50 Years Ago: When the Animated “Archies” Ruled TV & Pop Music
Even The Beatles couldn’t beat “Sugar, Sugar” for the number one hit of 1969, when the Archies enjoyed a highly unique success – much imitated but never equaled.
Even The Beatles couldn’t beat “Sugar, Sugar” for the number one hit of 1969, when the Archies enjoyed a highly unique success – much imitated but never equaled.
Glen Keane used one of Disney’s fabled Nine Old Men animators, Eric Larson, as a model for Dr. Dawson in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective.
“Drawing the Flintstones is very fulfilling for a Filipino,” said the assistant production manager of Fil-Cartoons. “Even if you just draw the mouth of Fred, you watch it on TV and say, ‘I did that!’.”
The producers of Who Framed Roger Rabbit approached King Features about using Betty Boop and Popeye in the film but were turned down. So how did Betty Boop get in?
On BraveStarr: “The idea was that Indians are the people closest to the earth which allowed us an element of mysticism,” said Filmation vice president Arthur Nadel.
ABC’s answer to the CBS’ Saturday-morning Archies – and the overwhelming success of the manufactured Monkees: a Filmation series that yield two albums and 24 songs.
How does the soundtrack to Filmation’s seminal animated feature connect with Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, Astro Boy, a Congo airline and a plate of bad shrimp?
Few creative entities enjoyed the phenomenal success that the Archie gang enjoyed in 1969, when they topped TV ratings and even beat The Beatles on the charts.
For my special 300th column: The Secret Origin of ‘Animation Anecdotes’ – and I tell of a time I was in a Filmation production… and actually got paid for it!
You can’t make this stuff up. In 1987, Filmation was actively promoting a new animated series called “Bravo!” about a group of round and furry characters called The Fuzzy Folks.