Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Filmation's founders: Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott and Hal Sutherland (rear).
Lou Scheimer and Hal
Sutherland met while working for Larry Harmon
Pictures. When Harmon closed his studio in 1961, they went to work for True Line
where they took on a job to produce a cartoon called Rod Rocket. It was the first place where they credited
themselves as Filmation, since they were “working on FILM, but doing animation”. In
time, the pair met and were joined by former disc jockey Norm Prescott. They
retained Harmon’s former lawyer, Ira Epstein, who incorporated the trio as
Filmation Associates in 1962. They began work on their first major project, an
animated sequel to MGM’s The Wizard of Ozcalled Journey Back to Ozwhich would take a decade to complete due to
financing issues, while also working on commercials and unsuccessfully developing
an original series called The Adventures of Stanley Stoutheart. On
the verge of shutting down, Filmation got its big break when they were able to
bluff DC Comics into letting them do a new Superman cartoon by filling
their otherwise empty offices with friends and colleagues from other studios to
make it seem like Filmation was a booming studio. The
New Adventures of Supermanbecame
a major hit, ingratiating them to CBS executive Fred Silverman and allowing the studio to follow up with additional DC
cartoons and shows based on popular movies. Like other studios, Filmation
utilized limited animation and had a major reliance on stock footage that they
would reuse even across various shows. To compensate for that, they tried to
ensure the writing was as high-quality as possible; such as with Star
Trek: The Animated Series, which
utilized writers from the original Star
Trekand won an Emmy. They
also utilized new techniques such as backlighting effects in The
New Adventures of Flash Gordonand
generating faux 3D vehicle animation using white-outlined black miniatures with
a computerized motion control camera for shows like He-Man and the Masters of
the Universe. Filmation also had
the proud distinction of being the only studio to not send animation jobs
overseas, with the exception of The New Adventures of Zorro due to their
workload at the time. When concerns arose over violence in children’s
television in the late 60s, Filmation shifted focus to gentler comedic
fare most successfully with The
Archie Show, based on the Archie Comics
characters, and Fat
Albert and the Cosby Kids, based
on the stand-up routines of Bill Cosby. Filmation had always strove to have a pro-social
message in their productions, but drove the point home when they began
including PSAs at the end of their episodes. 1969 saw them introduce the first
African-American character on Saturday mornings with The
Hardy Boys. In the 1970s, Filmation expanded
into live-action, making 6 fully live-action shows: Space
Academy, Ark II, Jason of Star Command, Shazam!,The
Ghost Bustersand The
Secrets of Isis. While the studio
had a generally good track record, 1976’s Uncle Croc’s Block proved
such a spectacular failure that it ended their relationship with Silverman in
favor of rival Hanna-Barbera. With increasing competition on network television from
new studios that offered cheaper, outsourced animation, Filmation turned to the
syndication market for its remaining years. In 1969, Filmation was purchased by
TelePrompTer
Corporation, which was then purchased by Westinghouse Electric Corporation’s Group W
Productions in 1981. Prescott, who had poor
dealings with Westinghouse in the past, took that opportunity to retire from
the company. Sutherland had left in 1973 when his TelePrompTer contract ran
out, wanting to focus on fine-art painting; although, he would come on as a
temporary employee to help Filmation out of any jams. Finding himself embroiled
in constant battles with Group W after management changes, Scheimer helped
to encourage the sale of Filmation to L’Oreal. However, L’Oreal wasn’t interested in producing anything
new and shut the studio down in 1989. Hallmark
Cards would acquire all of Filmation’s non-licensed
projects in 1995. When the library was sold again in 2004 to Entertainment Rights, it was discovered that Hallmark discarded all of the
original material after converting the library to digital and PAL-region
formats. This meant the soundtrack on future Filmation releases ran 4% too fast.
In 2009, Boomerang Media acquired Entertainment Rights and absorbed it into Classic
Media. In 2012, Classic Media was acquired by DreamWorks Animation, which in turn would be bought out by Universal Studios
in 2016.
Lou Scheimer among his various characters on the cover of his memoir.
Saturday Credits:
The New Adventures of
Superman
Journey to the Center of
the Earth
The Superman/Aquaman Hour
of Adventure
Fantastic Voyage
Aquaman
The Archie Show
The Batman/Superman Hour
The Adventures of Batman
The Archie Comedy Hour
The Hardy Boys (1969)
Archie’s Funhouse
Will the Real Jerry Lewis
Please Sit Down
Sabrina and the Groovie
Goolies
Archie’s TV Funnies
Fat Albert and the Cosby
Kids
The ABC Saturday
Superstar Movie (episodes)
The Brady Kids
Lassie’s Rescue Rangers
Everything’s Archie
Star Trek: The Animated
Series
My Favorite Matians
Mission: Magic!
