Filmation
Encyclopedia
Filmation Associates was an American production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...

 that produced animation
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...

 and live action programming for television during the latter 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 competitor to Hanna-Barbera Productions in the field of TV cartoons was Filmation. Filmation's founders and principal producers were Lou Scheimer
Lou Scheimer
Louis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...

 and Norm Prescott
Norm Prescott
Norman "Norm" Prescott was co-founder and executive producer at Filmation Studios. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he began his radio career in the Hub, becoming program director at station WORL in the late 1940s. He went to work for Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures Corp. in 1959, serving as...

.

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 Prescott and Scheimer 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
Gilligan's Planet
Gilligan's Planet is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by the Filmation animation studio and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982-1983 season on CBS...

.

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.

History

Lou Scheimer and Filmation's main director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...

 Hal Sutherland
Hal Sutherland
Hal Sutherland was an animator who became a director of animated productions at Filmation in the late 1960s.Sutherland had a hand in a large number of Filmation's limited animation productions which were broadcast as Saturday morning cartoons....

 met while working at Larry Harmon Pictures
Larry Harmon Pictures
Larry Harmon Pictures is the production company of Larry Harmon, and owner of the characters Bozo the Clown and Laurel & Hardy.-External links:* * * * *...

 on the made-for-TV Bozo
Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...

and Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...

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
Rod Rocket
Rod Rocket is the first animated cartoon to be produced by Filmation, debuting in syndication in 1963.-History:Rod Rocket was originally produced by True Line, a small Los Angeles animation studio formed by Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland in the early 1960s...

. 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
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

. The project enabled Scheimer and Sutherland to finance their own small Los Angeles animation studio, called True Line. Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 soon purchased SIB Productions, and True Line's staff increased; including the arrival of former radio disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 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
Pinocchio in Outer Space was a Belgian-American animated film which sets Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio character on a rocketship adventure. Peter Lazer does the voice of Pinocchio...

which was primarily produced by Belvision Studios, and also brought in the Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...

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
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...

 until Rod Rocket entered syndication in 1963. (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
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...

' Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

films for MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

, until becoming MGM Animation/Visual Arts
MGM Animation/Visual Arts
MGM Animation/Visual Arts was an animation studio established in 1962 by animation director/producer Chuck Jones and producer Les Goldman as Sib Tower 12 Productions...

 for the remainder of the films).

The new Filmation studio would for the next few years make television commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

, until approached by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 editor Mort Weisinger
Mort Weisinger
Mortimer Weisinger was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' Superman during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books...

 to do a Superman
The New Adventures of Superman
The New Adventures of Superman may refer to:*The New Adventures of Superman , a 1960s animation by Filmation*Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a 1990s live-action series...

cartoon. This premiered in 1966, and was followed by several of the other DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 heroes, and then in 1968, the first Archie show
The Archie Show
The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments,...

. Both series greatly helped Filmation's popularity to increase, into the 1970s, when it really scored big with several of its shows.

Animation style

As with other producers of Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...

s, 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 of the Star Trek
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...

series, which included scripts contributed by well-known science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 writers and starred most of the original cast. Other favorably remembered Filmation series included a 16-part animated serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...

 of Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip 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 adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...

originally intended as a movie for theatrical release, Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All is a 1982 animated television film produced by Filmation and written by Samuel A. Peeples, whose credits included the original Star Trek series.- Plot :...

; the original film edit was only aired thrice on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, years after the series was canceled. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids is an animated series created, produced, and hosted by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985...

was another hailed series created by and starring Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

 with an explicit educational focus, which enabled the actor to earn a Doctorate in education. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the Universe...

, based on the popular line of Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

 toys, opened up a vibrant new North American market for first-run television syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 for animation in the 1980s. The animated adaptations of the Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...

 characters were also noteworthy for the original pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 produced for it, particularly the song, "Sugar, Sugar
Sugar, Sugar
"Sugar, Sugar" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. It was a four-week 1969 number-one hit single by fictional characters The Archies. Produced by Jeff Barry, the song was originally released on the album Everything's Archie. The album is the product of a group of studio musicians...

", 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 first Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for the franchise.

Quality

Filmation had a reputation for exploiting the technique of limited animation
Limited animation
Limited animation is a process of making animated cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but variably reuses common parts between frames. One of its major trademarks is the stylized design in all forms and shapes, which in the early days was referred to as modern design...

 to produce a number of animated series with a distinct look. It made heavy use of rotoscoping
Rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator...

 in later years (beginning with its Tarzan and Flash Gordon series), and it also re-used the same animated sequences over and over, many times, to the point where the Filmation style was instantly recognizable. Veteran He-Man writer Chris Weber noted this in verse, set to "I've Been Working on the Railroad": "Can't you see the kiddies streaming / home to watch him after school? / Can't you hear my boss a-screaming / 'Use stock footage, fool!'".

Filmation's animation often looked poor quality due to the limiting of the number of frames per second used to fewer than the regular 24 frame/s seen on film or 25/30 frame/s
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...

 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 Filmation style during a period when most TV and motion picture production tended to run minimum shots of 4 – 5 seconds.

In contrast to the rapid jump cut
Jump cut
A jump cut is a cut in film editing and vloging in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit causes the subject of the shots to appear to "jump" position in a discontinuous way...

