Filmation library licensed to BCI Eclipse for U.S. DVD releases!

[CapnQuisp]

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh90092_2006-01-16_10-06-05_l16418707_newsml

Great news for us Filmation fans! It seems to me BCI Eclipse is the right company to handle Filmation. I have been impressed with their work on the He-Man sets, especially their attention to detail regarding special features. And one has to admire the innovative packaging of their "Afterschool Specials", which were obviously targeted at the adult retro collector. I hope that future Filmation releases are not simply budget priced releases aimed for kids, with a few episodes of each series.

Here's an idea for BCI Eclipse: Have the first product of this new deal be a three or four disc "anthology" sampling all the Filmation cartoons you now control. Set up a proper website just for Filmation and try to counter the general misconception that Filmation was crap. Tell them the truth, that this smear campaign was started by Golden Age animation snobs who mourned the passing of Termite Terrace, rejected limited animation and rotoscoping techniques altogether, and who, incidentally, also thought Hanna-Barbera was crap. Then, as Filmation reclaims it's rightful place in the history of American animation, sit back and watch your profits soar, as you release every Filmation series in your arsenal.

This is the year of Filmation! 40th anniversary woo-hoo!

http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2/data/500/thumbs/sent1.jpg

[JCorey3rd]

can't wait to see Ghost Busters with larry and forrest tucker and the gorilla. I still remember being stuck in a barber shop dreading my next buzz cut and watching the show as the "next number" grew.

[dtemplar]

Now if we can get Paramount & Warner to distribute the shows they have the rights to for DVD we'll be all set.

Warner has the rights to:
The New Adventures of Superman
Aquaman
The Adventures of Superboy
Justice League of America (JLA, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Teen Titans, The Atom, and The Flash)
The Adventures of Batman
The New Adventures of Batman
Shazam! (live-action series)
The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show
The New Adventurs of Gilligan
Gilligan's Planet

Paramount has the rights to:
Star Trek
The Brady Kids
The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse
The New Adventures of Heckle & Jeckle and Quackula

[CapnQuisp]

Warner would be nuts IMO not to release the DC Filmation toons soon, given the current resurgence in popularity of silver age reprints, the media buzz surrounding the current "Infinite Crisis" comics, and the upcoming Superman movie.

[Eric B]

...will allow 230 hours from its Filmation library, featuring characters such as She-Ra, Ghostbusters and Zorro, to be available on DVD in the United States and Canada.

I think that gives a clue of how much of a percentage of the shows they'll be releasing. Though I forget what the total hours of all their shows are.

[CapnQuisp]

Apparently, Entertainment Rights has already starting releasing certain shows in the UK. According to the info I found on the Yahoo! Filmation discussion list, ER has released Pinocchio & the Emperor of the Night, The New Adventures of Zorro, Snow White: Happily Ever After, and the animated Ghostbusters series. No extra features, but reasonably priced, with 6 episodes apiece on the Zorro and Ghostbusters volumes. It's only my opinion but I think Groovie Goolies would be a better first choice than Zorro here in the States. Here is the cover for the Ghostbusters volume:


http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2/data/500/ghostbusters1.jpg

[JCorey3rd]

i was hoping for the Larry Storch - Forrest tucker with the gorilla version. There were only 15 of them and supposedly the F Troop DVDs are selling well.

[JabarR]

Actually, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids are owned by Entertainment Rights too, but their distributor is UrbanWorks, a division of Ventura Distribution. I'm still waiting for them to put out "He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret Of The Sword".

[dtemplar]

I saw the press release and they mentioned Bravestarr, Groovie Ghoulies, and The Lone Ranger will be made as DVDs.

[Spideyfan1983]

Actually, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids are owned by Entertainment Rights too, but their distributor is UrbanWorks, a division of Ventura Distribution. I'm still waiting for them to put out "He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret Of The Sword".

