Animated Spin-offs

[Drtooth]

It's unfortunate that a lot of Titmouse shows don't last long. I'm still crushed over Megas XLR and Motorcity getting canned early.

Those shows were for the wrong demographic anyway. I don't think anyone under the age of 20 could have fully appreciated Megas XLR, let alone the 8-10 crowd.

But Black Dynamite switched production from Titmouse to Cartoon Network original (with CN Studios logo at the end to boot, just like their non-[as] programming). I bet cost was a heavy factor, not to mention it not being a 11 minute short form series. Really should have gotten another season, though.

 

[Mo Frackle]

It's interesting how flat the Brady Kids' performances come off here. They were apparently never given much direction in the recording studio. "Just read what's on the page," is supposedly what they were told. The director never bothered telling them about the story or scenes. Why? Apparently the kids' schedules were so packed that there simply wasn't the time!

The eldest three Brady actors got into some contract disputes prior to the brief second season, leaving Filmation to cast three other actors in their roles (two of whom were Lou Scheimer's kids).

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the animation was reused from earlier Filmation cartoons, particularly The Archies.

Sherwood Schwartz wasn't completely thrilled with the series, as he felt Filmation made it too similar to the live-action Brady Bunch. He felt the same way about The New Adventures of Gilligan (though he loved Gilligan's Planet).

A Very Brady Sequel did a nice tribute/parody to the cartoon during a scene involving some mushrooms...

The Brady Kids debuted on ABC's Saturday Superstar Movie, a movie-of-the-week concept for the Saturday morning crowd. Other live-action series to find their way onto SSM were Nanny and the Professor, Lassie, Gidget, Bewitched, Love American Style, That Girl, Lost in Space, and The Munsters. Even The Banana Splits got the cartoon treatment.

(Slighty OT, but some of these 'movies' were pretty creative. The Man Who Hated Laughter featured an all-star cast of Kings Syndicate comic strip characters, from Popeye to Flash Gordon.

While I haven't seen it in full, I know Looney Tunes fans aren't too thrilled with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovy Goolies. Many of these are on YouTube now, for those curious.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ABC_Saturday_Superstar_Movie

 

[Drtooth]

I'd love to have seen the That Girl movie. It was animated by Japanese firm Toei. You know what that means. Anime Marlo Thomas-chan!

While I haven't seen it in full, I know Looney Tunes fans aren't too thrilled with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovy Goolies. Many of these are on YouTube now, for those curious.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ABC_Saturday_Superstar_Movie

As someone who's seen it, I can safely say it wasn't a great Looney Tunes special (though I can't lie... it was better than some of the DePatie Freling cartoons), but it was a great Groovie Goolies special. Now, while my hate fo 1970's cartoons is legendary, there are a few that I quite enjoy, Goolies being one of them. It's cheesey and pun based with goofy vignettes. But this special manages to take them out of the castle (the place that drives Drac batty) and puts them on an adventure story, instead of the 5 minute vignettes in between Laugh-in jokes. I especially like the weird live action segment. Too bad the Looney Tunes are so stiff, and someone decided to pitch Daffy's voice up to near chipmunkian levels. Kinda wish they had Bella in the mix too, if anything for use of her voice actress. Lou's wife wound up being the voice of Petunia Pig, and she's got a very deep voice that didn't fit.

 

[Mo Frackle]

More from the Saturday Superstar Movie. Michael Eisener was in charge of the Saturday morning programming for ABC at the time, so it wouldn't surprise me if this series was his idea. If definitely has an Eisener feel to it.

Intro (I'm guessing this was compiled before ABC had a lot of the animation sent to them - most of the clips are either re-used animation from older cartoons or merely cels):

Promo:

Bumper (that wouldn't be Daws Butler's voice, would it?):

 

[Drtooth]

I'm not sure about the availability of these things, but oddly enough the one that was readily available on DVD was the odd semi-sequel to Rakin Bass's Mad Monster Party, Mad Mad Monsters.

Which was interesting. Mad Monster Party was written by Harvey Kurtzman, founder of Mad Magazine. Mad Mad Monsters was written by Lou Silverstone, founder of Cracked Magazine (but worked on Mad before that).

Don't know if its still in print, though I doubt it. I have a copy I got for 5 bucks a few years back. It's actually pretty good.