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.
While the history of animation began much earlier, this article is concerned with the development of the medium after the emergence of celluloid film in 1888, as produced for theatrical screenings, television and (non-interactive) home video.
Rocket Robin Hood is a Canadian animated television series, placing the characters and conflicts of the classic Robin Hood legend in a futuristic, outer space setting. It was produced by Krantz Films, Inc. and aired on CBC Television from 1966 to 1969.
George of the Jungle is an American animated television series produced and created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who also created The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. The character George was inspired by the story of Tarzan and a cartoon characterization of George Eiferman drawn by a cook on his minesweeper in the Navy during World War II. The series aired first-run for 17 episodes on Saturday mornings from September 9 to December 30, 1967, on the ABC-TV network. Then, rather than commissioning new episodes, the network was content to repeat the 17 episodes, keeping George of the Jungle on its Saturday schedule until September 19, 1970.
Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of The Huckleberry Hound Show from 1958 to 1961.
The New 3 Stooges is an American animated television series that ran during the 1965–66 television season starring the Three Stooges. The show follows the trio's antics both in live-action and animated segments. The cast consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe DeRita, with actor and close friend Emil Sitka co-starring, as well as Margaret Kerry. The stories took place in varied settings, including Newport Beach and sailing as buccaneers on the Spanish Main.
Defenders of the Earth is an American animated television series produced in 1986, featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate—Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and Mandrake's assistant Lothar—opposing Ming the Merciless in the year 2015. Supporting characters include their children Rick Gordon, L.J., Kshin, and Jedda Walker.
Eugene Merril Deitch was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons such as Munro, Tom Terrific, and Nudnik, as well as his work on the Popeye and Tom and Jerry series.
Syncro-Vox is a filming method that combines static images with moving images, the most common use of which is to superimpose talking lips on a photograph of a celebrity or a cartoon drawing. It is one of the most extreme examples of the cost-cutting strategy of limited animation. The method was developed by cameraman Edwin "Ted" Gillette in the 1950s in order to simulate talking animals in television commercials. Gillette filed the technique on February 4, 1952, and obtained patent #2,739,505 on March 27, 1956.
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.
Edwin Gillette was a cameraman and inventor notable for the development of the Syncro-Vox technique of limited animation, which was used in the series Clutch Cargo.
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.
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).
Milt Gross was an American cartoonist and animator. His work is noted for its exaggerated cartoon style and Yiddish-inflected English dialogue. He originated the non-sequitur "Banana Oil!" as a phrase deflating pomposity and posing. His character Count Screwloose's admonition, "Iggy, keep an eye on me!", became a national catchphrase. The National Cartoonists Society fund to aid indigent cartoonists and their families, for many years was known as the Milt Gross Fund. In 2005, it was absorbed by the Society's Foundation, which continues the charitable work of the Fund.
Space Angel is an animated science fiction television series produced in the United States from early 1962 through 1964. It used the same Synchro-Vox lip technique as Clutch Cargo, the first cartoon produced by the same studio, Cambria Productions. The show was created by Dick Darley, who also created the 1950–1955 live-action series Space Patrol.
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.
Colonel Heeza Liar is the star of the second animated series featuring a recurring character and the first featuring a recurring character created specifically for an animated film. Sidney Smith's Old Doc Yak appeared in 3 lost films in 1913 before Colonel Heeza Liar appeared. Smith's series though was based on his Old Doc Yak comic strip. Smith did 13 additional cartoons in 1914 and 2 in 1915. Colonel Heeza Liar was created by J. R. Bray and is mainly based on Theodore Roosevelt and the general stereotype of the 19th and early 20th century former adventurer and lion hunter. The series ran from 1913 to 1917 and restarted in 1922 until 1924. It was produced by Bray Productions and directed by Vernon Stallings. The series was animated by Walter Lantz from 1922 to 1924 and featured live-action segments interacting with the animation, much like the popular contemporary series Out of the Inkwell.