The U.S. of Archie
The New Adventures of
Gilligan
Shazam! (1974)
The Secret Lives of Waldo
Kitty
The Secrets of Isis
The Ghost Busters
Uncle Croc’s Block
Tarzan, Lord of The
Jungle
Ark II
The New Adventures of
Batman
Space Sentinels
Jason of Star Command
The Batman/Tarzan
Adventure Hour
The New Archie and
Sabrina Hour
The Groovie Goolies and
Friends
Tarzan and the Super 7
Fabulous Funnies
The New Adventures of
Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle
It wasn’t
until the late 60s that Saturday mornings were beginning to get into full
swing. Content with airing primetime reruns and a few new shows here and there,
that all changed in 1966 when CBS revitalized
its schedule with an action-heavy slant. When CBS showed massive success, the
other networks followed and Saturday morning suddenly became good business. So,
how would the networks advertise to their targeted audiences to tune in every
week? Simple: advertise in comic books! For almost every Saturday schedule for
decades, there was an artfully designed cartoon representing the networks’
schedules in every major publication. They even made sure to cover their bases
with ads in TV Guideand
newspapers so that parents would be aware shows for their kids would be on.
Below are some of the ads that ran
for the 1960s:
CBS
1966
1967
1968
1969
ABC
Ad celebrating The Beatles' success on ABC, reprinting the original 1965 ad.
Inspired by the hit film Those Magnificent
Men in their Flying Machines, Hanna-Barbera began work on a
series utilizing airplanes. Originally the program was going to be populated by
an all-new assortment of characters led by a German Baron and his dog and
called Stop the Pigeon (which many believe remained the show’s name due
to its repeated utterance in the show’s theme song). However, Wacky
Raceshappened and changed those plans.
Original concepts for The Vulture Squadron (top) and Yankee Doodle Pigeon (bottom).
With the villainous Dick Dastardly (Paul Winchell) and his dog sidekick,
the ever-snickering and grumbling Muttley (Don Messick), being the most popular
characters of the program, it was decided to spin them off into their own
starring vehicle. Initially, they were planned as the villains of the other Wacky
Races spin-off, The
Perils of Penelope Pitstop, but were made the primary leads of Stop the
Pigeon instead. Dastardly was taken off of the racetrack and put into the
skies as the leader of the Vulture Squadron, whose primary mission was to stop
Yankee Doodle Pigeon from carrying out his secret mission of delivering
whatever was in his satchel. It was never explicitly stated for which side
Dastardly was working for, but it was a safe assumption it was the wrong side.
Muttley, Zilly, Klunk, Dastardly and Yankee Doodle.
Along
with Muttley, who was always seeking to be rewarded with a medal for his
efforts, Dastardly was joined by the cowardly Zilly, who would frequently pull
his head into his coat to “disappear”, and the inventive Klunk (both Messick),
who invented most of the wild aircraft and gadgetry used to go after Yankee
Doodle. Zilly and Klunk were equally dim-witted, and the things they did often
backfired. Klunk also spoke constantly in a series of sound effects mixed in
with actual words, which often resulted in Zilly having to translate what he
was saying to Dastardly. The entire squadron was under the command of an unseen
General (Winchell), who would often call and yell at Dastardly for their
failures.
One of the wacky plane concepts seen during the show.
Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines debuted on CBS on September 13,
1969. The characters and wild aircraft were designed by Jerry
Eisenberg, who used World
War I planes as his base inspiration because of how funky
they looked to begin with. Each show was broken up into multiple segments. Two were
the primary story segments of the Squadron’s misadventures in trying to
apprehend Yankee Doodle. The last segment was “Magnificent Muttley”, where
Muttley would daydream about himself in various occupations or adventures and
usually being the hero to Dastardly’s villain. There were also short 30-second gag
segments called “Wing Dings”, which usually played up a pun of some kind for a
visual gag. The series was written by Larz Bourne, Dalton
Sandifer and Mike Maltese with story direction
by Alex
Lovy and Bill Perez. Ted
Nichols composed the music, and the show’s theme was performed by Winchell in
character as Dastardly.