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 later 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 dynamic, three-dimensional effect which had never been seen in cel animation before and predated the modern use of 3-D computer animation for vehicles in 2-D animated productions (although it had a distinctive "flicker" to it as some of the painted lines went in and out of visibility as the miniatures moved).

Unlike many American studios, Filmation never relied upon animation studios outside the United States for the bulk of its production; Ghostbusters and Bravestarr both state in the end credits that they were "made entirely in the U.S.A.". Filmation did, however, rely on outsourcing once, when the company created its animated Zorro
The New Adventures of Zorro
The The New Adventures of Zorro can refer to:*The New Adventures of Zorro *The New Adventures of Zorro...

series. It was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Tokyo Movie Shinsha
, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...

 of Japan, however the storyboards and graphics were made by Filmation itself. Filmation is also noteworthy for its lavish background paintings under the direction of longtime 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 Ghost Busters
Ghostbusters (1986 TV series)
Ghostbusters was an animated television series created by Filmation and distributed by Tribune Broadcasting and launched following the success of Ivan Reitman and Columbia Pictures' 1984 film Ghostbusters. It ran from September 8 to December 5, 1986 in daytime syndication and produced 65 episodes...

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.). Although as previously mentioned, Filmation made various attempts to rise above the norm. Many of the sounds and explosion effects used in its cartoons are also very familiar, the majority of them being recycled from Hanna-Barbera (though this was, and still is a common trait among animation companies), though the company's DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 cartoons of 1966-7 used more realistic sound effects.

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" 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
Uncle Croc's Block
Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation Associates.-History:A spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson Reilly played the titular Uncle Croc, who hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr...

show on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 (hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....

). The show did so poorly that ABC, which had just come under control of Silverman, ceased ordering programs from Filmation and switched to Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 for its Saturday morning cartoons. 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, movies and other works, although at least one show, "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.

Live-action shows

Filmation incorporated live-action into some of its animated series. Shows 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
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

. The Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!, was more of a hybrid - a live-action variety show with animated segments. Actors appeared as characters from the Hero High
Hero High
Hero High was a cartoon 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 fight crime...

portion of the show, singing songs and telling jokes.

Filmation made six fully live-action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...

 shows, including Space Academy
Space Academy
Space Academy was a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.-Cast:The program starred veteran actor...

, its spin-off Jason of Star Command
Jason of Star Command
Jason of Star Command was a live action television series by Filmation which ran between 1978 and 1979. The show revolved around the exploits of space adventurer Jason and his colleagues, including Professor E.J. Parsafoot and the pocket robot "Wiki"...

, Ark II
Ark II
Ark II is an American live-action science fiction series aimed at children that aired on CBS beginning in 1976 as part of its Saturday morning line-up...

, Shazam!
Shazam! (TV series)
Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....

(based on the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 character Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...

), The Ghost Busters
The Ghost Busters
The Ghost Busters was a live-action children's television series that ran from 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Only 15 episodes were created....

, and The Secrets of Isis.

The 2006 DVD release of the animated series Space Sentinels
Space Sentinels
Space Sentinels is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation which debuted on the American NBC network on September 10, 1977 and ran for thirteen half-hour episodes...

includes pre-production footage for an aborted live-action version entitled The Young Sentinels.

The Ghost Busters

Filmation produced a live-action series called The Ghost Busters
The Ghost Busters
The Ghost Busters was a live-action children's television series that ran from 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Only 15 episodes were created....

in 1975 starring Larry Storch
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...

 and Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...

 (late of F-Troop) and noted science-fiction fan and collector Bob Burns
Bob Burns
Bob Burns was an American radio and film comedian during the 1930s and 1940s. Burns, who early in his career was billed as Robert Burns, coined the word bazooka.-Early years:...

 as "Tracy the Gorilla". The characters worked as paranormal investigators, working for an unseen "Chief" who delivered their "Ghost Busting assignments" in whimsical disguised recording devices as in Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...

.

Nine years later, Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

, who produced an unrelated 1984
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....

 movie of almost the same name
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

, had to get 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
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...

series of nearly 15 years earlier.

To avoid confusion, the animated version of the film was called The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...

. 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
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a 1972 animated one-hour TV-movie that was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie...

, a special featuring several of Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

' Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

stars (paired with Filmation's own Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...

, a group of classic monsters). Written by Len Janson
Len Janson
Len Janson is an American animator, 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 become a story man with his first screen...

 and Chuck Menville
Chuck Menville
Charles David "Chuck" Menville was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included Batman: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, The Real Ghostbusters, The Smurfs, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Tiny Toon Adventures.-Pixilation: career in 1960s and 1970s:Menville was...

 (who played themselves in a live-action sequence), this aired on The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie — renamed The New Saturday Superstar Movie in its second season — is a series of one-hour animated TV-movies , broadcast on the ABC television network on Saturday mornings from September 9, 1972, to November 17, 1973.Intended as a "Movie of the Week" for kids, this...

in 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...

. While most of the Warner Brothers characters were drawn well (veteran Warners animator Virgil Ross
Virgil Walter Ross
Virgil Walter Ross was an American artist, cartoonist, and animator best known for his work on the Warner Bros. animated shorts.-Early years:...

 was working there at the time), and voiced by veteran voice actor Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

, 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
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...

 archive (Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...

and Heckle and Jeckle
Heckle and Jeckle
Heckle and Jeckle are cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons for 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical magpies who calmly outwitted their foes in the manner of Bugs Bunny, while maintaining a mischievous streak reminiscent of Woody...

