Line #93 Creator/Filmation


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5	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/filmation_8.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:320: [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 By the Power of Stock Footage!]]]]
7
8	'''Filmation''' was an [[WesternAnimation American animation]] studio founded in 1963 by Creator/LouScheimer and Norm Prescott that, along with Creator/HannaBarbera, dominated the American Saturday morning cartoon market throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, particularly in the genre of action-adventure cartoons.
9
10	The studio was run on a shoestring budget, so they had to limit costs wherever possible. This condition was aggravated by Filmation's "people before art" policies which forbade the company from outsourcing jobs to cheaper foreign animation studios, known in those days as "runaway production."[[note]]Although they did work with Creator/{{TMS\|Entertainment}} on ''Zorro''. However, ''Zorro'' was even cheaper to produce than TMS's own domestic productions, and TMS paid their staff members more than Filmation did—to put ''that'' in perspective, a typical episode of an American cartoon usually has around 3 times ($300,000) the budget of a typical episode of an anime ($123,000)—showing just how cheap Filmation was. The only thing saving the American studio was the favourable yen-to-dollar exchange rate at the time; once that changed, they decided to just do the rest of their shows themselves. Scheimer later regretted sending the work overseas because it also upset several people in the company (And soon after, the union itself), some of who quit over the issue[[/note]] This resulted in Filmation's (in)famous cost-cutting techniques: LimitedAnimation and considerable reliance on [[StockFootage re-used footage]].
11
12	Moreover, Lou Scheimer's social conscience led him to submit the studio's productions to the oversight of various MoralGuardians, resulting in the avoidance of any controversial or challenging aspects in its series and in the various AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle lectures appended to episodes in the 1970s and '80s. On the plus side, Filmation did employ many of the best animation writers of the 1970s and '80s, and its artwork (as opposed to animation) featured graceful and gutsy character designs and [[SceneryPorn impressive, intricate backgrounds]]—though the company characteristically exploited the latter by interrupting many episodes with [[TheKenBurnsEffect long slow background pans featuring no animation at all]].
13
14	When first established, the company started working on a series started over at a different company, ''Rod Rocket''. As soon as production ended, the company busied themselves with commercial work for companies like Gillette, Marathon Oil and Ford. As well as film titles such as the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]-[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S04E12HerculesAndTheCaptiveWomen mocked]] ''Film/HerculesAndTheCaptiveWomen'' and several Italian imports subcontracted from optical effects house The Westheimer Company. They also attempted to start production of ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBackToOz'' around this time, but monetary issues made the film fall into DevelopmentHell until the early 1970s.
15
16	The studio's first real success came in 1966 with ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman''; this was soon eclipsed by the runaway popularity of ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'' in 1968. ''Archie'' spun off Filmation's next hit, ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaAndTheGroovieGoolies'', in 1971. In 1972, ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuckAndPorkyPigMeetTheGroovieGoolies'', a bizarre {{crossover}} film, was made for ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movies'', featuring the Groovie Goolies meeting various ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' characters. The studio's first foray into socially conscious cartooning came in 1972 with ''WesternAnimation/FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids''; thereafter, didacticism would be common not only on cartoons like ''WesternAnimation/MissionMagic'' (a precursor to ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'' in featuring a supernaturally endowed teacher, [[PunnyName Miss Tickle]], along with later 1980s pop idol Music/RickSpringfield), but in Filmation's live-action productions as well, such as the environmentally educational ''Series/ArkII'', ''Series/Shazam1974'' and ''[[Series/TheSecretsOfIsis Isis]]'' (which featured another magical, HotLibrarian-ish teacher, who transformed into the Egyptian goddess [[[ByThePowerOfGrayskull "O mighty Isis!"]]] in order to fly around in a skimpy skirt and demonstrate social lessons into the bargain).
