Showing posts with label filmation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filmation. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Filmation Presents: Bravestarr the Legend (#4)
Enjoy this much-delayed post after the jump. (If you want to refresh your memories, the previous posts are here, here, and here.)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Ghostbusters Vs. Ghostbusters
Have you ever wondered why the cartoon based on the Ghostbusters movie was called "The Real Ghostbusters?"
Back in the day, I'd always kind of cocked my head and wondered if they were taking a jab at the movies, which did not make sense to even my totally insane little kid self.
No, they were taking a jab at this contemporary series.
And do you know why?
In order to make the Ghostbusters movies, they needed to obtain the rights to the Ghostbusters name, which was already trademarked by Filmation because they'd made a low-budget live action TV series of the same name years before.
Filmation was perfectly happy to grant the rights to the name for the movie-they'd make money, after all-and were eager to do a cartoon adaptation.
Except that, when the adaptation came around, the decision was made to cut Filmation out of it.
So Filmation said "Eh, screw it" and made a Ghostbusters cartoon anyway (based loosely on the original TV show).
The name "The Real Ghostbusters" was both a jab back at Filmation and a way to get around the trademark, which Filmation of course didn't grant for use in their cartoon.
So now you know. And knowing... is half of some other cartoon's PSAs.
-Signing off.
Back in the day, I'd always kind of cocked my head and wondered if they were taking a jab at the movies, which did not make sense to even my totally insane little kid self.
No, they were taking a jab at this contemporary series.
And do you know why?
In order to make the Ghostbusters movies, they needed to obtain the rights to the Ghostbusters name, which was already trademarked by Filmation because they'd made a low-budget live action TV series of the same name years before.
Filmation was perfectly happy to grant the rights to the name for the movie-they'd make money, after all-and were eager to do a cartoon adaptation.
Except that, when the adaptation came around, the decision was made to cut Filmation out of it.
So Filmation said "Eh, screw it" and made a Ghostbusters cartoon anyway (based loosely on the original TV show).
The name "The Real Ghostbusters" was both a jab back at Filmation and a way to get around the trademark, which Filmation of course didn't grant for use in their cartoon.
So now you know. And knowing... is half of some other cartoon's PSAs.
-Signing off.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Filmation Presents: Bravestarr The Legend (#3)
This time around, Stampede demonstrates just how deeply violating a cartoon intended for children can really be. Prepare for a surprisingly disturbing experience after the jump.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Filmation Presents: Bravestarr The Legend (#1)
In my time on the Internet, I've seen numerous insults hurled at old cartoons. One of the most frequent things I've read is that Filmation was bad at animation.
Folks, if you think that, you're either ill-informed or full of bull.
Filmation produced a lot of material. When we look at the impressive runs of material they made-hundreds of episodes of He-Man and She-Ra, for instance, enough that the two shows could be shown five days a week for thirteen weeks per season without a single repeat-it becomes clear just how much they could produce... With their single-building studio.
Filmation was a tiny company. That one building (though granted, I don't know what kind of building) housed everything. Filmation had little enough going for it that it had to fall back on something other than money-it had talent.
According to DVD commentary provided by former Filmation staffers, former Filmation animators would later go on to become important members of the '90s-era animation departments at Disney. Whether or not you care for the movies of that era, their animation was beautiful.
And now we come to what this post is about: Bravestarr: The Legend was one of Filmation's later productions, in fact among its very last.
The accompanying Bravestarr series was merely a somewhat above average Filmation show for much of its run, although it had a few fantastic episodes. Bravestarr: The Legend, however, is what I consider Filmation's crown jewel.
Functionally, it's an origin story for the character. Ultimately, you can tell that for its creators, at least, it was a bit more than that. Lou Scheimer, Filmation's producer, came up with the idea, and many of the former Filmation staffers who were called in for commentary for the DVD release called Bravestarr "the best thing [Filmation] ever did." It was probably a particularly personal work for Bob Forward, who seemed to be deeply involved in the character's creation, was one of the movie's writers, and was the physical model upon whom the character was based. (Note, though, that while Forward is ethnically white, Bravestarr is obviously of Native American descent.)
Anyway, without further ado, here I begin an extended analysis and review of Bravestarr: The Legend (after the jump).
Folks, if you think that, you're either ill-informed or full of bull.
Filmation produced a lot of material. When we look at the impressive runs of material they made-hundreds of episodes of He-Man and She-Ra, for instance, enough that the two shows could be shown five days a week for thirteen weeks per season without a single repeat-it becomes clear just how much they could produce... With their single-building studio.
Filmation was a tiny company. That one building (though granted, I don't know what kind of building) housed everything. Filmation had little enough going for it that it had to fall back on something other than money-it had talent.
According to DVD commentary provided by former Filmation staffers, former Filmation animators would later go on to become important members of the '90s-era animation departments at Disney. Whether or not you care for the movies of that era, their animation was beautiful.
And now we come to what this post is about: Bravestarr: The Legend was one of Filmation's later productions, in fact among its very last.
The accompanying Bravestarr series was merely a somewhat above average Filmation show for much of its run, although it had a few fantastic episodes. Bravestarr: The Legend, however, is what I consider Filmation's crown jewel.
Functionally, it's an origin story for the character. Ultimately, you can tell that for its creators, at least, it was a bit more than that. Lou Scheimer, Filmation's producer, came up with the idea, and many of the former Filmation staffers who were called in for commentary for the DVD release called Bravestarr "the best thing [Filmation] ever did." It was probably a particularly personal work for Bob Forward, who seemed to be deeply involved in the character's creation, was one of the movie's writers, and was the physical model upon whom the character was based. (Note, though, that while Forward is ethnically white, Bravestarr is obviously of Native American descent.)
Anyway, without further ado, here I begin an extended analysis and review of Bravestarr: The Legend (after the jump).
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