) and a new Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

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
Journey Back to Oz
Journey Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...

, an animated sequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

. 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 other series that the company was profitable enough to complete "Journey" for theatrical release in 1972.

In its final years, Filmation produced feature film versions of its He-Man and She-Ra franchises, as well as unofficial cult animated sequels to other established films, such as Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
Pinocchio and the Emperor of The Night is a 1987 animated film that was released on December 25, 1987 by New World Pictures. and is a unofficial sequel to Pinocchio . Created by the now defunct Filmation Studios, the movie underperformed at the box office, having a cost of $10 million but making...

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 Larry Storch
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...

, Dallas McKennon
Dallas McKennon
Dallas Raymond McKennon , sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American actor, with extensive work as a voice actor, in a career lasting over 50 years.-Career:...

 (best known as the voice of Archie in the Archie cartoon and as Cincinnatus, in the Daniel Boone TV series), Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...

 and Burt Ward
Burt Ward
Burt Ward is an American television actor and activist. He is best known for his portrayal of Robin in the television series Batman and its theatrical film spin-off.-Early life:...

 (who recreated their roles as "Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

 and Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...

" from their 1960s live-action series
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...

 for Filmation's 1977 animated incarnation), Jane Webb
Jane Webb
Jane Webb, a.k.a. Joanne Louise, is a movie actor and voice actor; as a voice actor, she has worked on a large number of animated cartoons, mostly for Filmation.-Film career:...

, and good friends and colleagues Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...

 and Linda Gary
Linda Gary
Linda Gary was an American voice actor and voice-over artist, who has worked on multiple animated projects.-Personal life:Linda Gary Dewoskin was born in California on November 4, 1944....

 (Gary voiced a majority of Filmation's work in the 1980s), along with John Erwin
John Erwin
John Lee Erwin is a voice actor known for voicing Morris the Cat and He-Man.-Career:Erwin was the voice of He-Man in the Filmation production He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that ran from 1983 to 1985. Due to the extreme cost-cutting by Filmation, the cast of voice actors was small, and...

 (voice of Reggie Mantle, and later the voice of He-Man
He-Man
He-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam...

), Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...

 (character actor in TV and film), Ted Knight
Ted Knight
Ted Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...

, George DiCenzo
George DiCenzo
George Ralph DiCenzo was an American character actor and one-time associate producer for Dark Shadows. He was in show business for more than 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage and commercial credits.-Life and career:...

 (John BlackStar
BlackStar
Blackstar is an American animated television series, a science fantasy story sometimes reported as being inspired by Thundarr the Barbarian. It was produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being tucked in as a...

, Hordak
Hordak
Hordak is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, as a villain who opposes She-Ra, He-Man, and villain Skeletor. In the She-Ra cartoon, he is the leader of the segment of the fictional Evil Horde on the planet Etheria, an army of savage warriors, most of whom wear a red...

, Bow on She-ra
She-Ra
She-Ra is a fictional character and the heroine in the Filmation cartoon and series of toys produced by Mattel called She-Ra: Princess of Power. She is the alter ego of Princess Adora and the twin sister of He-Man. She-Ra was intended to appeal to young girls in the same way that He-Man appealed to...

), Melendy Britt
Melendy Britt
Melendy Britt is an American actress active in television and voice acting since the 1970s. Her most notable animated work is for Filmation, voicing characters such as She-Ra, Princess Adora, and the second animated Batgirl...

, Pat Fraley
Pat Fraley
Patrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...

, Charlie Adler, Ed Gilbert, Susan Blu
Susan Blu
Susan Maria Blu , sometimes credited as Sue Blu, is an American voice actress, voice director, and casting director in American and Canadian cinema and television...

, Erika Scheimer
Erika Scheimer
Erika Scheimer is an occasional voice-actress in the cartoons of the defunct Filmation animation-studio. She is the daughter of Lou Scheimer, who was an integral member of Filmation and a voice actor in his own right....

 (daughter of Lou Scheimer
Lou Scheimer
Louis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...

), and even Lou Scheimer himself (either uncredited, or under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 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 created strong themes and backing cues using a large orchestra until 1968's Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

entry, which used sparser production and jazzier themes.

According to the book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

lets accompanying some of the DVDs of Filmation's shows, legendary composer Ray Ellis
Ray Ellis
Ray Ellis was an American record producer, arranger and conductor. The orchestration for Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin is probably his best known work in the jazz vein.-Biography:...

 (who was assisted by his son Marc Ellis http://www.marcellismusic.com/biography.php) had produced the background music for most Filmation series under the pseudonyms "Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael." Yvette Blais was Ellis' wife, while "Jeff" and "Michael" were the names of producer Norm Prescott's two sons. (Exactly what hand Prescott took in the music, other than hiring the composers and musicians, is not clear.) The full length features Treasure Island and Oliver Twist credit "George Blais". Ellis' name does appear in Archie and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a teenage fictional character named Sabrina Spellman. The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo. The comic's characters have also appeared in various other media...

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 '70s 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. Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...

 and Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy
Shuki Levy is a music composer and television writer, director, and executive producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, Dragon Quest, He-Man and the...

 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.