17
18	Throughout the 1970s, Filmation produced some well-regarded {{animated adaptation}}s of various series, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/FlashGordon1979 The New Adventures of Flash Gordon]]''; ''WesternAnimation/TarzanLordOfTheJungle''; ''[[WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfZorro1981 The New Adventures of Zorro]];'' ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfBatman'', and ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', as well as some less well-regarded ones, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheBradyKids'' (whose dancing pandas and helicopter-tailed wizard bird are [[ShoutOut deployed]] to hilarious effect in a MushroomSamba sequence in ''[[Series/TheBradyBunch A Very Brady Sequel]]''), ''[[Series/GilligansIsland The New Adventures of Gilligan]]'', ''My Favorite Martians'', and ''WesternAnimation/UncleCrocsBlock'', which featured an all-canine version of ''[[Series/{{Mash}} MASH]]'' called "MUSH".
19
20	In 1981, Filmation sought to tap into the increasingly popular fantasy market with ''WesternAnimation/{{Blackstar}},'' its analogue to Ruby-Spears' ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'' (characteristically, the studio had planned to make the hero a black astronaut, but [[ExecutiveMeddling CBS insisted on appealing to a different demographic]], so Blackstar became a deeply tanned white man). In 1983, Filmation achieved its greatest success with ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', a daily syndicated series based on a wildly popular line of toys from Mattel. This was quickly followed by a [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]] spin-off, ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower''. ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' and ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' were other entries in the studio's action-adventure line. These series were a favorite target of consumer advocates in the Eighties, being often characterized as nothing more than 30-minute toy commercials.
21
22	Filmation owned the rights to a 1975 live-action series called ''Series/TheGhostBusters'' starring ''Series/FTroop'' co-stars Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch (one of Filmation's favorite voice actors), and a guy in a gorilla suit. Creator/ColumbiaPictures had to apply for the rights to call its 1984 movie ''Film/{{Ghostbusters\|1984}},'' and after its success, Filmation revived the series in animated format, now called simply ''[[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters Ghostbusters]]''. The SpinOff animated show from the movie thus became ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters,'' while Filmation's version was for a while named ''The Original Ghostbusters''.
23
24	Filmation was owned first by [=TelePrompTer=] and later by Westinghouse (the logo above being rendered in the distinctive [[http://www.fontspace.com/john-sizemore/westinghouse "Group W" font]] shared among most Westinghouse broadcasting assets), but was bought by the L'Oreal Corporation in 1987 and promptly shut down; L'Oreal was only interested in Filmation's massive library of shows and was uninterested in producing any new series. Its last production to be released was the theatrical feature ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'', an unofficial sequel to Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' (featuring seven "dwarfelles" in place of dwarfs), six years after the studio was killed.[[note]]Their last production to be released while the studio was still in business was ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioAndTheEmperorOfTheNight'' in 1987, a similar attempt by Filmation to ape Disney.[[/note]] Attempts by founder Lou Scheimer to [[IncrediblyLamePun re-animate]] the studio proved unsuccessful; Scheimer died in 2013. Most of the studio's library is currently owned by [[Creator/{{NBC}} NBC]][[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal]], on behalf of Creator/DreamWorksAnimation. A retrospective co-written by Scheimer in 2012 entitled "Creating the Filmation Generation" was released[[labelnote:*]]and is where some of the information on this and the related pages come from[[/labelnote]].
