Filmation

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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. Filmation's hay day was between a period lasting from the 1960s through the 1980s. Filmation's founders and principal producers were Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott.

A trademark of the company's productions beginning in 1969 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.


Contents

Animation style

Layout artist Lindsay Dawson 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.

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 Star Trek 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.

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, "Teela's Quest" which 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, among others. Likewise, the scripts for Star Trek, which were often written 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.


Live-action shows

Filmations's other strong area 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 which was followed 9 years later by 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.

It should be noted that while Filmation incoporated live-action into some of their animated series such as The Hardy Boys, Archie's Funhouse, and Fat Albert, and while they also made a live-action variety show with animated segments.


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

Buy Fat Albert DVDs

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] In addition, Entertainment Rights shares ownership of the animated Lone Ranger series with Classic Media, the current owners of the Jack Wrather properties (which includes The Lone Ranger).


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

Buy He-Man DVDs

  • The Best Of She-Ra: Princess Of Power: Top 5 Episodes & "Secret Of The Sword" Collector's Edition July 18th 2006

Buy She-Ra DVDs

  • Flash Gordon – The Complete Series July 18th 2006 Get it on DVD
  • Space Sentinels: The Complete Series + Freedom Force: The Complete Series August 22nd 2006
  • Blackstar — The 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 Get it on DVD
  • 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
  • A Snow White Christmas November 6th, 2007
  • Bravestarr: Volume 1 (erroneously listed by BCI as "Legend of Bravestarr") November 20th, 2007
  • Storybook Tales (boxset featuring Journey Back to Oz, Happily Ever After, and A Snow White Christmas) December 3rd, 2007
  • The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro Volume 1 December 18, 2007

Buy Filmation DVD sets other Cartoon DVD sets

Upcoming BCI Releases:

  • Bravestarr: Volume 2 Spring 2008


To Be Announced for 2008

  • The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro Volume 2
  • The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat Volume 1
  • The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat Volume 2
  • Fabulous Funnies — The Complete Series

BCI had contracted Andy Mangels to produce Special Features content for about 40 DVD releases[5], however TVShowsonDVD.com has made the revelation that BCI and Mangels have since parted ways.


Paramount/CBS

On November 21, 2006 the home video arm of CBS released a DVD collecting all 22 episodes of the Filmation-produced Star Trek, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Trek franchise (with distribution by Paramount Home Entertainment).

The rights to The Brady Kids also rest with CBS (along with all other Brady Bunch-related 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 each feature appearances by Superman and Wonder Woman, characters owned by Time Warner through its DC Comics subsidiary.

In addition, "The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and Quackula" is also controlled by CBS/Paramount since it owns the home video rights to the Terrytoons properties. However, there is no planned DVD release at this time.


Warner Bros.

  • New Adventures of Superman - Season One - June 26th, 2007
  • New Adventures of Batman (1977) - Complete Series - June 26th, 2007
  • Adventures of Aquaman - Complete Series - October 23rd, 2007

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 Gilligan’s Island/Planet, the original Batman animated series, or The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.


Genius Products/The Weinstein Company

  • The Archie Show - The Complete Series - July 31st, 2007
  • Archie's Funhouse - The Complete Series - March 4, 2008
  • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch - The Complete Animated Series - April 29th, 2008

TV Shows on DVD reports, citing "reliable sources" that Genius Products has acquired Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids from ER and is planning a DVD release for sometime in 2008.

Filmation series

1960s

1970s

1980s

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