tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408368436169661319.post6746031111713941948..comments2024-03-28T18:49:48.571-04:00Comments on Joe Torcivia's The Issue At Hand Blog: R.I.P. Hal Sutherland. Joe Torciviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00421096229407174474noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408368436169661319.post-59048579763638139182014-01-25T22:54:49.904-05:002014-01-25T22:54:49.904-05:00By the fall season of 1968, Scarecrow, I’d have to...By the fall season of 1968, Scarecrow, I’d have to rate Filmation as the top studio in Sat AM animation, with both THE ARCHIE SHOW (the original one written by animation and Gold Key Comics writer Bob Ogle) and THE BATMAN SUPERMAN HOUR. <br /><br />Sure their animation was not up to even the standards of contemporary Hanna-Barbera – WACKY RACES; H-B’s featured series for fall ’68, was clearly better animated – but there was something I really liked about Filmation’s character designs! Especially as they were dealing in pre-existing, licensed characters, the looks of whom were already cemented in the public’s consciousness. <br /><br />Look at the illustration of Batman and Robin, heading up the previous post… or at Superman, Aquaman, and the Archie characters, and especially STAR TREK! <br /><br />I don’t often concede this, but animation in the SECOND HALF of my sainted Sixties, took a serious downward dip, vs. the earlier part of the decade, when most of my TV cartoon favorites originated. Also look at the remaining theatrical product of Warner Bros. and Walter Lantz. Chuck Jones’ MGM cartoons were an exception, as were the DePatie Freleng series. <br /><br />But nothing was “as it was” even just a few years earlier – and it would get FAR WORSE into the seventies and eighties! By that standard, even if they were lesser than contemporary Hanna-Barbera, should we judge Filmnation so harshly? I think not. <br /><br />Never mind that their writing was the best in the animation business at the time, considering they employed Bob Ogle, and writers who had worked for DC Comics, and the original STAR TREK! <br /><br />And a voice roster that included Ted Knight, Bud Collyer, Bob Hastings, Marvin Miller, Dal McKennon, Howard Morris, Olan Soule, Casey Kasem (before he was “Shaggy”) and the cast of Star Trek, sans Walter Koeing! <br /><br />Indeed, Filmation’s STAR TREK was unquestionably the finest television animation product of its time! <br /><br />They merely followed all that up with the ground breaking FAT ALBERT series – and pretty much originated the “daily first run afternoon syndication” concept with HE MAN and SHE RA that gave birth to DUCKTALES and TINY TOON ADVENTURES, and the whole Disney and Warner TV animation renaissance of the ‘80s and ‘90s! <br /><br />And that is why we should ALL have an appreciation for Filmation – and the work of Messrs. Prescott, Scheimer, and Sutherland!Joe Torciviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00421096229407174474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5408368436169661319.post-32774835688094641672014-01-25T19:18:18.567-05:002014-01-25T19:18:18.567-05:00I'm glad you have an appreciation for Filmatio...I'm glad you have an appreciation for Filmation and their rather prodigious output. So many who write about animation dismiss them as purveyors of schlock. Yet considering the many licensed properties that were entrusted to them--Superman, Batman, Star Trek, Gilligan's Island, etc.--they must have been doing something right. And their animated productions have a certain charm. Granted, the animation often looks cheaper than H-B, but they had good voice talent and good scripts. What is most important is that many kids experienced many hours of entertainment delivered to them by Filmation, and that's really what matters.<br /><br />I read an interview on Hal Sutherland in the Seattle Times many years ago, and he came across as very passionate about his work and optimistic about the future of Filmation.scarecrow33https://www.blogger.com/profile/10552306802823617940noreply@blogger.com