25	----
26
27	!!Series Created by Filmation Include:
28	[[index]]
29	* ''Rod Rocket'' (1963)
30	* ''His Mother Marveled'' (1963)
31	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' (1966)
32	* ''The ComicBook/{{Superman}}[=/=]ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Hour of Adventure'' (1967)
33	* ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1967)
34	* ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1968)
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aquaman}}'' (1967-1968)
36	* ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'' (1968)
37	* ''The Batman / Superman Hour'' (1968-1969)
38	* ''The Archie Comedy Hour'' (1969; one of the first series to use the Lou Scheimer[=/=]Norm Prescott "wheel" credit)
39	* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfBatman Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder]]'' (1969)
40	* ''WesternAnimation/TheHardyBoys'' (1969)
41	* ''Series/SesameStreet'' (1969; created new ''Archie'', ''Batman'' and ''Superman'' segments for the first season)
42	* ''Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down'' (1970)
43	* ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaAndTheGroovieGoolies'' (1970)
44	* ''Archie's Funhouse'' (1970)
45	* ''[[WesternAnimation/SabrinaAndTheGroovieGoolies Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' (1971)
46	* ''WesternAnimation/ArchiesTVFunnies'' (1971)
47	* ''WesternAnimation/FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids'' (1972)
48	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBradyKids'' (1972)
49	* ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuckAndPorkyPigMeetTheGroovieGoolies'' (1972)
50	* ''Lassie's Rescue Rangers'' (1973) (not to be confused with ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'')
51	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' (1973)
52	* ''My Favorite Martians'' (1973)
53	* ''WesternAnimation/MissionMagic!'' (1973)
54	* ''The U.S. of Archie'' (1974)
55	* ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'' (1974)
56	* ''Series/Shazam1974'' (1974)
57	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLivesOfWaldoKitty'')
58	* ''Series/TheSecretsOfIsis'' (1975; referred to onscreen as simply "Isis")
59	* ''WesternAnimation/UncleCrocsBlock'' (1975)
60	* ''WesternAnimation/TarzanLordOfTheJungle'' (1976)
61	* ''Series/{{Ark II}}'' (1976)
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfBatman'' (1977)
63	* ''Series/SpaceAcademy'' (1977)
64	* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceSentinels'' (1977)
65	* ''The New Archie and Sabrina Hour'' (1977)
66	* ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' (1978)
67	* ''Fabulous Funnies'' (1978)
68	* ''The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle'' (1979)
69	* ''Series/JasonOfStarCommand'' (1979; a spinoff of ''Space Academy'')
70	* ''[[WesternAnimation/FlashGordon1979 The New Adventures of Flash Gordon]]'' (1979; referred to onscreen as simply "Flash Gordon")
71	* ''WesternAnimation/SportBilly'' (1979-1980)
72	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryComedyShow'' (1980)
73	* ''The Franchise/{{Tarzan}}[=/=][[WesternAnimation/TheLoneRanger1980 Lone Ranger]] Adventure Hour'' (1980)
74	* ''WesternAnimation/ASnowWhiteChristmas'' (1980)
75	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Blackstar}}'' (1981)
76	* ''WesternAnimation/HeroHigh'' (1981)
77	* ''The Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam!'' (1981)
78	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfZorro1981''
79	* ''Gilligan's Planet'' (1982; Filmation's final series for Saturday mornings; also the first to use the Lou Scheimer "signature" credit but not involve Norm Prescott)
80	* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''
81	* ''The Adventures of WesternAnimation/FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids'' (1984)
82	* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' (1985)
83	* ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' (1986)
84	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' (1987; Filmation's final TV series)
85	[[/index]]
86
87	!!Animated Features Created by Filmation Include:
88	[[index]]
89	* ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBackToOz'' (1974)
90	* ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioAndTheEmperorOfTheNight'' (1987)
91	* ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'' (1988 (released 1993))
92	* ''WesternAnimation/RobinAndTheDreamweavers'' (2000) [[note]] This movie is sometimes considered a Filmation title ([[SpiritualSuccessor even though the studio closed up shop over a decade before]]) due to Scheimer's involvement along with the use of certain tropes that were frequently included in his other productions. [[/note]]
93	[[/index]]
94	----
95	!!Tropes Associated With Filmation Shows Include:
96	* ActionGirl: Isis; Teela on ''He-Man''; Judge J.B. [=MacBride=] on ''Bravestarr''; She-Ra and her companions on her eponymous show.
97	* AlanSmithee: Ray Ellis, who wrote much of the music on Filmation series in the pre-Levy/Saban era, was mostly credited as "Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael" - Blais was his wife while Jeff and Michael were the names of Norm Prescott's sons. (Ellis had to be pseudonymous because he was employed at a music publishing company at the time).
