghouse shuttered the film studio on February 3, 1989, which left L'Oréal with only the Filmation library. This happened a day before the WARN Act went into effect requiring companies to give employees 60 days' notice before a mass layoff.

Film library ownership

The studio's intellectual property assets have changed hands on a number of occasions. The in-house productions (''Archie'', ''Fat Albert'', etc.), which form a majority of the Filmation back catalog, were sold to Hallmark Cards in 1995, and were managed by its Hallmark Entertainment subsidiary. However, since the rest of Filmation's output was based on characters licensed from other companies, such titles are under the control of other studios (such as CBS Media Ventures and Warner Bros., via DC Comics and Turner Entertainment Co.). In March 2004, ownership of the Filmation in-house library, which was under the ownership of Hallmark, was sold to

Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formally known as Sleepy Kids) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialized in TV-shows and cartoons, children’s media, films, and distribution. In May 2009, the company was ...

. Entertainment Rights has since made the revelation that when Hallmark converted all of its Filmation series to digital format in the 1990s, only PAL-format copies were made, with the original film negatives and print rolls apparently discarded, as well as the original sound masters and other archival material belonging to Filmation. This was due to Hallmark's previously unstated (but long-suspected) short-sighted policy of only distributing Filmation's in-house shows outside of the United States. As a result, many of Entertainment Rights' DVD releases (distributed by BCI Eclipse LLC in the United States prior to the latter company's folding) were based on the international versions (which have PAL prints). Because they were taken from PAL-based transfers, without correction, these releases exhibit the so-called 576i speedup effect in which the soundtrack plays 4% too fast, which results in the pitch being a half-step higher than it was originally (see PAL and Telecine for more information). PAL- NTSC conversion artifacts also include softness and ghosting. The exception appears to be at least three titles from ER's library: ''Groovie Goolies'', '' Ark II'', and the animated ''Ghostbusters'' series. These series appear to have been sourced from original NTSC transfers for their U.S. release by BCI. The live-action series was, unlike most Filmation shows, shot on NTSC format tape (rather than film), so even if those did come from PAL masters, they would not have exhibited 576i speedup, as that only applies to material sourced from film masters. Other exceptions included the shows which were licensed properties, such as ''

Star Trek: The Animated Series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' (''TAS''), is an American animated science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired under the title simply as ''Star Trek'', subtitled ''Created by Gene Roddenberry'', on Satu ...

'', which was owned by

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

(now

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

, which is now part of Paramount Global since 2019), and ''Shazam!'' (owned by Warner Bros./DC Comics), because the master elements for those shows were turned over to the owners of those licensed properties years before the sale to Hallmark. On April 1, 2009, it was announced that Entertainment Rights would be acquired by Boomerang Media and on May 11, 2009, it was announced that the subsidiaries and offices of Entertainment Rights would be absorbed under the name Classic Media. In 2012, it was announced that Classic Media, owner of the Filmation library, would be acquired by

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

. DreamWorks Animation and its programming library, including those of Filmation (not including shows whose rights are owned by other companies, such as '' The New Adventures of Gilligan'' and ''Star Trek: The Animated Series''), would later be acquired on August 22, 2016, by Universal Studios for $3.8 billion. Filmation cartoons have been widely syndicated, and many are available from video streaming services. Four Filmation programs from 1983 to 1988 were also rebroadcast on Qubo's "Night Owl" programming block.

Animation style

As with other producers of Saturday-morning cartoons, Filmation was more concerned with quantity rather than quality; however, it 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 its animated adaptation ''

'', 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 Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'', originally intended as a movie for theatrical release, '' Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All''. The original film edit was only aired three times on NBC, years after the series was cancelled. '' Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' was another hailed series created by and starring Bill Cosby with an explicit educational focus. '' He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'', based on the popular line of Mattel toys, opened up a new North American market for first-run television syndication for animation in the 1980s. The animated adaptations of the

