America’s Animation Studio: The Story Of Filmation

Filmation’s Ghostbusters was aired during 1986-1987, the same time as The Real Ghostbusters series started. The show is based on the Live Action Ghost Busters of mid 70’s.

I was a strange kid. When most of my peers were watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, I was engrossed in old horror movies and Japanese live-action kaiju shows such as Ultraman and had zero time for the anemic dreck that ran on the networks in that time slot. But during weekdays over the summer, cartoons made it onto my viewing schedule. Most of them were strictly background noise, but a few got my actual attention; and chief among those was The Adventures of Batman.

For an eight-year-old like me, it checked all the boxes: a lot of action, a little humor, recognizable super villains instead of the generic scientists/aliens on then-current shows such as Super Friends, catchy theme music, and the booming voice of the late, great Ted Knight. Shortly thereafter, I discovered other cartoons such as Fantastic Voyage (which to me still has one of the all-time great TV themes), Superman, and Aquaman. And then I realized that they all originated from the same company. That company was Filmation… read more >