98	* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: Particularly in the Eighties, very few shows ended without one of these, sometimes having very little to do with the actual plot of the episode.
99	* AnimatedAdaptation: Many, ''many'', '''many''' of Filmation's shows were adaptation of series from other media, from ComicBook to {{Film}} to LiveActionTelevision, perhaps the most famous being ''Star Trek: The Animated Series.''
100	* AnimationBump: ''Zorro'', due to TMS's involvement is considered one of the few shows above the usual standard of Filmation's usual output. Even despite the limited quality of the said output, there were a few animators who tried to do better, including Tom Sito and Eddie Fitzgerald.
101	** ''Pinocchio'' also visibly has much better animation than the usual Filmation standard, as to be expected for a theatrical production.
102	** ''Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All'' was also noticeably better animated than usual, with rotoscoping used for vehicles being the high point. This one is also justified as the film was intended to run in primetime.
103	* AudibleGleam: This was a recurring sound effect in many of Filmation's productions. In fact, it's even featured in the first version of the company's Westinghouse-era (post-1983) logo.
104	* BandToon: Many of their series ''(Fat Albert, The Brady Kids, The Archies, etc.)'' involved the characters doing musical numbers as filler, with the justification that the characters had formed a band. The songs were original, and could even become breakout hits (as with "Sugar Sugar" from the Archies), but the main appeal of the trope was surely that the musical numbers could use lots of stock footage.
105	* BattleCouple: Manta and Moray.
106	* BlackMagicianGirl: Evil-Lyn on ''He-Man;'' Apparitia and Mysteria on ''Ghostbusters''; Shadow Weaver on ''She-Ra'' (who actually looks a little bit like a Black Mage...)
107	* BrattyHalfPint: Batso, Ratso, and Hauntleroy on ''Groovie Goolies''; Brat-A-Rat on ''Ghostbusters''; Imp on ''She-Ra''.
108	* ByThePowerOfGrayskull: "O mighty Isis!"; "For the honor of Grayskull!"; and, of course, the TropeNamer.
109	* [[CoolHorse Cool Steed]]: Blackstar's dragon-horse, Warlock; He-Man's Battle-Cat (and Skeletor's Panthor); Bravestarr's transforming, shotgun-totin' Thirty-Thirty.
110	* CreatorBacklash: Some ex-Filmation staffers, such as [[UsefulNotes/NoteworthyDisneyStaff Will Finn]], Creator/JohnKricfalusi, [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Eddie Fitzgerald]], Creator/PaulDini and Creator/JMichaelStraczynski have openly expressed their contempt for the company and the shows they worked on. Even Lou Scheimer has disowned a handful of titles, ''Uncle Croc's Block'' in particular.
111	** In [[http://www.traditionalanimation.com/2013/30th-anniversary-of-dragons-lair-don-bluth-exclusive/ an interview]], Creator/DonBluth mentions in passing that he worked at Filmation only to pay the rent, and didn't enjoy the shows or working there at all.
112	--->"After that, my church called me and asked if I wanted to go on a mission trip to UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}}. So I quit the Disney studio, flew off to Argentina, and was there for two and a half years. When I came back I worked at Filmation Studios just to earn money to pay my rent. I didn’t like it (at) all."
113	** Even Hallmark, who bought out the Filmation library, [[CreatorsApathy looked down on their cartoons with open disdain]] and reacted with aggravation towards fans who approached the company about the shows. Hallmark even went as far as destroying the original film elements for the cartoons once they did broadcast transfers of them. [[note]] [[FridgeLogic Which makes you wonder why they even bought them to begin with]]. [[/note]]
114	* CreatorCameo[=/=]DescendedCreator: Not exactly a cameo, per se. But applied to co-founder Lou Scheimer, who showed up in nearly all of the company's shows as a lead voice actor starting with ''WesternAnimation/FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids''. This is especially noticeable in ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower She-Ra]]'', where he voiced nearly ''half'' of the supporting and one-off cast of both series.