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.pop music produced for it, particularly the song " Sugar, Sugar", which was a No. 1 hit single. In addition, certain episodes of ''He-Man'' and '' BraveStarr'', in substance, and often animation, were pioneers in children's animated series of their time and paved the way for broader storytelling. Examples include He-Man's "The Problem with Power" which dealt with He-Man believing he had killed an innocent bystander. Another is "Teela's Quest" which introduced a now-famous mythology on the Sorceress being Teela's mother, who is thus the heir to the mantle of safeguarding Grayskull, the versed continuity shared between He-Man and She-Ra, among others. Other notable examples include the ''BraveStarr'' episode "The Price", which includes the death of a character due to drug addiction. The 1985 ''Fat Albert'' episode "Busted" was a direct homage to the primetime '' Scared Straight!'' specials. A first for American children's cartoons, the original airing of this episode included mild profanity that has, however, been edited out of re-airings and home video versions. Likewise, the scripts for ''Star Trek'', which were often written by the same people who had written for the live-action version of the series, tended to be quite sophisticated, and garnered the first

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for the franchise.

Quality

Filmation had a reputation for exploiting the technique of limited animation to produce a number of animated series with a distinct look. It made heavy use of

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

in later years (beginning with its '' Tarzan'' and ''

'' series). It also re-used the same animated sequences over and over, many times, to the point where the Filmation style was instantly recognizable. One example of this can be seen in She-Ra's and He-Man's transformation sequences. Filmation's animation often had a poor quality look, due to the limiting of the number of frames per second (fps) to fewer than the standard 24 fps seen on film or 25/30 fps seen on video. Frames would be repeated to compensate for the deficiency, resulting in a jerky and cheap look. This frequent use of stock footage saved production money, but often resulted in sacrifice of continuity. This was countered by cutting from one stock shot to another after only a second or two, long enough to set the scene but before the eye could notice all of the unexplained errors. This became part of the Filmation style during a period when most television and motion picture productions tended to run minimum shots of 4–5 seconds. In contrast to the rapid

jump cut A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera posit ...

s during action sequences, another 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 other animation technologies, particularly in ''Flash Gordon'', which included backlighting effects for the first time in American animation (they were already in use in Japan), including moire effects to represent energy fields (a technique that was later used in ''He-Man'' and in ''She-Ra''). It also pioneered a unique method of generating 3-D vehicle animation by filming white-outlined black miniatures against black backgrounds using a computerized motion-control camera and high-contrast film, then printing the negatives onto acetate frame-by-frame, to create animation cels which were then hand-painted. This produced a three-dimensional effect that had been used by Disney in films such as '' One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' previously. It predated the modern use of 3-D

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

for vehicles in 2-D animated productions. However, it had a distinctive "flicker" to it, because some of the painted lines went in and out of visibility as the miniatures moved. Unlike many American studios, Filmation never relied on animation studios outside the United States for the bulk of its production; '' Ghostbusters'' and ''BraveStarr'' both state in the ending credits that they were "made entirely in the U.S.A." This occurred during a time when rival studio Hanna-Barbera shifted from saying in the final production credits (immediately before the production logo appearances) "A Hanna-Barbera Production" to "Produced in Association with: Wang Film Productions / Cuckoo's Nest Studios" which is located in Taiwan (along with H-B's own Philippines-based Fil-Cartoons). The quality of Filmation's "Made Entirely in the U.S.A." strategy was comparable to the outsourced animation. Filmation did, however, rely on outsourcing once, when the company created its animated '' Zorro'' series. It was animated by

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...

of Japan; however, the storyboards and graphics were made by Filmation itself. Filmation is also noteworthy for its background paintings under the direction of long-time department head Erv Kaplan, such as the purple-colored "night sky" backgrounds used in ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra''. Characters, as well as plots, were typically run-of-the-mill for the time. For example, most episodes of ''Ghostbusters'' 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, Tracy the Gorilla pulls out of his back pack exactly the miscellaneous item the Ghostbuster needs in a moment of despair, Eddie doing a number of clumsy/stupid things, etc.); although as previously mentioned, Filmation made various attempts to rise above the norm. Many of the sound effects used in its cartoons are also very familiar, the majority of them being recycled from Hanna-Barbera (this was, and still is, a common trait among animation companies, though Filmation's copies of the Hanna-Barbera sound effects were of a distinctively lower quality), though the company's DC Comics cartoons of 1966–67 used more realistic sound effects. Filmation received particular criticism for ''

Lassie's Rescue Rangers ''Lassie's Rescue Rangers'' is an animated TV show produced by Filmation and featuring Lassie, running from 1972 to 1973. The hour-long pilot, ''Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain'', was part of ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie''. Summar ...

