| Welcome to my unofficial Filmation Studios Homepage, paying
homage to Filmation, a studio who provided it's youthful audience with
innovative, work, lifting the field in general to a higher standard. This
page is dedicated to the people who brought us better children's
programming: Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott, Hal Sutherland and Arthur H
Nadel. Thank you one and all.Why a FILMATION page? Well,
simply, in my opinion, they were THE MOST AMBITIOUS CHILDREN'S PRODUCER OF
THEIR DAY. Filmation is often regarded as a studio who was cheap, because
of repetitive animation. However, the outstanding depth and quality of the
animation offset and very nearly justified this repetition. Consider:
Filmation utilized extensive body rotoscope, moire patterns, effects
animation, realism and depth in their backrounds and animation, and
production values which were in many respects were far superior to their
contemporaries. When Filmation animated an established series,
such as Star Trek, The Brady Kids, or The New Adventures of Batman, they
signed the original voice casts. When motion-control camera systems were
invented, Filmation immediately invested in one, giving their live-action
productions sleek, exspensive fx. Moreover, they animated over the
live-action motion control shots to give several cartoons an even more
realistic look and feel. Filmation was constantly experimenting
with it's programs. From the Laugh-In like Groovie Goolies, to live action
and pro-social/educational shows such as Fat Albert and Shazam!
respectively, to the bizarre lampooning Uncle Croc's Bloc, or the spectacular realism of Tarzan,
Filmation consistently tried to break ground and integrate
new ideas and techniques into their work. At their very best,
Filmation shows boasted a superior quality that has rarely been matched by
their successors. Filmation's continued pioneering work displayed not only
a rare commitment to quality, but have retained a lasting impact which has
changed children's television for the better. Their superior production
values raised the standards in general, upping the ante, if you will.
These achievements should not be forgotten. Unfortunately, the splintering
of the Filmation library to a wide--and bewilderingly confusing--number of
copyright holders has managed to keep most of these fine shows off the air
and video shelves, much to fans frustrations. Larger and larger companies
buy the rights, and leave the shows on the shelves. The time is long
overdue for a nostalgic Filmation page, in my opinion, and I hope you will
agree with me.
If you have comments or suggestions for the page, please
contact: sshumsuper7fan78@yahoo.com
Most
recent update: 03-09, 2003.
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