Ownership

The Filmation studio was owned by The TelePrompTer Company
Teleprompter
An autocue is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards...

 in the early 1970s, then by Westinghouse (through its Group W Productions division, following its purchase of TelePrompTer's cable and entertainment properties) in 1982. In 1988 Filmation was purchased by the L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...

 cosmetics company. L'Oréal promptly closed the studio on February 3, 1989 and ended Filmation's legacy. As a result, most of the staff was terminated on that same day. This happened a day before a new law went into practice requiring companies to give employees 60 days notice before a mass termination
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 is a United States labor law which protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide sixty- calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of...

, which is presumably why L'Oréal acted so quickly.

Filmation's last production was the feature film Happily Ever After (a sequel to the story of Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...

), released to theaters in 1993
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...

. 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 had come under the ownership of Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....

, through its Hallmark Entertainment subsidiary; however, since a large amount of Filmation's output was based on characters licensed from other companies, many titles which are also under the ownership of Entertainment Rights are actually under the control of other studios (such as Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

 and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

).

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
Entertainment Rights Plc was a global media company. Its main role was in children and family television programming.The group was established in 1989 as Sleepykids. In 1999 it become entertainment rights and was focused on the creation and exploitation of major children's characters and brands...

. Entertainment Rights has since made the revelation that when Hallmark converted all of its 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 un-stated (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 transfers, without correction, these releases exhibit the so-called "576i 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
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

 and Telecine
Telecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....

 for more information). PAL-NTSC conversion artefacts also include softness and ghosting. The exception appears to be at least four titles from ER's library: Groovie Goolies, Ark II
Ark II
Ark II is an American live-action science fiction series aimed at children that aired on CBS beginning in 1976 as part of its Saturday morning line-up...

, and both the live-action
The Ghost Busters
The Ghost Busters was a live-action children's television series that ran from 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Only 15 episodes were created....

 and animated
Ghostbusters (1986 TV series)
Ghostbusters was an animated television series created by Filmation and distributed by Tribune Broadcasting and launched following the success of Ivan Reitman and Columbia Pictures' 1984 film Ghostbusters. It ran from September 8 to December 5, 1986 in daytime syndication and produced 65 episodes...

 Ghostbusters series. These series appear to have been sourced from original NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...

 transfers for their U.S. release by BCI.

On April 1, 2009 it was announced that Entertainment Rights would be acquired by Boomerang Media
Boomerang Media
Boomerang Media, L.L.C. is an American media company founded by John Engelman and Eric Ellenbogen and the private equity firm GTCR in 2008...

 and on May 11, 2009, it was announced that the subsidiaries and offices of Entertainment Rights would be absorbed under the name, Classic Media
Classic Media
Classic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...

.

Urban Works Entertainment

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids is an animated series created, produced, and hosted by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985...

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). The Fat Albert 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 2008, they are discontinued.
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - 5 Episodes - December 14, 2004
  • Fat Albert's Greatest Hits The Ultimate Collection - 20 Episodes - December 14, 2004
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 1 - Episodes 1-12 - March 8, 2005
  • Fat Albert's Easter Special - March 8, 2005
  • Fat Albert's Halloween Special - September 6, 2005
  • Fat Albert's Christmas Special - October 11, 2005
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 2 - Episodes 13-24 - October 11, 2005
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Vol. 3 - Episodes 25-36 - July 11, 2006

BCI's Ink and Paint

He-Man was distributed by BCI Eclipse as part of its "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 16, 2006, struck a long-term exclusive deal with Entertainment Rights for distribution rights to its entire Filmation catalog (with the exception of the Archie
The Archie Show
The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments,...

series which was acquired by Genius Products
Genius Products
Genius Products was an entertainment company based in Santa Monica, California, United States.On December 5, 2005, Genius Products, Inc. announced a distribution joint venture with The Weinstein Company called Genius Products, LLC, with Weinstein holding a 70% stake...

). http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4918 In addition, Entertainment Rights shares ownership of the animated Lone Ranger series with Classic Media
Classic Media
Classic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...

, the current owners of the Jack Wrather
Jack Wrather
John Devereaux "Jack" Wrather, Jr. , was a petroleum millionaire who became a television producer and later diversified by investing in broadcast stations and resort properties...

 properties (which includes The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....

). On December 17, 2008, Navarre Corporation
Navarre Corporation
Navarre Corp. is a public distribution and publishing company founded in 1983 by Eric H. Paulson. The company is headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota...

 announced that BCI Eclipse would be shut down. As of June 2009 all releases are discontinued.