Although never receiving its own comic, Dastardly & Muttley was
a feature in Gold Key Comics’ Hanna-Barbera
Fun-Infor at least half of the series’ run. They were less prominent in Gold
Key/Whitman’s Golden Comics
Digest, appearing only in #7 and #11. In 2017, as part of
DC
Comics’ reimagining of Hanna-Barbera properties, a Dastardly
& Muttleymini-series was released written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Mauricet, with colors by John Kalisz and letters by
Rob Steen. The series was a twist on
the Flying Machines concept by having U.S.
Air Force pilot Colonel Richard “Dick” Atcherly and his navigator, Captain Dudley
“Mutt” Muller, become gradually cartoonized when the leader of Unliklistan
tried to use the unstable radioactive element Unstablium 239 to power a
reactor. The (unofficial) Vulture Squadron comes together to try and stop an
errant drone, War Pig One, from further spreading the Unstablium around the
world. The phrase “Stop the Pig One” eventually makes its way into the book, as
does the original cartoon. In 2019, the actual characters returned in Scooby-Doo
Team-Up #44 by Sholly
Fisch, Scott Jeralds, Silvana Brys and Saida Temofonte,
tricking the Mystery, Inc. gang into thinking Yankee Doodle was a ghost to
capture. It also, at long last, revealed why the Vulture Squadron was after him
this whole time.
The international version of the complete series DVD.
“Fur
Out Furlough / Barn Dance / Hot Soup / Muttley on the Bounty / Slappy Birthday”
(9/13/69) – The General promises an all-expenses paid month-long furlough for
the one that captures the pigeon. / Klunk asks the others if they’re going to
the barn dance. / The mop water gets mixed up with the soup. / Muttley dreams
he’s Fletcher Christian and Dastardly is Captain Bligh. / Muttley can’t
celebrate his birthday until the pigeon is caught.
“Follow
That Feather / Barber / Empty Hangar / What’s New Old Bean? / Operation Anvil”
(9/20/69) – The Squadron uses a feather-seeking homing missile. / Muttley
raises Dastardly’s barber chair a bit too high. / Muttley brings Dastardly a
literal hanger for his clothes. / While gardening, Muttley dreams he’s in Jack and the Beanstalk. / Klunk is
confident that his flying anvil will finally succeed.
“Sky
Hi-IQ / Prop Wash / Carpet / The Marvelous Muttdini / A Plain Shortage of
Planes” (9/27/69) – The General sends in an efficiency expert. / Klunk uses a
plane to dry his laundry. / Dastardly’s men roll out the red carpet when he
returns from vacation. / While locked in the guard house, Muttley dreams he’s
an escape artist. / The Squadron has run out of planes and there’s no money to
buy any more.
“Barnstormers
/ Arnold / Pineapple Sundae / The New Mascot / The Bad Actor / Shape Up or Ship
Out” (10/4/69) – Crashing in a barn causes a country woman to think Zilly is
her Prince Charming. / Dastardly’s giant dog is a little too good at fetching.
/ Dastardly wants his sundae the way he wants it. / Dastardly shows Muttley
their new giant dog mascot. / Muttley dreams he’s being upstaged by Dastardly.
/ The General transfers the Squadron to sea duty as Yankee Doodle’s route takes
him over the water.
“Stop
That Pigeon / Grease Job / Robot / The Big Topper / Zilly’s a Dilly” (10/11/69)
– The Squadron douses the pigeon with pepper to target their new sneeze-detecting
missiles. / Dastardly takes a nap while Zilly greases his car. / Dastardly
tries Klunk’s new housekeeping robot. / Muttley dreams he’s a circus performer
with Dastardly out to sabotage him. / Dastardly calls in a hypnotist to get
Zilly to stop being such a coward.
“The
Cuckoo Patrol / Automatic Door / Airmail / Runway Stripe / The Masked Muttley /
Pest Pilots” (10/18/69) – The Squadron tries to disguise themselves as fellow
pigeons. / Dastardly tries Klunk’s automatic hangar door opener. / Zilly sends
a letter airmail. / Klunk uses a rocket to paint the landing strip’s line. /
Muttley dreams he’s a western hero after outlaw Dastardly./ A mad scientist allows the Squadron to try
his flying machines.
“The
Swiss Yelps / Eagle-Beagle / Deep Reading / Shell Game / Slightly Loaded /
Movie Stuntman” (10/25/69) – The Squadron gives chase through the Swiss Alps. /
Dastardly decides to use an eagle to capture the pigeon. / Dastardly wants a
light to read his book by. / Klunk helps Zilly collect seashells. / Dastardly
tries to get the lightest things to offload of a truck. / Muttley dreams he’s a
Hollywood stuntman and director Dastardly is trying to get him off the
picture—permanently.