I agree with u on hoping that they do release "He-Man & She-Ra: Secret of the Sword". Hope to get it soon to add to my He-Man collection. :coyote:

[iacon45]

I am really excited about this news. It means DVD releases for She-Ra, Bravestarr, and the original Ghostbusters (live-action AND animated). :D

[John Pannozzi]

Here's fellow Toon Zoner Jaime J. Weinman's take on this : http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2006/01/operation-filmation-will-cause.html

[CapnQuisp]

Originally Posted by David Turgeon
Do you have any comments on Filmation's upper level management?

Originally Posted by Paul Dini
Dolts, fools, idiots, drunks, child molesters, grave robbers, and lousy writers. Also cheap, cheap, cheap! I've got stories (about them) but they would get me sued. Besides, why should I give them to you for free when I can write a tell-all and make big bucks?


I'm sure Filmation's upper level management were cheap, if Paul means cheap in the way they had to be in order to try to eke out profits or just survive in an industry that was going through big changes in the 80's. I also think it must be noted that Filmation insisted on making their cartoons in the U.S. long after Hanna-Barbera and other studios pioneered the cost-cutting (i.e. cheap) practice of outsourcing animation work overseas to places like Korea.

I happen to think the tone of Dini's quote indicates an exercise in exaggeration. I mean, I doubt he really knew of any member of the Filmation management team who was a child molester, and I doubt also that he really believes he could make big bucks writing a tell-all consisting of stories about Filmation management misdeeds. He obviously still felt proud enough about his work on He-Man to discuss it on the dvds. We all should thank Filmation for giving Paul Dini his first pro writing gigs in the first place. Obviously, someone at Filmation had a keen eye for new talent ( right, Bruce Timm?).

My big beef is that Filmation-haters always talk about how cheap the animation was, and how the same animation was repeated over and over. But really, just how many ways can Fat Albert walk down the street anyway? How many shots do you need of the Starship Enterprise flying through space? Did every Tarzan swinging through the jungle sequence require fresh animation? The answer is "No". Upper management knew that. They also knew it would be cheaper to hire budding geniuses like Dini and Timm rather than veterans. But they also knew that these newbies would have a passion for their work and would do anything to prove their worth as writers or artists.

Today I watched an episode of Star Trek: TAS. Original voice cast, great score, first-rate script by David Gerrold, and meticulous direction...all done on the cheap no doubt. Genius, pure genius.

[nakak]

Yeah, Filmation didn't like the idea of outsourcing, so they did everything in US. Another studio who did everything in the states was DePatie-Freleng (okay, they did outsource "Hoot Kloot" and "Blue Racer" to England and Australia, but those are theatrical shorts that came out in 1970s, and didn't air on TV until 1990s).

I think Hanna-Barbera did everything in US too (until 1980s, I mean)

I didn't see much of Filmation, but they produced memorable shows. Yeah, I hate it how people dislike cartoons because of lousy animation. To me, good animation is the second most important thing in cartoons (number one is writing).

[CapnQuisp]

I think there are animation fans and there are "Saturday morning cartoon fans", and some, like me, who fall into both camps. If I want to see wonderful animation, I'm going to watch "Fantasia", "Princess Mononoke", Clampett LTs, etc. I just don't like the unfairness of demonizing Filmation, while other Saturday morning producers like H-B and Krofft are put on a pedestal riding the current wave of nostalgia.

[Ultra8]

Well this is most interesting. I still have a tape here and there with Bravestar, He-man, and She-ra on it. I've been wanting to see the Ghost Busters with the Gorilla and the flying car for long time.

[GrayGhost]

I think Paul Dini just doesn't like it when he isn't the boss. It was hilarious seeing him talk to Lou Scheimer at the San Diego comic convention last year, since I had remembered the interview you quoted above. I'd take Lou Scheimer over Paul Dini anyway -- Lou was nothing but nice to the fans and kept Filmation from outsourcing and firing half the staff.

[Dark Fact]

Lou Scheimer stubborness was pretty admirable if he was going to keep animation in the states. Any other producer in his position would've given in to financial and advisor pressure.