BCI Eclipse Releases include:
  • The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Top 10 Collector's Edition DVD Set July 12, 2005
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 1 Volume 1 October 18, 2005
  • He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special December 6, 2005
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 1 Volume 2 February 14, 2006
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 2 Volume 1 June 6, 2006
  • The Best of She-Ra: Princess of Power: Top 5 Episodes & "Secret Of The Sword" Collector's Edition July 18, 2006
  • Flash Gordon – The Complete Series July 18, 2006
  • Space Sentinels: The Complete Series + Freedom Force: The Complete Series August 22, 2006
  • Blackstar — The Complete Series August 22, 2006
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 2 Volume 2 September 19, 2006
  • Groovie Goolies — The Saturday "Mourning" Collection October 24, 2006
  • Journey Back to Oz — Special Edition October 24, 2006
  • She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 1 Volume 1 November 7, 2006
  • Ark II – The Complete Series November 7, 2006
  • Space Academy — The Complete Series January 16, 2007
  • Ghost Busters: The Animated Series Volume 1 February 27, 2007
  • She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 1, Volume 2 April 3, 2007
  • The Ghost Busters: Live Action — The Complete Series April 17, 2007
  • Jason of Star Command — The Complete Series May 8, 2007
  • Mission Magic — The Complete Series May 8, 2007
  • Hero High — The Complete Series May 22, 2007
  • Snow White: Happily Ever After: Special Edition (feature film) June 5, 2007
  • Ghost Busters: The Animated Series Volume 2 July 3, 2007
  • The Best of Bravestarr: Top 5 Episodes & Bravestarr: the Legend July 3, 2007
  • The Secrets of Isis — The Complete Series July 24, 2007
  • She-Ra: Princess of Power: Season 2 September 4, 2007
  • A Snow White Christmas November 6, 2007
  • Bravestarr: Volume 1 (erroneously listed by BCI as "Legend of Bravestarr") November 20, 2007
  • Storybook Tales (boxset featuring Journey Back to Oz, Happily Ever After, and A Snow White Christmas) December 3, 2007
  • The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro Volume 1 December 18, 2007
  • Bravestarr: Volume 2 July 1, 2008
  • The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro Volume 2 July 15, 2008


Cancelled
  • The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat Volume 1
  • The Cat Pack: Waldo Kitty & Fraidy Cat Volume 2
  • Fabulous Funnies — The Complete Series


(Fraidy Cat was included as part of Volume 2 of a compilation entitled "Frightfully Funny". However, it only includes select episodes and no extras.)

BCI had contracted Andy Mangels to produce Special Features content for about 40 DVD releases http://www.andymangels.com, however TVShowsonDVD.com had made the revelation that BCI and Mangels have since parted ways.

Paramount/CBS

On November 21, 2006 the home video arm of CBS
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...

 released a DVD collecting all 22 episodes of the Filmation-produced Star Trek
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...

, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Trek franchise (with distribution by Paramount Home Entertainment).

The rights to The Brady Kids
The Brady Kids
The Brady Kids was an animated television series, produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and seen on ABC from 1972 to 1974...

also rest with CBS (along with all other Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...

-related media). However, there are currently no plans for a release of the series at this time. The first two episodes were included on The Brady Bunch Complete Series DVD. A potential release is also further complicated by the fact that one episode each feature appearances by Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

 and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....

, characters owned by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

 through its DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 subsidiary.

In addition, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and Quackula
Quackula
Quackula is an animated fictional character, an anthropomorphic vampire duck created by Filmation...

are also controlled by CBS/Paramount. (Terrytoons
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...

 and its properties were acquired by CBS in the 1950s, later spun off as part of Viacom, but have again come under CBS ownership as part of a series of corporate mergers and acquisitions.) However, there is no planned DVD release at this time.

Warner Bros.

  • The New Adventures of Superman - Season One - June 26, 2007
  • The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Filmation in 1977 featuring the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, and Batgirl. The current distributor is Warner Bros. Television due to parent company Warner Bros's ownership of DC Comics, which publishes the Batman titles...

     (1977) - Complete Series - June 26, 2007
  • Adventures of Aquaman
    Aquaman (TV series)
    Aquaman is a television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Gough and Millar wrote the pilot, which was directed by Greg Beeman...

     - Complete Series - October 23, 2007
  • DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures (includes The New Adventures of Superman
    The New Adventures of Superman
    The New Adventures of Superman may refer to:*The New Adventures of Superman , a 1960s animation by Filmation*Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a 1990s live-action series...

    , Adventures of Aquaman
    Aquaman (TV series)
    Aquaman is a television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Gough and Millar wrote the pilot, which was directed by Greg Beeman...

    , The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
    The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
    The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is a Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC Comics superheroes....

     and The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Filmation in 1977 featuring the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, and Batgirl. The current distributor is Warner Bros. Television due to parent company Warner Bros's ownership of DC Comics, which publishes the Batman titles...

    ) - August 12, 2008 http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Superman-Aquaman-Hour-Adventure-DC-Super-Heroes-Filmation-Advs/9452


Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 has also released a single episode of Shazam!
Shazam! (TV series)
Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....

, included as a bonus disc with the release of the third-season Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....

DVD set. So far there is still no word on releases for Gilligan's Island
The New Adventures Of Gilligan
The New Adventures of Gilligan is an animated series produced by Filmation and was aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It was based on the 1964-1967 CBS television series Gilligan's Island and featured almost all the actors from the show, except for Tina Louise, who was determined to distance...

/Planet
Gilligan's Planet
Gilligan's Planet is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by the Filmation animation studio and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982-1983 season on CBS...

, the original Batman
The Adventures of Batman
The Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Lou Schiemer's Filmation studios. It showcased the 12-minute Batman segments from The Batman/Superman Hour, sometimes broken up by and surrounding another cartoon from Filmation's fast growing stream of superhero stars...

animated series, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show is an animated television program produced by Filmation for MGM Television in 1980, on CBS for Saturday mornings. The show lasted two seasons and the individual episodes were eventually added to syndicated Tom and Jerry packages, and also occasionally appeared on...

