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Cambria Productions was the West Hollywood, California animation production studio most famous for its wide usage of the Syncro-Vox technique of animation developed by Edwin Gillette, who was a co-partner in the studio.
Owned by Clark S. Haas Jr. from 1957 until 1965, the studio produced Clutch Cargo (1959–1960), Space Angel (1962), Captain Fathom (1965), and The New 3 Stooges (1965–1966). A test film for another series, Doc Potts or Doc Potts and Weselly, was prepared in 1960, though the series was apparently never produced. Two sample episodes of a proposed Moon Mullins series were produced along with a sales film to promote it to local television stations, but it didn't clear enough markets to go into production.[ citation needed ]
Despite operating on a shoestring budget, the studio was able to produce series which are fondly remembered[ by whom? ] for their imaginative and entertaining storylines, and for their inventive ways of compensating for budgetary limitations.
Among the artists and entertainers who found employment at Cambria Studios were musician/composer Paul Horn, Margaret Kerry, Hal Smith, Alex Toth, Warren Tufts and Doug Wildey. Wildey's and Toth's artistic styles (both were established in the comic book industry) were evident throughout Cambria's existence. Wildey carried much of it over to Hanna-Barbera when he joined that studio in 1962; he created Jonny Quest for Hanna-Barbera, a series with artistic models more akin to Cambria's than to Hanna-Barbera's. [1] [2] Toth also joined Hanna-Barbera after leaving Cambria, where he created several of Hanna-Barbera's action series of the late 1960s. [3]
Limited animation is a process in the overall technique of traditional animation that reuses frames of character animation.
Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that slowly set in with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and the popularization of television animation that started in the late 1950s, reached its peak during the 1970s, and ended around the mid-1980s. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children. Due to the perceived cheap production values, poor animation, and mixed critical and commercial reception, the era is generally looked back upon negatively by critics and animation historians. The television animation of this period is often referred to as the dark age of American animation, while the theatrical animation from the time is sometimes referred as the bronze age.
Jonny Quest is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular Jonny Quest, a boy who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–65 television series of the same name, and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and three computer games.
Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor is an American Saturday morning animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that ran on CBS from September 9, 1967 to January 6, 1968, airing in reruns until September 6, 1969. Despite Moby's name coming first, he had only one short per half-hour episode, sandwiched between two with Mightor. The same structure was used the previous season for Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.
Sealab 2020 is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, on Saturday mornings. The series was created by Alex Toth, who also created such other Hanna-Barbera cartoons as Space Ghost and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. A total of 13 episodes were aired, with two episodes remaining unaired.
Alexander Toth was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Fantastic Four, Space Ghost, Sealab 2020, The Herculoids and Birdman. Toth's work has been resurrected in the late-night, adult-themed spin-offs on Cartoon Network’s late night sister channel Adult Swim: Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
The Ruff and Reddy Show is an American animated television series produced by H-B Enterprises for NBC. It is one of the earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, and the first series made by Hanna-Barbera. The series follows the adventures of Ruff and Reddy. It was presented by Screen Gems, the television arm of Columbia Pictures. It premiered in December 1957 and ran for 156 episodes until April 1960, comprising three seasons total. It was repeated on NBC Saturday mornings from 1962 to 1963. In the late 1950s, it was sponsored by Post Consumer Brands.
The Herculoids is an American Saturday-morning animated-cartoon television series, created and designed by Alex Toth, that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show debuted on September 9, 1967, on CBS. Hanna-Barbera produced one season for the original airing of the show, although the original 18 episodes were rerun during the 1968–69 television season, with The Herculoids ending its run on September 6, 1969. Eleven new episodes were produced in 1981 as part of the Space Stars show. The plotlines are rooted in science fiction and fantasy.
Shazzan is an American animated television series created by Alex Toth and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on Saturday mornings on CBS from September 9, 1967, to January 20, 1968, and continued in reruns until September 6, 1969. The series follows the adventures of two teenage siblings, Chuck and Nancy, traveling around a mystical Arabian world, mounted on Kaboobie the flying camel. During their journey they face several dangers, but they are aided by Shazzan, a genie with magical powers. 18 half-hour episodes were produced, made up of two 11-minute segments.
Clutch Cargo is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions, syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. The series was notable for its limited animation yet imaginative stories, as well as for being the first widely-known use of Syncro-Vox technology.
Douglas Samuel Wildey was an American cartoonist and comic book artist best known for originally conceptualizing and co-creating the classic 1964 American animated television series Jonny Quest for Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Jana of the Jungle is an American animated television series created by comic strip artist Doug Wildey and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1978. It was originally broadcast as a half-hour segment of The Godzilla Power Hour (1978) and its later expanded form The Godzilla Super 90 (1978–79).
Space Ghost is an American Saturday morning superhero animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, first broadcast on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 16, 1967, and continued reruns until September 7, 1968. The series was composed of two unrelated segments, Space Ghost and Dino Boy in the Lost Valley. The series was created by Alex Toth and produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Sometimes, it is alternatively called Space Ghost & Dino Boy to acknowledge the presence of both shows.
Chester Warren Tufts, best known as Warren Tufts, was an American comic strip and comic book artist-writer best known for his syndicated Western adventure strip Casey Ruggles, which ran from 1949 to 1954.
Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It premiered on September 10, 1966 on CBS, and ran for two seasons on Saturday mornings.
Clark S. Haas Jr. was an American cartoonist and, from 1957 to 1965, owner of Cambria Studios, which produced the limited animation series Clutch Cargo (1959).
Captain Fathom is an animated television series produced in 1965 by Cambria Studios. Like Cambria's other productions, Clutch Cargo and Space Angel, it was produced in Synchro-Vox. At least 26 30-minute episodes, all in color, were filmed. The episodes could be broken down into five 5-minute segments in cliffhanger format. Renowned comic book artist Alex Toth was the director.
The Robonic Stooges is a Saturday morning animated series featuring the characters of The Three Stooges in new roles as clumsy crime-fighting cyborg superheroes. It was developed by Norman Maurer and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 10, 1977, to March 18, 1978, on CBS and contained two segments: The Robonic Stooges and Woofer & Wimper, Dog Detectives.
Jonny Quest is an American animated science fiction adventure television series about a boy who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Screen Gems, and was created and designed by comic book artist Doug Wildey.
Darrell Tyrone "Big D" McNeil was an American animator, writer, editor, publisher, producer, and actor. He started at the age of eight performing as a background actor and bit player in various movies and television series. He entered the animation industry at the age of 18 with Hanna-Barbera Productions. He was most recently developing and producing a number of animated and live action projects through his own company, Gold Medal Productions.
Space Ghost endured and is still popular today. In large part, this is due to the artistic input of comic book veteran Alex Toth...who, on staff with Hanna-Barbera as a designer and idea man, is generally credited with having created Space Ghost.