As for Paul Dini's quote, he comes off as the kind of guy who wants people to pay him $20 for an autograph. In other words, he is an ass. :mad: I think some of his jabs in that quote were just false and serve nothing more than to be vindictive.

For the Filmation deal, there is already some talk about it in the DVD forums but this is still great news! She-Ra? Bravestarr? I hope when they release these DVDs that they will include the original toy commercials as well. :)

[Eric B]

My big beef is that Filmation-haters always talk about how cheap the animation was, and how the same animation was repeated over and over. But really, just how many ways can Fat Albert walk down the street anyway? How many shots do you need of the Starship Enterprise flying through space? Did every Tarzan swinging through the jungle sequence require fresh animation? The answer is "No". Upper management knew that.Well said! When I was a kid and watched the stuff; I got the basic intention of the storyline and the movements and espressions, so I saw nothing particularly bad about it (though I did notice the reuse at times). Still, it looked better to me than a lot of other stuff that was quite popular (Bullwinkle and the Jay Ward stuff, anime (Speed Racer), and even some HB 60's stuff).

Dini's statements all the more seems to prove my theory that a lot of this hatred really stems from some old personal issues between people. Perhaps the company really pissed some people off, or something, right or wrong. Like the fact that they came out of nowhere and hit it so big so fast. HB and DFE were veteran animators, so of course they would get more respect, even though they were forced to resort to many of the same limited animation techniques, in addition to the outsourcing. I'm sure the stunt where they got their first contract by throwing together a phony production crew must have irked people; especially HB, whom some of the people came from on their lunch hour. So people would then call it a "hack studio" because of of that whether their stuff was really that bad or not. And people often believe loud rhetoric as if it is wellknown fact (because its loudness is what makes it "sound" real), and then it becomes popular, and then more people just follow what is "popular" without thinking for themselves. (This is how the whole, similar anti-Scrappy sentiment came about, as well).
Perhaps there was some more deep personal issues that noone ever discussed. If any of that other stuff is true, it would be interesting if Dini did try to write his tell-all, and cite his sources. But as he said, he's probably get sued.

[John Pannozzi]

I happen to think the tone of Dini's quote indicates an exercise in exaggeration.

He obviously still felt proud enough about his work on He-Man to discuss it on the dvds.

from http://www.livejournal.com/users/kingofbreakfast/?skip=40

When they started playing the old He-Man episodes and I got a chance to hear my wretched twenty-year old dialogue, I wadded up the gummis and used them as ear plugs. Seriously.

He was prob'ly participating on the commentary to be nice and/or get paid.

We all should thank Filmation for giving Paul Dini his first pro writing gigs in the first place. Obviously, someone at Filmation had a keen eye for new talent ( right, Bruce Timm?).

Good point. But still, just because Dini and Timm (who I will now say are like gods to me) got their start at Filmation doesn't mean they liked it there. Remember John Kricfalusi (whom I consider at least as much as a genius as Dini & Timm but am also somewhat afraid of him due to his infamous views on the animation industry) got his start at Filmation and hated it.

My big beef is that Filmation-haters always talk about how cheap the animation was, and how the same animation was repeated over and over. But really, just how many ways can Fat Albert walk down the street anyway? How many shots do you need of the Starship Enterprise flying through space? Did every Tarzan swinging through the jungle sequence require fresh animation? The answer is "No".

You're right.

I think there are animation fans and there are "Saturday morning cartoon fans", and some, like me, who fall into both camps. If I want to see wonderful animation, I'm going to watch "Fantasia", "Princess Mononoke", Clampett LTs, etc. I guess I'm more on the animation fan side, but that's another story.

I just don't like the unfairness of demonizing Filmation, while other Saturday morning producers like H-B and Krofft are put on a pedestal riding the current wave of nostalgia.