, or the second and third seasons of The New Adventures of Superman. All three seasons of The Adventures of Superboy are not currently available because of a legal battle over the rights to the "Superboy
Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC....

" name. WB has announced a "Saturday Morning Cartoons Collection" which will contain an episode of The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, which will be the first official video release of any kind of the Filmation Tarzan.

Genius Products/The Weinstein Company

  • The Archie Show
    The Archie Show
    The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments,...

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


TVShowsonDVD.com has reported, 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. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fat-Albert-Cosby-Kids-DVDs-Planned/8879 The first release announced is a DVD of the Halloween special which will be released on August 26, 2008, and will contain 2 bonus episodes http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fat-Albert-Cosby-Kids-Halloween-Special/9601. Plans for a release of the regular series have yet to be announced.

Fox

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 presumably owns the rights to the Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a German professor who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth...

and Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....

TV series. However, there are currently no plans to release either series on DVD at this time.

Other

The rights status to The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys (1969 TV series)
For the 1970s live action series, see The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.For the 1990s series, see The Hardy Boys .The Hardy Boys is an animated series, produced by Filmation and aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1969 to 1971...

(although it is presumable, but not confirmed, that these lie with CBS due to CBS owning Simon & Schuster, the current owners of the Hardy Boys copyright and book series on which this show was based), Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, and Sport Billy
Sport Billy
Sport Billy is a 1979 animated television cartoon made by Filmation Associates, initially for broadcast in Germany. In 1982, Filmation carried the show over to the United States for syndication, and as a summer replacement in NBC's Saturday morning children's programming...

are unknown at this time, nor is it known whether or not they survive in any form. These three series do not appear in the Entertainment Rights library, nor do the Superstretch and Microwoman, Manta and Moray, and Web Woman segments from Tarzan and the Super 7. According to science fiction writer and animation historian Andy Mangels
Andy Mangels
Andy Mangels is an American science fiction author who has written novels, comics, and magazine articles, and produced DVD collections, mostly focusing on media in popular culture...

, who hosts commentary for many Filmation releases, the three Super 7 segments in question were pulled from distribution due to "various lawsuits" from Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

. It also is unknown whether or not the three segments still survive in any form.

The rights to Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is an animated series created by the Filmation studio for CBS. There are a total of 36 episodes produced over the first four seasons....

presumably rest with the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...

, the original author of the Tarzan novels. However, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 has recently announced a Saturday Morning Cartoons Collection DVD release which will contain an episode of The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, evidence that WB controls at least some rights to the Filmation Tarzan series. (In the past, WB has also held international TV distribution rights to Tarzan.)

1960s

  • Rod Rocket
    Rod Rocket
    Rod Rocket is the first animated cartoon to be produced by Filmation, debuting in syndication in 1963.-History:Rod Rocket was originally produced by True Line, a small Los Angeles animation studio formed by Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland in the early 1960s...

    (1963; production design only)
  • The New Adventures of Superman (1966–1967 CBS)
  • The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
    The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
    The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is a Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC Comics superheroes....

    (1967–1968 CBS)
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth
    Journey to the Center of the Earth (TV series)
    Journey to the Center of the Earth is an American science fiction animated television series, consisting of 17 episodes, each running 30 minutes. Produced by Filmation in association with 20th Century Fox, it aired from September 9, 1967 to September 6, 1969 on ABC Saturday Morning. It featured the...

    (1967 ABC)
  • Fantastic Voyage
    Fantastic Voyage (TV series)
    Fantastic Voyage is an American animated science fiction TV series based on the famous 1966 film directed by Richard Fleischer. The series consists of 17 episodes each running 30 minutes. It was run on ABC-TV from September 14, 1968 through January 4, 1969. The series was produced by Filmation...

    (1968 ABC)
  • Aquaman
    Aquaman (TV series)
    Aquaman is a television pilot developed by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar for The WB Television Network, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Gough and Millar wrote the pilot, which was directed by Greg Beeman...

    (1968 CBS)
  • The Archie Show
    The Archie Show
    The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments,...

    (1968 CBS)
  • The Batman/Superman Hour
    The Batman/Superman Hour
    The Batman/Superman Hour is a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The...

    (1968–1969 CBS)
  • The Adventures of Batman
    The Adventures of Batman
    The Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Lou Schiemer's Filmation studios. It showcased the 12-minute Batman segments from The Batman/Superman Hour, sometimes broken up by and surrounding another cartoon from Filmation's fast growing stream of superhero stars...

    (Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder) (1968–1970 CBS)
  • The Archie Comedy Hour
    The Archie Show
    The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments,...

    (1969 CBS)
  • The Hardy Boys
    The Hardy Boys (1969 TV series)
    For the 1970s live action series, see The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.For the 1990s series, see The Hardy Boys .The Hardy Boys is an animated series, produced by Filmation and aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1969 to 1971...

    (1969 ABC)

1970s

  • Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down (1970 ABC)
  • Sabrina
    Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1970 TV series)
    Sabrina the Teenage Witch is an American animated series produced by Filmation that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1974. A spinoff of The Archie Comedy Hour, the show featured new episodes of Sabrina along with the Groovie Goolies...

     and the Groovie Goolies
    Groovie Goolies
    Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...

