Documentary on Filmation Founder

[Starchamberfall]

Good news: the Lou Scheimer documentary is on Youtube. He helmed Filmation, which produced so many animated series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiZNsUmq05I

Nice to know about him. Influential and special person. So much more than money...

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Cool! As a fan of a number of Filmation's shows (mainly "Shazam", "Isis" and "Bravestarr"- and "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" of course!)- that's really cool to know about. Thanks.

 

[Starchamberfall]

Glad you found it interesting, GonzoLeaper.

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was so unusual for its time. I was surprised to hear in the documentary that racism may have kept it from getting due recognition. Makes sense, though.

 

[Yorick]

I'm going to watch it now, since I'm a big fan of the art of Lou Scheimer and his team as well! Thank you very much for sharing, Starchamberfall!

I always loved Fat Albert, too!

 

[Starchamberfall]

Right on, Yorick!

 

[Drtooth]

I find Filmation to be a fascinating studio. not just for what they've done or their products, which is amazing in and of itself, but it seems that everyone who worked there either praised the studio and felt thankful for the opportunities they had or completely hated the restrictive nature and rebelled against it (John K and the like).

The studio was famous for being a factory like environment and constant reuse of footage was almost enforced. There's this wonderful story regarding this clip. Eddie Fitzgerald drew this wild take in the storyboard, and got a lot of flack from producers that it was far too complicated, and it was to be taken out. However, Kent Butterworth took the assignment on himself, even taking it home, and from what I recall it took the better part of a week (or weekend) to finish himself.

Of course, they did many shows at the same time and all, but I find their strongest work to be near the end of the line in Ghost Busters and especially Bravestarr, when they were free from too many obligations, and managed to make the reused footage look more and more seamless. I especially think that during He-Man, when they started rotoscoping (tracing animation off a live action source), they improved what they had with a brand new method.

Though I still question why they bothered with stuff like Pinocchio Emperor of the Night and Snow White in the land of Doom (which was changed to Happily Ever After), when their shows were far superior to those off brand sequels to Disney movies. Oh, and While I love a lot of their stuff (Fat Albert, Mighty Mouse, Groovie Goolies, Bravestarr and Ghost Busters especially), I really think they had NO RIGHT to do Tex Avery or Tom and Jerry. But then of course, Tom and Jerry haven't done well since the original theatrical era. Though Tom and Jerry Tales was amazing.

 

[Xerus]

When I was a kid, I loved the Filmation shows like The Groovie Goolies, Fat Albert, MUSH, Fraidy Cat, Wacky and Packy, Waldo Kitty, Brady Kids, Sport Billy, Mission Magic, Quacula, My Favorite Martians, The Archies, Ghostbusters, The Super 7, and Bravestarr. Along with their live action/animation shows like Uncle Croc's Block and The Kid Super Power Hour With Shazam. And the movie Journey Back to Oz.

I never really noticed the limited animation in those shows until books and fans pointed them out to me. And when John K. and certain animation magazines badmouthed Filmation, I got confused and did some wondering. But I'm still glad Filmation and Lou Scheimer were a part of my life.

Plus I like how Lou had actors Howard Morris and Alan Oppenheimer as regular voice artists and did the most voices for his cartoons. And how Lou and his wife, Jay, and kids, Erika an Lane, did voices themselves. Lou always went uncredited in the voicework or was listed as Erik Gunden. The Scheimer family remind me a lot of Jim Henson and his family.

And I always loved that rotating circle that said, "Produced by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott. And seeing the smiling "O" in Filmation when the cartoon ended was a treat for me too.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Great idea, I enjoyed hearing Lou Scheimer's thoughts on He-Man on the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special DVD.

 

[Yorick]

Though I still question why they bothered with stuff like Pinocchio Emperor of the Night and Snow White in the land of Doom (which was changed to Happily Ever After), when their shows were far superior to those off brand sequels to Disney movies.

I know that our knowledge of such characters as done by Disney makes it hard for many to get into another take on it, but though I never saw "Happily" I know their "Pinocchio" is really great! Great voice cast, too!

Oh, and While I love a lot of their stuff (Fat Albert, Mighty Mouse, Groovie Goolies, Bravestarr and Ghost Busters especially), I really think they had NO RIGHT to do Tex Avery or Tom and Jerry. But then of course, Tom and Jerry haven't done well since the original theatrical era. Though Tom and Jerry Tales was amazing.

I guess the offers were there, and they did their takes on them. I don't know if I've seen any of those, but I'd be interested in seeing them, surely. I do love how you champion Fat Albert - what a show! Adjectives fail to say how great it is! Also I'm happily surprised at your love of some of their 70's and 80's material, since that's your least fave era of animation. That in itself is a feather in Filmation's cap!

The studio was famous for being a factory like environment and constant reuse of footage was almost enforced.

I never really noticed the limited animation in those shows until books and fans pointed them out to me.

I never noticed the re-use of things at all back then, and now that I've learned about it, I say, "What difference does it make if a character (to a point) often walks into different rooms a similar way each time or something. It doesn't bother me, plus they had a great reason for doing it, and also (and this is my favorite point to make) think about all the cartoons of the last decade or so with the jagged edges and cheapo looking styles (not knocking such shows, mind you, and I'm sure they cost a lot in reality - not that that's a good thing - but I'm describing their style only). Is that fine, just because there's supposedly no re-use of parts?

everyone who worked there either praised the studio and felt thankful for the opportunities they had or completely hated the restrictive nature and rebelled against it (John K and the like).

And when John K. and certain animation magazines badmouthed Filmation, I got confused and did some wondering. But I'm still glad Filmation and Lou Scheimer were a part of my life.

I'm glad you both didn't decide to generalize Filmation in a different light just because of folks that bashed it - you just took in both views and kept a centered view.

No matter how good John K. is (I admit I only know Ren and Stimpy) it doesn't change Filmation's greatness, and I hope those who criticized also pointed out things they liked, because what they said was all bad, then I'd say something's wrong there, and I don't mean with Filmation. Not after the good things I've heard.

Sure, someone in the documentary says they wish the Filmation cartoons were "less safe", but all I can say to that is that they must really support cartoons today, then, with all the adult stuff out, most of which is trash, I feel. (I'm all for freedom of speech, but I think it's sad when folks don't like cartoons unless they're cartoons made only for adults.) Maybe they didn't mean that they wanted to go that far out of the style at the time, I don't know. So if I misunderstood them, I'm sorry. But I'm glad the Filmation shows are just as they are, thank you very much.

Plus I like how Lou had actors Howard Morris and Alan Oppenheimer as regular voice artists and did the most voices for his cartoons. And how Lou and his wife, Jay, and kids, Erika an Lane, did voices themselves. Lou always went uncredited in the voicework or was listed as Erik Gunden. The Scheimer family remind me a lot of Jim Henson and his family. And I always loved that rotating circle that said, "Produced by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott. And seeing the smiling "O" in Filmation when the cartoon ended was a treat for me too.

I must agree!

Great idea, I enjoyed hearing Lou Scheimer's thoughts on He-Man on the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special DVD.

I thought my VHS was good enough, but it sounds like I have to buy the DVD now!

 

[CensoredAlso]

I thought my VHS was good enough, but it sounds like I have to buy the DVD now!

Oh yeah I would definitely recommend the DVD; I can't believe the effort they put in as far as the documentaries in the Special Features section.