'', an animated continuation of the long-running live-action series ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called ''Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fic ...

''. Lassie's co-creator and trainer,

Rudd Weatherwax Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax (September 23, 1907 – February 25, 1985) was an American actor, animal trainer, and breeder. He and his brother Frank are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Their colli ...

, said of the show: "That's not Lassie. That's trash." It drew a rare denunciation from the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...

, which accused Filmation of corrupting the ''Lassie'' franchise with "violence, crime and stupidity."

Trademarks

A trademark of the company's productions, beginning in 1969, was a rotating, circular "Produced by" (and on some series, "Executive Producers") credit seen in the ending credits (and in later productions, the opening sequences) of Filmation programs, as a device that was supposedly created to allow Prescott and Scheimer to share equal billing. Previously, Scheimer's name had been placed above Prescott's. However, the later Filmation productions credited only Scheimer, in the form of his signature ("Lou Scheimer, (Executive) Producer"), starting with ''

Gilligan's Planet ''Gilligan's Planet'' is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982–1983 season on CBS. It was the second animated spin-off of the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (the f ...

'' (1982). Many of its series—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.

Original characters

The studio created very few original animated characters. Two examples were Fraidy Cat, a timid feline who has lost eight of his nine lives, which come back to haunt him; and Wacky and Packy, a caveman and his pet mammoth (Packy refers to the latter character being a "pachyderm") who enter the modern age through a time warp. Both of these originally aired as segments of the '' Uncle Croc's Block'' series on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

(hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly). In a period where comedy in cartoons was heavily scrutinized for violence and many shows duplicated the popular '' Scooby-Doo'' format, Filmation's strong point was its adaptations of popular television series, movies, and other works, although at least one series, ''M*U*S*H'' (the third animated segment on ''Uncle Croc's Block''), while not a direct adaptation, was inspired by the film (and later TV series) ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

''. ''M*U*S*H'' is an acronym for Mangy Unwanted Shabby Heroes since all the character were dogs stationed in the arctic area.

Live-action shows

Filmation incorporated live-action into some of its animated series. Series like ''The Hardy Boys'' and ''Archie's Funhouse'' featured live-action footage of an audience watching the bands perform and ''Fat Albert'' had segments featuring series creator Bill Cosby. ''

The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'' is an NBC Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Filmation Studios in 1981. The half-hour show included two cartoon stories, with a variety of live-action wraparound segments. '' Hero High'' featured a gr ...

'', was more of a hybrid—a live-action variety show with animated segments. Actors appeared as characters from the ''

Hero High ''Hero High'' was a 1981–1982 cartoon and live action series created by Filmation that aired as part of NBC's ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'' It was about a high school where young superheroes were taught how to use their powers and fi ...

'' portion of the series, singing songs, and telling jokes. Filmation made six fully live-action series, including ''

Space Academy ''Space Academy'' is an American science fiction television series produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10 to December 17, 1977. (Repeats ran on and off until September 1, 1979 ...

'', its spin-off ''

Jason of Star Command ''Jason of Star Command'' is a 1978-1979 live action television series by Filmation. The series revolves around the exploits of space adventurer Jason (Craig Littler) and his colleagues, including Professor E.J. Parsafoot (Charlie Dell) and the ...

'', '' Ark II'', ''

Shazam! Shazam () may refer to: Comic book franchise * Captain Marvel (DC Comics), also known as Shazam, a superhero character published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics ** Shazam (wizard), a character from the ''Shazam!/Captain Marvel'' comics, who give ...

'' (based on the DC Comics character Captain Marvel), ''

The Ghost Busters ''The Ghost Busters'' is a live-action children's sitcom that ran on CBS in 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who investigate ghostly occurrences. Fifteen episodes were produced. The show reunited Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch in roles ...

'', and ''

The Secrets of Isis ''The Secrets of Isis'', originally broadcast as ''Isis'', is an American live-action superhero television series produced by Filmation from 1975 to 1976 for CBS's Saturday morning lineup. The series was renamed ''The Secrets of Isis'' in syndic ...