    (1970 CBS & ABC)
  • Archie's Funhouse (live-action/animation hybrid) (1970 CBS)
  • Sabrina The Teenage Witch (1971–1974 CBS)
  • Archie's TV Funnies
    Archie's TV Funnies
    Archie's TV Funnies is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation which appeared on CBS from September 11, 1971 to September 1, 1973...

    (1971 CBS)
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
    Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
    Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids is an animated series created, produced, and hosted by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert himself. Filmation was the production company for the series. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985...

    (1972 CBS)
  • The Brady Kids
    The Brady Kids
    The Brady Kids was an animated television series, produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and seen on ABC from 1972 to 1974...

    (1972–1974 ABC)
  • Lassie's Rescue Rangers
    Lassie's Rescue Rangers
    Lassie's Rescue Rangers is an animated TV show produced by Filmation and featuring Lassie, running from 1973 to 1975. The hour-long pilot, Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain, was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.-Overview:...

    (1973–1975 ABC)
  • Star Trek: The Animated Series
    Star Trek: The Animated Series
    Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...

    (1973–1974 NBC)
  • My Favorite Martians (1973 CBS)
  • Mission: Magic! (1973 ABC)
  • The U.S. of Archie (1974 CBS)
  • The New Adventures of Gilligan
    The New Adventures Of Gilligan
    The New Adventures of Gilligan is an animated series produced by Filmation and was aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It was based on the 1964-1967 CBS television series Gilligan's Island and featured almost all the actors from the show, except for Tina Louise, who was determined to distance...

    (1974 ABC)
  • Shazam
    Shazam! (TV series)
    Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....

    !
    (live-action TV series) (1974 CBS)
  • The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty
    The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty
    The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty was a children's television show alternating animation and live footage segments. It took the concept of James Thurber's popular short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and parodied it with anthropomorphised dogs and cats.-Plot:Waldo Kitty and his girlfriend...

    (1975 NBC)
  • The Secrets of Isis (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
  • The Ghost Busters
    The Ghost Busters
    The Ghost Busters was a live-action children's television series that ran from 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Only 15 episodes were created....

    (live-action TV series) (1975 CBS)
  • Uncle Croc's Block
    Uncle Croc's Block
    Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation Associates.-History:A spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson Reilly played the titular Uncle Croc, who hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr...

    (1975 ABC) (featuring Fraidy Cat
    Fraidy Cat (TV series)
    Fraidy Cat is a 1975 comical children's cartoon show that originally appeared as a segment on Filmation's short-lived ABC series Uncle Croc's Block.-Plot:...

    , Wacky and Packy, and M*U*S*H)
  • Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
    Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
    Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is an animated series created by the Filmation studio for CBS. There are a total of 36 episodes produced over the first four seasons....

    (1976 CBS)
  • Ark II
    Ark II
    Ark II is an American live-action science fiction series aimed at children that aired on CBS beginning in 1976 as part of its Saturday morning line-up...

    (live-action TV series) (1976 CBS)
  • The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman
    The New Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Filmation in 1977 featuring the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, and Batgirl. The current distributor is Warner Bros. Television due to parent company Warner Bros's ownership of DC Comics, which publishes the Batman titles...

    (1977 CBS)
  • Space Academy
    Space Academy
    Space Academy was a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.-Cast:The program starred veteran actor...

    (live-action TV series) (1977 CBS)
  • Space Sentinels
    Space Sentinels
    Space Sentinels is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation which debuted on the American NBC network on September 10, 1977 and ran for thirteen half-hour episodes...

    (1977 NBC)
  • The New Archie and Sabrina Hour
    The New Archie and Sabrina Hour
    The New Archie and Sabrina Hour was the seventh and final animated series featuring Archie Comics characters under the Filmation banner. The series premiered on NBC in September 1977, rebroadcasting segments from The Archie Show, as well as brand-new segments featuring Sabrina, the Teenage Witch...

    (1977 NBC)—divided in midseason into Superwitch and Archie's Bang Shang Lollapalooza Show
  • Tarzan and the Super 7
    Tarzan and the Super 7
    Tarzan and the Super 7, was a Saturday morning cartoon series, produced by Filmation and originally airing from 1978–1980 on CBS.The show consisted of separate installments featuring seven groups of adventurers;* Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle...

    (1978 CBS)
  • Fabulous Funnies
    Fabulous Funnies
    Fabulous Funnies was a Filmation cartoon series on NBC that ran for one season in 1978; it featured animated versions of newspaper comic strips and attempted to teach moral lessons to children.-Overview:...

    (1978 NBC)
  • The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle
    The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle
    The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle is an updated version of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle cartoons from the 1940s. The television series was produced by Filmation, and aired from 1979 to 1981 on CBS with over 32 episodes produced...

    , & Quackula
    (1979–1981 CBS)
  • Jason of Star Command
    Jason of Star Command
    Jason of Star Command was a live action television series by Filmation which ran between 1978 and 1979. The show revolved around the exploits of space adventurer Jason and his colleagues, including Professor E.J. Parsafoot and the pocket robot "Wiki"...

    (live-action TV series) (1979 CBS)
  • The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
    The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
    The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, also known as The Adventures of Flash Gordon, is an animated television series. The series is actually called Flash Gordon, but the expanded title is used in official records to distinguish it from previous versions.Filmation produced the series in 1979, partly...