115	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' went to places that most shows of this company wouldn't dream of and some of the subjects were surprisingly mature and solemn.
116	* DemBones: ''The Groovie Goolies'' featured a skeleton band called "The Bare Bones Band", A skeleton named "[[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Bone-Apart]]", who was dressed in a Napoleonic hat and was constantly falling apart ([[IncrediblyLamePun Groan!]]) and later, "Scared Stiff" on ''Ghostbusters'' was a [[SkeleBot9000 skeletal robot ghost]] (who was ALSO constantly falling apart) -- and, of course, Skeletor, at least from the neck up.
117	* DiagonalBilling: From 1969 to 1982, the opening and closing credits of Filmation shows would have the words "Produced By" or "Executive Producers" with Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott's names revolving around it, which was a creative way for both producers to get equal billing. [[https://daytonward.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/endtitle.png?w=640]] Later shows, starting with ''Gilligan's Planet'', would just have Scheimer's trademark signature script flashing on screen.
118	* DigitalDestruction: Many 2000s DVD releases of these cartoons have the sound higher pitched. This was because, when they owned the rights to the library in the 90s, Hallmark (the card company) ''deliberately'' threw out the original masters (as well as sound masters and other important archival material) and made new ones- but only for international distribution, apparently because they hated Filmation's library (which begs the question of ''why'' [[FridgeLogic they even bought the rights to begin with]]); this was discovered when Entertainment Rights (which has, through various mergers, been absorbed into Creator/DreamworksAnimation, and by extension, Creator/NBCUniversal) bought it off Hallmark. Hence, the majority of the library is now high-pitched, due to being in the PAL format as compared to NTSC. Some of the lucky few to escape this included ''Ghostbusters'' (both the live-action and animated versions), several of their little-known live-action series like ''Ark II'', and ''Star Trek: TAS'' (the latter being held by Paramount, then CBS), and likely other series held by other companies, like their DC Comics cartoons (distributed by Warner Bros.). That said, [[FridgeLogic one could always lower the pitch of the sound to replicate the original masters]].
119	* DomesticOnlyCartoon: Nearly all of them, with the exception of ''Zorro''.
120	* DullSurprise: A side-effect of the LimitedAnimation. The characters didn't actually have that many expressions.
121	* EndOfAnEra: Contributed twice to the downfall of domestically animated TV cartoons:
122	** First when they outsourced ''Zorro'' to TMS in 1980, a move that Scheimer ultimately [[OldShame regretted]].
123	** Their eventual takeover and disbandment by L'Oreal in 1988 spelled the end of widespread domestic television animation.
124	* EpisodeTitleCard: Many Filmation series use them.
125	* EvilOverlord: ''Blackstar's'' BigBad was actually called "The Overlord," but Skeletor, Hordak, Stampede, Tex Hex, and Prime Evil all clearly fall into this category.
126	* FantasyGunControl: Filmation's "Show No Guns" policy was so extreme that a Filmation artist once circulated a sketch of He-Man holding a pineapple pistol-wise and going "Bang! Bang!"
127	* FunnyAnimal: Largely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in Filmation series. While many of rival Hanna-Barbera's best-known characters of the 1960s and 70s were animals, Filmation's most popular characters were humans. Exceptions included Waldo Kitty, Thun the Lion-Man, Thirty-Thirty (sometimes), and Adam the [[LiveActionTV live-action]] talking chimp.
128	* HeAlsoDid: Before he founded Filmation, Lou Scheimer supposedly worked as an animator for Creator/HannaBarbera's first animated series, ''WesternAnimation/TheRuffAndReddyShow'' (1957), before quitting early in production [[HilariousInHindsight over the show's animation quality]]. Of course his company would later go on to rival [[note]]and be unfavorably compared to[[/note]] Hanna-Barbera in the Saturday morning market throughout the 70s and 80s.