Most people (specifically those who bash Filmation) only like H-B for their 50's and 60's output (and maybe SOME of their later stuff). And now that I think about the same people who hold Jabberjaw, Hong Kong Phooey and Dynomutt dearly also hold Fat Albert dearly. Same with (Hanna-Barbera versions of) Smurf and/or Snork fans and He-Man fans. And Krofft never dabbled in animation. They worked soley in live-action and their work (H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, Lidsville, the Bugaloos and more) is mostly consider psycadelically bizarre and is either loved or hated for it.

[Brainatra]

Throwing in my two cents/some questions:

1. IMO, Filmation *was* bargain-basement animation-quality-wise; writing, however, ranged from excellent, in "Star Trek"'s case, to god-awful, i.e. "The Brady Kids" (my nominee for the worst cartoon ever made).

2. I assume Time-Warner does own the rights to the DC Filmation 'toons? Would like to see these released on DVD (grew up watching Superman and Superboy cartoons on "The Bozo Show", and saw "The Superman Batman Adventures" show when it ran on USA in the mid-90's).

-B.
Flashing back to the "Animaniacs" epsiode "Back in Style", which riffed on 60's and 70's Saturday morning series like Filmation's...

[CapnQuisp]

Originally Posted by Paul Dini
When they started playing the old He-Man episodes and I got a chance to hear my wretched twenty-year old dialogue, I wadded up the gummis and used them as ear plugs. Seriously.


I don't take this as Filmation bashing, but rather the self-consciousness of a talented writer listening to some of his early work. Kind of like how Jim Carrey must cringe when he watches "The Duck Factory" :o

Originally posted by John Pannozzi He was prob'ly participating on the commentary to be nice and/or get paid.


Agreed.

Originally posted by John Pannozzi Remember John Kricfalusi (whom I consider at least as much as a genius as Dini & Timm but am also somewhat afraid of him due to his infamous views on the animation industry) got his start at Filmation and hated it.


John K would have had a hard time at Filmation. It must have been very disillusioning to him to find out how much had changed in the biz since Bob Clampett's "Termite Terrace" days. But that doesn't mean that Filmation didn't produce quality stuff, just that some of the crew were "angry young men". Some weren't though. I found on Amazon a review of the He-Man Season One Volume One by one Thomas R. Cook who writes:

"...I was an animator on He-Man. This was one of the last shows done entirely in the U.S. as most of the animation work was being sent overseas by the early 80's. Lou Scheimer was the founder of Filmation Studios and made a vow to keep the work in the U.S. and was true to his word until it became impossible to compete with the wages being paid overseas and, sadly, the studio closed in '86 but not until after the successful runs of He-Man, She-Ra, Ghostbusters and the final series Bravestar. My memories working at Filmation are some of the best I have of my 25+ years in the animation industry. He-Man changed the way cartoons would be viewed forever... this is a must have set!!!! Lets hope they decide to release some of the other memorable animated shows created at Filmation Studios."

Originally posted by John Pannozzi Most people (specifically those who bash Filmation) only like H-B for their 50's and 60's output (and maybe SOME of their later stuff). And now that I think about the same people who hold Jabberjaw, Hong Kong Phooey and Dynomutt dearly also hold Fat Albert dearly. Same with (Hanna-Barbera versions of) Smurf and/or Snork fans and He-Man fans. And Krofft never dabbled in animation. They worked soley in live-action and their work (H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, Lidsville, the Bugaloos and more) is mostly consider psycadelically bizarre and is either loved or hated for it.

I love Hanna-Barbera, and agree that their 70's and 80's stuff pales in comparison to the 50's and 60's stuff, but it was always limited animation, and some of it is quite redundant and/or forgettable. If it's okay for Yogi to walk the same way through the same park in every cartoon, it's perfectly fine for Tarzan to swing through the same jungle. Regarding Krofft, I was only referring to it in the context of "Saturday morning producer", not cartoon producer. What I should have said better was that Krofft shows ( which, incidentally, I do enjoy) have had dozens of Rhino releases on VHS and now DVD, while Filmation shows have been owned by companies like L'oreal and Hallmark who kept the shows in limbo. Still, I think it adds to the "urban legend" that Filmation sucks, because some people might think "if those shows were any good, they would have been released already." Sorry for any confusion I caused.

