What about Filmation Cartoons

Fat Albert was available at one time from a company called "Urban Works Entertainment", but has since gone OOP.

Now, I don't know about anybody else, but I think that even though the company technically doesn't exist anymore, it is nonetheless their time to finally shine. For the past several months I have been getting the DVD versions of shows from what I refer to as Filmation's "latter-day" (He-Man thru Bravestarr) period while picking up shows from their "heyday" (pre-He-Man) that are relevent to them (such as Blackstar, the "prototypical" He-Man). However, I also plan to get Genius' release of The Archie Show (from Filmation's "heyday").

The only real problem I have with the DVDs is the fact that most of the Filmation releases were sourced from the PAL masters (yes, I am one of those people who is bothered by the "speedup" where the soundtrack plays too fast; for instance the He-Man theme is in A minor/C major, but on the DVD version, it's sped up and sounds like Bb minor/C# major). As a result, I have to watch them on my computer using WinDVD and its ability to adjust the pitch. Still, it's not all bad. I can still watch them at least. Oh yeah, and since these are Region 1 DVDs I'm watching, they are naturally PAL-to-NTSC conversions (or more technically, NTSC-to-PAL-back-to-NTSC-again conversions :) ).
 
Regarding Filmation shows, they were horrible at their worst and untouchable at their best. I really don't care for their "Droopy" and "Mighty Mouse" cartoons, but I LOVE "He-Man," "She-Ra" and especially "Bravestarr." Much has been said about their stock system and use of limited animation, but I think that they produced some of the BEST-looking animation of the time, particularly in regards to colors, backgrounds and special effects.

"Bravestarr" was (and still is) for me Filmation's greatest effort. The first time I saw "The Legend" was on a bootlegged DVD that had been made from a very poor VHS copy, so to see it fully restored was a revelation. The animation is PHENOMENAL. Both the film and series had excellent voice work from the likes of Pat Fraley, Ed Gilbert and others. And as someone else mentioned, one of Filmation's greatest strengths was their story values. "The Legend" is, among other things, about discrimination and friendship. And the episode "The Price" has stood the test of time. Its message is as relevant today as it was when it first aired. I have yet to see another cartoon episode that can match its impact.

By thy side,

Figaro
 
Filmation's main problems were simple:

1: The frequent use of stock animation.

2: The so-so voice acting from the studio.

3: Aside from the aforemented Bravestarr, no series of their's were original properties.

4: Most comedy series had the same tired plots and gags that the sitcoms of the time did better.

That aside, the only Filmation series I like are their Archie and Sabrina series, while He-Man, She-Ra, and Fat Albert are fun on occasion.
 
-Waldo Kitty (the name parodies Waldo Mitty)
-Fraidy Cat (lost 8 of his 9 lives which come back to haunt him)
-Wacky and Packy (Wacky is a caveman, Packy is his pet "Pachyderm")
-M*U*S*H (name parodies M*A*S*H)
-The Ghost Busters (live-action show from the 70's)
-Ghostbusters (animated 80's series)

(Neither of the two GB shows are related to Columbia's property, also note the different spellings)

-Groovie Goolies (features their interpretations of famous movie monsters, and features Archie Comics' Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but is otherwise an original)
-Isis (NOT a DC creation)
-Ark II
-Space Academy
-Jason of Star Command
-Hero High
-Space Sentinels
-Freedom Force
-Manta and Moray
-Web Woman
-Blackstar (which I previously mentioned)

Granted there aren't many, but there were other Filmation originals besides Bravestarr. I will admit though that their adaptations make up most of their body of work.
 
Didn't know all of these, or that they're from Filmation, probably because I'm only 16. But, tell me this, did any of these have any form of success?
 
All I can tell you is that they were no more or less successful than any other animated show that was airing at the time. However, take that as you will. I will say that many, though not all of them are now available on DVD, so I personally think you should give them a try. As I previously said, Blackstar is more or less a prototypical He-Man.
 
Its a shame Filmation had to shut down when their animation was starting to get better (bravestarr, she-ra, ghostbusters, and their pinnochio film all have pretty good animation from what ive seen).
 
The only Filmation series i have rewatched as an adult are He-man, She-ra and Ghostbusters. And i gotta say, they are all pretty horrible. Yeah sure, He-man and She-ra both had the occasional moderately well-written episode, but for the most part the stories only consisted of predictable, boring, soulless "stop the villain"-plots. As bland as most comedy cartoons of that ere were, i personally think the action cartoons were even worse.
 
Just found this discussion about Filmation.
The cartoon I really enjoyed most by this company was "The Secret Lives Of Waldo Kitty", and I really regret that some channels never have rerun it since the 70's.
 
I agree, besides L'Oreal wasn't another group who was interested to Filmation during that time? We could imagine some various "what if..." scenarios.
 
The biggest problem with Filmation, aside from the obviously crappy animation and constant reusing of the same footage over and over again, was the fact that they created almost no original ideas. Nearly every show they made was built around some celebrity or it was an animated version of some already licensed property. The result: now almost all of Filmation's properties are currently buried in legal red tape, and many of them will never see the light of day again.
 
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