129	* HeroicBuild: Just about every male Filmation protagonist looks like He-Man. Blackstar, Bravestarr, Prince Adam (even when not as He-Man).
130	* HeyItsThatSound: After getting the contract to do the [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries the animated series]], Filmation got access to a library of sound effects from the original ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'', and recycled them extensively in subsequent productions, as heard in the likes of ''Sport Billy'', ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters Ghostbusters]]'', and others.
131	* InkSuitActor: Rick Springfield on ''Mission: Magic!''; most of the casts of ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'', and ''The Brady Kids''.
132	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Despite, or perhaps because of, the studio's reputation in the industry, much of their back catalog doesn't receive the amount of home media exposure that their competitors do. Even when a show of theirs is released it's not until long after it had already been bootlegged on the web. The fact that you can find bootleg episodes of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' with a quick [=YouTube=] search when it's already available on Netflix really drives the point home. It doesn't help that Hallmark destroyed the original masters to many of their shows when they owned the company.
133	** This is especially the case for ''Fat Albert'', which may never see an official release again following Creator/BillCosby's 2018 conviction of sexual assault.
134	* KenBurnsPan: Panning across a painted background while characters deliver dialogue in voiceover. Used so frequently that animators sometimes call the technique a Filmation Pan. In fairness, these background paintings are often [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt gorgeous.]]
135	* LimitedAnimation: A common complaint about the company's works, with the exception of their ''Zorro'' cartoon (it was outsourced to Creator/TMSEntertainment).
136	** Even despite this, Scheimer was '''''heavily''''' vocal about Creator/HannaBarbera and the shortcuts they took to achieve their animation. Especially the RingAroundTheCollar technique. Part of this backlash stems from his brief time working for them on ''WesternAnimation/TheRuffAndReddyShow''.
137	* MagicalGirl: Sabrina; Miss Tickle on ''Mission: Magic''; Mara on ''Blackstar''; The Sorceress on ''He-Man''; Glimmer, Castaspella, Frosta, and Queen Angella on ''She-Ra.''
138	* MechaMooks: Ming's robot warriors on ''Flash Gordon''; the Lavaloks (basically, stone dinosaur robots) on ''Blackstar''; Skeletor's robots on ''He-Man''; Hordak's Horde Troopers on ''She-Ra.''
139	* MoralGuardian: Lou Scheimer was dead set on avoiding any subjects in his studio's filmography that were deemed too challenging or controversial. However, shows like ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' and ([[OddballInTheSeries believe it or not]]) specific episodes of ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]]'' often tried to rise above the norm with more serious and mature plot lines.
140	** And then there's ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' that tackled issues such as death, crime, murder, greed and corruption with an impressive amount of seriousness.
141	* NoBudget: Even more so than [[Creator/HannaBarbera their]] [[Creator/RankinBass rivals]], seeing how one of their first employees was a mannequin dressed up to pass as a secretary!
142	* NotQuiteStarring: The entire basis for ''Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down''.
143	* OpeningNarration: Filmation liked opening narrations (or occasionally {{expository theme tune}}s) and used them in a lot of their shows (''He-Man,'' ''Flash Gordon,'' ''Fat Albert,'' ''Zorro,'' and many others). Of course, a few like ''Star Trek'' and ''The Lone Ranger'' had opening narrations carried over from their live action versions.
144	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The "ghosts" on the animated ''Ghostbusters'' series included a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] ghost and a ''[[SkeleBot9000 robot]]'' ghost.
145	* OurMonstersAreDifferent: The Groovie Goolies were a fairly early example of the friendly, funny variation of the classic Creator/{{Universal}} movie monsters.
146	* PublicDomainAnimation: At least four of their cartoons are this. Both ''[[https://youtu.be/ACz3TTTp_To Rod Rocket]]'' and ''[[https://youtu.be/tc8vZRKIfSw His Mother Marveled]]'' had their copyrights expire in 1991, while the ''WesternAnimation/UncleCrocsBlock'' segments ''Fraidy Cat'' and ''Wacky and Packy'' had theirs expire in 2003.