    (1979–1980 NBC)
  • The Brown Hornet
    The Brown Hornet
    The Brown Hornet was a show-within-a-show on the Filmation animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids from 1979 to approximately 1984. The Brown Hornet was a show that Fat Albert's gang watched on a barely-working television in their clubhouse...

    (single segment on Fat Albert
    Fat Albert
    Fat Albert may refer to:* Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, a cartoon show* Fat Albert , a 1973 comedy album by Bill Cosby* Fat Albert , a 2004 live-action film...

    ) (1979 CBS)

1980s

  • Sport Billy
    Sport Billy
    Sport Billy is a 1979 animated television cartoon made by Filmation Associates, initially for broadcast in Germany. In 1982, Filmation carried the show over to the United States for syndication, and as a summer replacement in NBC's Saturday morning children's programming...

    (1980 NBC)
  • The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
    The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show
    The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show is an animated television program produced by Filmation for MGM Television in 1980, on CBS for Saturday mornings. The show lasted two seasons and the individual episodes were eventually added to syndicated Tom and Jerry packages, and also occasionally appeared on...

    (1981 CBS)
  • The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour
    The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour
    The Tarzan / Lone Ranger adventure hour is an animated television series produced by Filmation that aired on CBS during the early 1980s....

    (1980–1981 CBS)
  • Blackstar (1981 CBS)
  • Hero High
    Hero High
    Hero High was a cartoon 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 fight crime...

    (1981 NBC)
  • The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981 NBC)
  • The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro
    The New Adventures of Zorro
    The The New Adventures of Zorro can refer to:*The New Adventures of Zorro *The New Adventures of Zorro...

     Adventure Hour
    (1981–1982 CBS)
  • Gilligan's Planet
    Gilligan's Planet
    Gilligan's Planet is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by the Filmation animation studio and MGM/UA Television which aired during the 1982-1983 season on CBS...

    (1982 CBS)
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
    He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
    He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the Universe...

    (1983–1985 Synd)
  • The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1984–1985 Synd)
  • She-Ra: Princess of Power
    She-Ra: Princess of Power
    She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated television series produced in 1985 by Filmation. It is a spinoff of Filmation's highly successful He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, aimed primarily at a young girls' audience to counter-balance the latter show's popularity with boys...

    (1985–1987 Synd)
  • The Original Ghostbusters
    Ghostbusters (1986 TV series)
    Ghostbusters was an animated television series created by Filmation and distributed by Tribune Broadcasting and launched following the success of Ivan Reitman and Columbia Pictures' 1984 film Ghostbusters. It ran from September 8 to December 5, 1986 in daytime syndication and produced 65 episodes...

     (animated)
    (1986–1988 Synd)
  • Bravestarr
    Bravestarr
    BraveStarr is an American space Western animated television series. The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. It was created simultaneously with a collection of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W...

    (1987–1988 Synd)

Theatrical films

  • Treasure Island
    Treasure Island (1972 animated film)
    Treasure Island is a 1972 animated feature film produced by Filmation and released by Warner Bros. in 1972 . In this adaptation, Jim Hawkins travels with sidekick Hiccup the Mouse.In 1980, the movie was broadcast on NBC....

    (1972)
  • Journey Back to Oz
    Journey Back to Oz
    Journey Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...

    (1974)
  • Oliver Twist (1974)
  • Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase
    Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase
    The serialized Mighty Mouse story "The Great Space Chase" from The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle Saturday morning series made it into a 1982 movie by Filmation....

    (1982)
  • The Secret of the Sword
    The Secret of the Sword
    He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword is a 1985 American animated feature film produced by Filmation. Although released before the series She-Ra: Princess of Power began, the film was a compilation of the first five episodes with minor edits made....

    (1985)
  • He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
    He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
    He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special is a Christmas television special based on the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power, originally broadcast in December 1985...

    (1985)
  • Skeletor's Revenge
    He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
    He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the Universe...

    (1986)
  • Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
    Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
    Pinocchio and the Emperor of The Night is a 1987 animated film that was released on December 25, 1987 by New World Pictures. and is a unofficial sequel to Pinocchio . Created by the now defunct Filmation Studios, the movie underperformed at the box office, having a cost of $10 million but making...

    (1987)
  • BraveStarr: The Movie
    BraveStarr: The Movie
    BraveStarr: The Movie is an animated space Western released on March 18, 1988 by Taurus Entertainment. The film was based on Filmation's television series and Mattel's action figure of the same name, and was also among the first animated features to use computer graphics...

    (1988)
  • Happily Ever After (1993)

Television films, shorts and specials

  • His Mother Marveled (1963)
  • Archie and His New Pals (1969)
  • Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert! (1969)
  • The Archie, Sugar Sugar, Jingle Jangle Show (1970)
  • Aesop's Fables (1971)
  • The Brady Kids on Mysterious Island (1972)
  • Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain (1972)
  • Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies
    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 that was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie...

    (1972)
  • The Fat Albert Halloween Special (1977)
  • The Fat Albert Christmas Special (1977)
  • A Snow White Christmas (1980)
  • The Fat Albert Easter Special (1982)
  • Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
    Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All
    Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All is a 1982 animated television film produced by Filmation and written by Samuel A. Peeples, whose credits included the original Star Trek series.- Plot :...

    (1982)

History


Lou Scheimer interviews


Former staff interviews


DVD staff interviews


Websites

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