''.

''The Ghost Busters''

Filmation produced a live-action series called ''

'' (1975) starring former '' F Troop'' stars Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker, with noted science-fiction fan and collector Bob Burns as "Tracy the Gorilla". The characters worked as paranormal investigators, working for an unseen "Chief" named "Zero" who delivered their "Ghost Busting Assignments" in whimsical disguised recording devices as in '' Mission: Impossible''. Nine years later, Columbia Pictures, who produced an unrelated

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

movie of almost the same name, had to obtain the rights to the title from the company. Filmation capitalized on the popularity of the film by producing a new cartoon based on their earlier series. Like its other shows, it used stock footage heavily; in one episode, character designs and animation sequences were recycled from the '' Groovie Goolies'' series of nearly 15 years earlier. To avoid confusion, the animated series based on the film was called ''

The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...

''. As a dig on the Filmation series, an episode was written about a group of fraudulent ghost fighters, trying to steal the "Real" Ghostbusters' business and thunder.

Looney Tunes/Groovie Goolies crossover

Also of note is ''

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies ''Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies'' is a 1972 animated one-hour TV-movie (with a live-action segment near the end) that was aired on December 16 as an episode of the anthology series ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie''. In this ...

'', a special featuring several of Warner Bros.' ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' stars (paired with Filmation's own '' Groovie Goolies'', a group of classic monsters). Written by

Len Janson Len Janson is an American writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s. He began work as an in-betweener at the Walt Disney cartoon studio. By 1965 he had becom ...

and Chuck Menville, it aired on '' The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. While most of the Warner Bros. characters were drawn well (veteran Warners animator

Virgil Ross Virgil Walter Ross (August 8, 1907 – May 15, 1996) was an American artist, cartoonist, and animator best known for his work on the Warner Bros. animated shorts including the shorts of legendary animator Friz Freleng. Biography Early yea ...

was working there at the time, along with other animators that had worked for Warner Bros. Animation in the late 1960s, such as

Laverne Harding Emily Laverne Harding (October 10, 1905 – September 25, 1984) was an American animator and cartoonist. Early life Harding was born on October 10th, 1905 to Christians John B. Harding and Pearle W. Harding in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her fam ...

and Ed Solomon), and were voiced by veteran voice actor

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

, 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 and Jeckle, titled ''

The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle ''The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle'' is a 1979–1980 television series featuring newly produced Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle cartoons. The series was produced by Filmation, and aired from 1979 to 1980 on CBS with 96 epi ...

'') and a new '' Tom and Jerry'' series as well.

Feature films

Filmation also ventured into the feature film business. With their success in television firmly established by 1970, the company became profitable enough to return to the shelved ''Journey Back to Oz'' project, completing the animation and some minor voiceover work begun in 1962, and finished the film in 1971. It would take another year for ''Journey'' to be released theatrically in the United Kingdom, two more years before its 1974 U.S. release, and yet another two (1976) before it finally found its audience in network television, the very medium in which Filmation became successful. There, the film was expanded with live-action segments featuring Bill Cosby, who was in the midst of his success with the studio's '' Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids''. A deal with Warner Bros. yielded '' Treasure Island'' and ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'', but left several others unproduced. In its final years, Filmation produced feature films of its ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'' franchises (''

The Secret of the Sword ''The Secret of the Sword'', also known as ''He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword'', is a 1985 American animated superhero film produced by Filmation. Although released before the series '' She-Ra: Princess of Power'' began, the film was a c ...

''), as well as continuations to established stories, such as '' Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night'' (1987) and '' Happily Ever After'' (1989; unreleased until 1993). In 1986, Omega Entertainment inked a worldwide television pact with Filmation in order to distribute the company's non-animated products, such as theatrical feature films, for worldwide TV distribution. Also that year, on October 22, Filmation is beginning to serve as representative for three animated films at the MIFED, in order to cleaning up unsold territories on various Filmation productions, which accordingly hit by a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company back in 1985 in order to prevent making films that the company claims to be based on Disney classics.