147	* RecycledInSpace: ''The Hardy Boys'', who go around solving mysteries with their friends... as a cool and groovy band!
148	* SceneryPorn: Filmation's background paintings were very often beautiful and detailed -- as emphasized by the everlasting so-called "Filmation pan" that generally opened episodes of their cartoons.
149	* StockFootage: Unfortunately, perhaps the single best-remembered characteristic of Filmation's series. Longer-running series would often have a library of stock footage that storyboarders would work in whenever possible, and a for a few series, such as ''He-Man'', they developed their stock animation sets first before doing animation for the individual shows.
150	* StockSoundEffects: Many of the sound effects in Filmation's cartoons were low-quality copies of the Creator/HannaBarbera sound effects (often with a more audible echo, or at a slightly lower pitch), along with a few custom-created sounds and some stock sounds from Disney's cartoons (by Creator/JimmyMacDonald). Some sound effects were borrowed from the original ''Series/{{Star Trek\|The Original Series}}'' series such as the phaser, photon torpedo, and transporter sound effects. The distinctive "heat ray" sound from the 1950's ''War of the Worlds'' film also gets used a lot.
151	* SurroundedByIdiots: The {{Evil Overlord}}s of Filmation's 1980s series invariably surrounded themselves with muscle-bound, moronic minions. Despite the fact that they inevitably bungled whatever mission he sent them on, the BigBad never considered icing them and hiring someone competent.
152	* TalkingAnimal: Largely [[AvertedTrope averted]] in Filmation's series; though there were Jughead's Hot Dog (who didn't really "speak"; we just hear his thoughts) or He-Man's Cringer, Belfry the Bat, all of the characters in Fraidy Cat and M-U-S-H, and Wacky and Packy's Packy, this trope was nowhere nearly as popular with Filmation as with most other animation studios.
153	* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Hey, there's the chorus going "He-Man! He-Man!" (or "She-Ra! She-Ra!" or "Let's go, Ghostbusters! Let's go! Let's go!"). Must be time to kick some super-villain butt.
154	* TransformationSequence: The title characters of ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra''; Thirty-Thirty of ''Bravestarr''; the long SuitingUp sequence from animated ''Ghostbusters''; Web Woman from ''Tarzan and the Super 7''; Micro Woman of ''Super Stretch and Micro Woman''; and many many others. One of Filmation's favorite methods for avoiding new animation (not that it was limited to their animated shows, as the sequences in the live-action ''Shazam!'' and ''Isis'' series demonstrated).
155	* TroubledProduction: Happened on several occasions, according to the book "Creating the Filmation Generation":
156	** The company ''itself''. After numerous production blunders involving ''Journey Back to Oz'', the studio was close to becoming bankrupt and shutting its doors even before they began. It wasn't until Creator/DCComics gave them the contract for ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' that they were able to get out of the red.
157	** This was the reason why the ''Zorro'' cartoon was even given to Creator/TMSEntertainment in the first place. As the company was working on multiple shows at the time (Among them being ''WesternAnimation/{{Blackstar}}''), it was the only viable option. Problems were further complicated when TMS had to animate the first episode in '''''five weeks'''''.
158	** ''WesternAnimation/UncleCrocsBlock'' also suffered from things such as ExecutiveMeddling, low ratings, and an uncooperative Charles Nelson Reilly (who only took the job in order to get a show in prime time).
159	** The three movies they did fared little better- ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBackToOz'' took nearly a half a decade to complete (and three more years to even be released). ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioAndTheEmperorOfTheNight'' caught the unwanted attention of Creator/{{Disney}}, who took them to court over the matter (thus driving the budget to its final $9 million as a result). ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'' meanwhile, was made near the end of Filmation's lifespan, and wasn't given a theatrical release until '''[[DevelopmentHell 1993]]''', six years after the company went out of business.

Context Creator / Filmation