Now c'mon BCI, do us Filmation fans right!!!

http://www.hipgallery.com/photopost2/data/500/Poster-Blackstar-Poster-A2-SM-01.jpg

[dtemplar]

I assume Time-Warner does own the rights to the DC Filmation 'toons? Would like to see these released on DVD (grew up watching Superman and Superboy cartoons on "The Bozo Show", and saw "The Superman Batman Adventures" show when it ran on USA in the mid-90's).

They do, I use to remember watching Superman, Superboy, and Batman cartoons on Bozo as well.

[Ghostbuster Man]

Well its about time they put the rest of the Filmation cartoons on DVD.
I have been waiting for something like this for a long time!:anime:

[OneManHairBand]

Now if we can get Paramount & Warner to distribute the shows they have the rights to for DVD we'll be all set.

Warner has the rights to:
The New Adventures of Superman
Aquaman
The Adventures of Superboy
Justice League of America (JLA, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Teen Titans, The Atom, and The Flash)
The Adventures of Batman
The New Adventures of Batman

Amen, brother! Time-Warner has been sitting on these series (along with tons more of the H-B SuperFriends) for way too long. Admittedly, they do have a tendency to 'trickle out' some of their older properties when a new movie is released (when "Batman Begins" was released on DVD, T/W also rereleased all the 90's live action films, plus the 40's live action movie serials, plus "The Batman vs. Dracula" animated DTV).

The next big superhero movie on T/W's plate is "Superman Returns". I'm hoping maybe we can get a compilation of the Filmation Superman toons, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

[AarHan3]

I'd like to see both seasons of The New Adventures Of Gilligan and a Complete Series collection of Gilligan's Planet and The New Adventures Of Batman. http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/1.gif

A DVD release of The New Adventures Of Batman will be the closest anyone will come to a DVD release of the live-action 1960s series (what with 1960s Batactors Adam West and Burt Ward voicing their animated counterparts). It even has Batpoles! http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/13.gif

[dtemplar]

Another Filmation toon has been mentioned.

Blackstar

[JCorey3rd]

can I just point out how lame Paul Dini's appearance on the Super Friends DVD turned out to be. Why did he bother? did he need a free breakfast? He had less insight into the show than the talking head goofs on VH1.

was WHV scared to let someone talk about how the Wonder Twins replaced Wendy Marvin and Wonderdog? How they were a cross between Donnie and Marie Osmond with Mr. Spock?

[dtemplar]

The Secret of Isis is also planned for a DVD release.

[dtemplar]

She-Ra will be the first to be released. BCI is planning to bring the DVD in July.

[Spideyfan1983]

She-Ra will be the first to be released. BCI is planning to bring the DVD in July.


I am looking forward to seeing SOTS (the 1st 5 episodes of She-Ra) again.
:) :coyote:

[protege]

Now if we can get Paramount & Warner to distribute the shows they have the rights to for DVD we'll be all set.

Warner has the rights to:
The New Adventures of Superman
Aquaman
The Adventures of Superboy
Justice League of America (JLA, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Teen Titans, The Atom, and The Flash)
The Adventures of Batman
The New Adventures of Batman
Shazam! (live-action series)
The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show
The New Adventurs of Gilligan
Gilligan's Planet

Paramount has the rights to:
Star Trek
The Brady Kids
The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse
The New Adventures of Heckle & Jeckle and Quackula
Isis is the one I'm interested in, but i remember the new adventures of Gilligan being pretty good. is there a website that lists off the filmation shows?

[ThePeterNetwork]

I want the Filmation Shazam to be released on DVD, preferably the animated Shazam. The live action is cool, but doesn't really hold close to the comics, and is pretty much seen as a second-rate Superman series.