A Look at Filmation Classic Cartoon’s

Well I discussed Hannah Barbera it’s only fair to finally give some love to Filmation.

Founded in 1962 by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Norm Prescott the company produced some great, and not so great, cartoons for over thirty years. Before they went defunct in 1989. I mentioned one a few weeks ago, The Tarzan, Lone Rangers, Zorro Adventure Hour was three Filmation productions mashed into one. What else did they produce? A LOT!!!

 

This is not a “top 10” or a “favorite” list, just an overview. The reason for that is while Filmation was a great company, it never really rose Hannah Barbera levels and most its cartoons are remembered for being, silly. Well animated perhaps, but silly. This is because they were more interested in turning out material than they were making quality. So you’ll notice similar animation styles and stock animation used in a LOT in their programs. And speaking of those programs, here are some noteworthy examples:




The New Adventures of Superman

One of the first Superman cartoons after the Fleischer days and they borrowed heavily from them. There was a Superboy cartoon also.

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure

I really need to learn how it is that the pretty cool Filmation JLA cartoons somehow became the more campy and silly Hanna Barbera Superfriends series. I guess the fact that the old JLA cartoons existed explains why H&B had to use the “Superfriends” banner. And of course those ridiculous rules in place about kids programming in the 70’s. It’s a shame these cartoons are so forgotten today. Superman had the cartoon series first of course and re-runs were added to new material featuring these DC character who I get the feeling the creators weren’t sure what to do with. So they lumped them together in an hour that featured not only Superman and Aquaman but Hawkman, Green Lantern, Flash, and even Teen Titans cartoons! Hoe old is this? 1967!

The New Adventures of Batman

A few decades before “Batman:the Animated Series” we had the very first solo Batman cartoon ever. And it was ok, though it did take some liberties here and here. Why was Robin’s “R” insignia color always inverted? But the characters on thus show would be resurrected for several Scooby Doo movies later on. By the way Filmatiom also did the live action “Shazam!” and “The Secrets of Isis” but we’re discussing cartons here today.

Archie’s Funhouse

There have been a few adaptations of the classic Archie comics, does Riverdale count?, and Filmation did a few of them. No matter what silly name they gave it, is was pretty much the same idea. Kids in school getting into hi jinks. Although one series took the “Peanuts” approach and had the character reenacting historical events. Sure. I never really read the comics and the only cartoon I watched was an 80’s version which had nothing to do with Filmation. It was done by DIC and, well, I sense a follow up article coming! How many versions did Filmation have? Seven ending with The New Archie and Sabrina Hour. And I have no explanation for that weird opening, the 70’s I guess ?









Sabrina and the Groovie Ghoulies

The Archie Funhouse and Comedy Hour gave us this spin=off, one of the first properties based on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. When did Sabrina attend Riverdale high? I guess I need to catch up! What were the Groovie Goolies? Imagine a group of Universal Classic Monsters having hi jinks, and you get the idea. But the three properties had a lot of crossover’s back in the day. They kind of had their own animated universe going! And the Ghoulies weren’t just one hit wonders either even doing a crossover with Looney Tunes! I couldn’t find the correct clip for Sabrina so enjoy the opening of the Groovie Ghoulies.

ever feel like maybe you missed out on something?







Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids

We all know Cosby’s big hit in the 80’s was The Cosby Show. This was his hit in the 70’s. And it had a healthy run too. Where the Cosby Show was based on Cosby’s observations after becoming a father, Fat Albert was based on his experiences growing up in the inner city. Cosby did the live wraparounds and several voices, and it’s funny watching the cartoon today since the characters voices will remind me of a bit he would later do on his sitcom. I never really got into this show, but it was definitely one of Filmation’s biggest hits.







The Brady Kids

On the other hand. Yeah this seems to be the one show that Filmation’s association with is often ignored. Maybe because it was more if a Paramount product. I’ve talked about it before so need to go into details. I never liked the show, it used to make me wish I was watching a real episode of The Brady Bunch. What was it with Filmation doing cartoons about kids anyway? Oh and Filmation also did this….

yes “Gilligan’s Planet” was a thing.






My Favorite Martians

Yeah Filmation was as bad with sitcom’s turned into cartoons as H&B were. I didn’t even know My Favorite Martian had an animated series. Did it need one? I meant the show was hardly serious in tone. Next you’ll tell me there was also an awful live action movie featuring Christopher Lloyd…oh yeah







Star Trek: The Animated Series

Yeah I talked about this one before. I wish Filmation hadn’t been the studio to do this show. There shows were kid stuff and that’s fine with Archie, but not Star Trek. Oh they tried, by bringing top notch writers for the scripts. But there was still a lot of goofiness and Filmation trademarks like using stock animation over and over. As much as I love Star Trek the series was never more than a curiosity for me.








Tarzan/Super 7

Ok so I made a comment in another article asking what the heck the “Super 7” was. And really it was kisy a big maship. First with Tarzan then with Batman. The “Super 7” were just Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The New Adventures of Batman, The Freedom Force — Isis, Super-Samurai, Sinbad, Merlin, and Hercules; Jason of Star Command, Manta and Moray, Superstretch and Microwoman, and Web Woman. Not only were many of these blatant ripoff’s of other proprties, but as I pointed out in my mashup article jamming a lousy cartoon with a a popular one doesn’t make the loudy cartoons any better.







The GhostBusters

Yeah yeah, I’ve told the story about my disappointment that this show was not based on the movie. It was based on a REALLY bad live action series with the same name. Seriously look it up, it’s amazingly corny. The cartoon was actually a little better. I never really watched it to this day but I’m sure it was fine. There’s a much longer story about the name and copyrights but this show was the reason for the “Real” in “The Real Ghostbusters”.







Blackstar

I always had an affinity for that name, for some reason. It’s a common one to be honest. What was this series about? Well let’s just say that it has a lot of elements that would turn up in another Filmation series you may have heard of. He was an astronaut trapped on another world and…. to be honest I’ve read the description twice and still have no idea what the heck the show was really about.








He-Man & the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power

It’s ironic that Filmarion’s two monster hits would come out just a few years before the studio collapsed. But do I really need to say anything about these shows that I haven’t? This show was my childhood and, well, I have other articles about them elsewhere for you to read if you’d like. One thing to note about both these show is what a difference in quality from the stuff from the 60’s. You could tell that Filmation was really trying to make better quality material.






BraveStarr

The toy line was more successful than the show, which tells you something. One of the last Filmation productions and it was quickly forgotten as fast as it came. About cowboy’s in space, because that makes a lot of sense.

As I noted there were movies and specials I didn’t mention, and live action series like Space Academy. Filmation got into the business of making movies of classic fairy tales but it never went anywhere. There very last production was “Happily Ever After” in 1990.




There you have it, my Filmation overview. I wonder what animation studio I should cover next??