Voice talent

Like other animation studios, Filmation had its stock company of voiceover actors. Some of the most famous included Larry Storch,

Dallas McKennon Dallas Raymond McKennon (July 19, 1919 – July 14, 2009), sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American film, television and voice actor, who had a career lasting over 50 years. During World War II he served in the Army Signal Corps and wa ...

(best known as the voice of Archie in the Archie cartoon and as Cincinnatus, in the Daniel Boone TV series), Bud Collyer, the original radio voice of

, reprised the role for Filmation for their late 1960s version of the Man of Steel; Adam West and Burt Ward (who recreated their roles as "

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

and

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

" from their 1960s live-action series for Filmation's 1977 animated incarnation), Jane Webb, and good friends and colleagues Edward Asner and Linda Gary (Gary voiced a majority of Filmation's work in the 1980s), along with John Erwin (voice of Reggie Mantle, and later the voice of

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

), Alan Oppenheimer (character actor in TV and film), Ted Knight, George DiCenzo (John

Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...

, Hordak, Bow on '' She-Ra''), Melendy Britt, Howard Morris,

Pat Fraley Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated tele ...

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on ''Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on ''Aaahh!!! Real Monst ...

, Ed Gilbert,

Susan Blu Susan Maria Blue, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and Seasons 3 and 4 of ...

, Lou Scheimer (either uncredited, or under the pseudonym of "Erik (sometimes "Eric") Gunden").

Background musical talent

For the company's 1960s superhero efforts, composer John Gart (under the stage name John Marion) and music supervisor

Gordon Zahler Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordo ...

created strong themes and backing cues using a large orchestra, until the ''

'' entry in 1968, which used sparser production and jazzier themes. The company's 1960s adventure series '' Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1967) and '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1968) likewise used sparser music production. ''Journey'' made heavier emphasis on guitar than the company's previous series, while ''Voyage'' made use of deliberately haunting woodwinds to create a science fiction flavor. According to the booklets accompanying some of the DVDs of Filmation's shows, composer Ray Ellis (who was assisted by his son Marc Ellis) had produced the background music for most Filmation series under the pseudonyms "Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael". Yvette Blais was Ellis's wife, while "Jeff" and "Michael" were the names of producer Norm Prescott's two sons (exactly what role Prescott played in the music, other than hiring the composers and musicians, is unclear). The full-length features ''Treasure Island'' and ''Oliver Twist'' credit "George Blais". Ellis's name does appear in ''Archie''Ray Ellis – IMDb
/ref> 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's background music in the late 1960s had a distinct, richly

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

sound not found on many other made-for-TV cartoon series of that period; though as time went on, it became more contemporary and often synthesized. Ellis's work at the studio lasted from 1968 to 1982. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy composed and produced the studio's music for ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'' (during 1983–1986), along with the other studios for which they produced music scores. Frank W. Becker provided the music for Filmation's final animated series ''BraveStarr''. In 1977, Dean Andre (Wallschlaeger), a 24-year-old composer/recording artist/producer, began writing theme and featured music for Filmation. His first series ''Archie's Bang-Shang Lalapalooza Show'' featured the voice of Daws Butler. He went on to compose themes for ''

'' and ''

Fabulous Funnies ''Fabulous Funnies'' is a 1978–1979 American animated children's show produced for Saturday morning television by Filmation. The show aired for one season from September 9, 1978, to December 1, 1978, on NBC, airing 13 episodes. The show was a ...

'' (featuring the voices of June Foray and Alan Oppenheimer). Dean also lent his vocal talents to Filmation for thematic and featured music that he composed and produced for ''A Snow White Christmas'', ''Sport Billy'' and ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!'' In 1981, Dean also took on the position of musical director for ''The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!''. Filmation routinely included a plug for its music publisher, Shermley Music (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

), in the closing credits of most of its series. This has never been common practice on American television.

List of Filmation productions

References

External links

*
Filmation page at Toonopedia
{{Authority control American animation studios American companies established in 1962 American companies disestablished in 1989 Mass media companies established in 1962 Mass media companies disestablished in 1989 Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Defunct mass media companies of the United States Westinghouse Broadcasting 1962 establishments in California 1989 disestablishments in California 1969 mergers and acquisitions 1981 mergers and acquisitions Reseda, Los Angeles Television production companies of the United States