“Fly
By Knights / There’s No Fool like a Re-Fuel / Springtime / Dog’s Life / Strange
Equipment / Coonskin Caper” (11/1/69) – After failing an eye test, the Squadron
all get glasses that make their sight even worse.
/ Running out of fuel has Klunk try to devise a way they can refuel in the
air. / The Squadron has to find a new underground spring. / Zilly takes in a
dog fish. / Zilly gets his baseball equipment from Dastardly’s desk. / Muttley dreams he’s Daniel Boone and has to
rescue his girl from Dastardly.
“Movies
Are Badder Than Ever / Home Sweet Homing Pigeon / The Elevator / Obedience
School / Aquanuts” (11/8/69) – The General sends a movie director to film the
Squadron and find out what they’re doing wrong. / The Squadron refuses to
listen to Dastardly’s orders as their enlistments have come to an end. / Zilly
takes the elevator too high. / Muttley returns from obedience school. / Muttley
dreams Dastardly is out to steal the sunken treasure he’s after.
“Lens
A Hand / Vacation Trip Trap / Parachute / Real Snapper / Leonardo De Muttley”
(11/15/69) – Dastardly has to prove to the General that the Squadron is
actually working and not just collecting flight pay. / The Squadron is left to
carry on while Dastardly goes on vacation. / Zilly bails out when the
Squadron’s boat springs a leak. / Dastardly learns he’s sharing his bath with a
crab. / Muttley dreams he’s da Vinci inventing the first flying machine.
“Stop
Which Pigeon? / Ceiling Zero Zero / Fast Freight / Home Run / Start Your
Engines” (11/22/69) – The Squadron hires an actor pigeon for the General’s
inspection visit. / The Squadron tries Klunk’s weather machine against the
pigeon. / Dastardly and Zilly ride atop a train on Dastardly’s “private car”. /
The Squadron plays some baseball. / Muttley dreams he’s a famous racer.
“Who’s
Who? / Operation Birdbrain / Bowling Pin / Shrink Job / Ship Ahooey” (11/29/69)
– Dastardly loses his memory when he falls on his head. / Dastardly has the
Squadron learn to be pigeons. / While complaining about the quiet, a bowling
pin falls on Dastardly’s head. / After Dastardly’s uniform is shrunk in the
wash, they shrink him so he’ll fit. / Muttley dreams he’s trying to swim across
the English Channel.
“Medal
Muddle / Go South Young Pigeon! / The Window Washer / Beach Blast / Admiral
Bird Dog” (12/6/69) – Muttley refuses to work until Dastardly helps him recover
his stolen medals. / The Squadron loses the pigeon amongst migrating birds. / Dastardly
tasks Zilly with washing the base’s windows. / Dastardly has Zilly blow up his
beach ball. / Muttley dreams Dastardly beats him to the North Pole.
“Too
Many Kooks / Ice See You / Echo / Rainmaker / Professor Muttley” (12/13/69) – Dastardly
lets the others come up with plans for catching the pigeon. / The Squadron
gives chase over the frozen northern front. / Zilly and Dastardly have fun with
a cave echo. / Zilly seeds some clouds to bring some rain on a blistering day.
/ Muttley dreams he’s a brilliant inventor whose ideas are constantly stolen by
Dastardly.
“Balmy
Swami / Camouflage Ho-Aroo / Mop Up / Big Turnover / Wild Mutt Muttley”
(12/20/69) – The Squadron crashes in on a swami that predicts a good future for
them, and a bad one for the pigeon. / The General sends a camouflage expert to
help the Squadron. / Dastardly doles out cleaning assignments. / Dastardly
shows his men his circus high-wire act. / Muttley dreams he’s lord of the
jungle.
“Have
Plane Will Travel / Windy Windmill / Tough Break / The Ice Cream Tree /
Astromutt” (12/27/69) – The Squadron is transferred to an area devoid of
pigeons—except for one. / The Squadron uses a windmill plane to give chase to
the pigeon over the Netherlands. / Zilly fixes Dastardly’s brakes. / Klunk
plants a tree that grows ice cream cones. / Muttley dreams he’s an astronaut
with Dastardly scheming against him on a planet.
“Plane
Talk / Happy Bird Day / Boxing / Runaway Rug / Super Muttley” (1/3/70) – Klunk
develops a plane that has a spare plane. / The General orders off all birthday
celebrating until they catch the pigeon—but whose birthday is it? / Zilly takes
Klunk’s boxing stats. / On a pleasure flight, Dastardly and Muttley encounter a
flying carpet. / Muttley dreams he’s a super hero.
