Gamma Productions

Last updated
Gamma Productions
Native name
Producciones Animades Gamma SA
FormerlyVal-Mar Productions
IndustryAnimation studio and production enterprise
Founded1957;67 years ago (1957)
Founders
  • Gustavo Valdez
  • Jesus Martinez Gracia
Defunct1967 (1967)
Headquarters Mexico City, Mexico

Gamma Productions, or officially Producciones Animades Gamma SA, was a Mexican animation studio founded in 1957 as Val-Mar Productions by Gustavo Valdez and Jesus Martinez Gracia. It is notable as being one of the first animation studios in Mexico to accept work from American production companies. [1]

Contents

Output

The studio would not begin production work until March 1959, when it entered into a contract with Producers Associates of TV (also known as PAT). As a part of this contract, Gamma Productions would begin work on Rocky and His Friends, as well as many other Jay Ward Productions titles. This was also when the studio changed its name from Val-Mar Productions to Gamma Productions. [1] [2]

While Ward and his associates complained regularly about the quality of work produced by Gamma Productions, [1] [2] [3] [4] the studio continued to produce animated series from not only Jay Ward Productions, but also Total Television. This work would continue until the studio's unexpected closure in 1967. [1]

Animated programs

Gamma Productions worked on many notable series for both Jay Ward Productions and Total Television; their portfolio includes:

Related Research Articles

<i>The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends</i> American animated television series

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC television networks. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the series is structured as a variety show, with the main feature being the serialized adventures of the two title characters, the anthropomorphic flying squirrel Rocket J. ("Rocky") Squirrel and moose Bullwinkle J. Moose. The main antagonists in most of their adventures are the two Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, both working for the Nazi-like dictator Fearless Leader. Supporting segments include "Dudley Do-Right", "Peabody's Improbable History", and "Fractured Fairy Tales", among others. The current blanket title was imposed for home video releases more than 40 years after the series originally aired and was never used when the show was televised; television airings of the show were broadcast under the titles of Rocky and His Friends from 1959 to 1961 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on ABC, The Bullwinkle Show from 1961 to 1964 on Sunday evening and then late Sunday afternoon on NBC, and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show as repeats from 1964-73 on Sunday mornings on ABC and in syndication following this.

Joseph Ward Cohen Jr., also known as Jay Ward, was an American creator and producer of animated TV cartoon shows. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken. His own company, Jay Ward Productions, designed the trademark characters for the Cap'n Crunch, Quisp, and Quake breakfast cereals and it made TV commercials for those products. Ward produced the non-animated series Fractured Flickers (1963) that featured comedic redubbing of silent films.

<i>Crusader Rabbit</i> American animated television series

Crusader Rabbit is an American animated series created by Alexander Anderson and Jay Ward, and the first of its kind to be produced specifically for television. Its main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. Tiger, or "Rags". The stories were four-minute-long satirical cliffhangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudley Do-Right</span> Canadian Mountie cartoon character

Dudley Do-Right is a fictional character created by Alex Anderson, Chris Hayward, Allan Burns, Jay Ward, and Bill Scott, who appears as the main protagonist of "Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties", a segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

<i>Hoppity Hooper</i> Television series

Hoppity Hooper is an American animated television series produced by Jay Ward, and sponsored by General Mills, originally broadcast on ABC from September 12, 1964, until 1967. It is one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons and the Jay Ward's first original one for this schedule. The series was produced in Hollywood by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, with animation done in Mexico City by Gamma Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky the Flying Squirrel</span> American animated film and television character

Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel, also known as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, is one of the two protagonists of the 1959–1964 animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, produced by Jay Ward. Rocky is the best friend and ally of the western moose, Bullwinkle. Both Rocky and Bullwinkle were given the middle initial "J" as a reference to Ward.

<i>The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle</i> (film) 2000 film directed by Des McAnuff

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is a 2000 American live-action/animated adventure slapstick comedy film directed by Des McAnuff and produced by Universal Pictures, based on the television cartoon series of the same name by Jay Ward. Animated characters Rocky and Bullwinkle share the screen with live actors portraying Fearless Leader, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale along with Randy Quaid, Piper Perabo, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. June Foray reprised her role as Rocky, while Keith Scott voiced Bullwinkle and the film's narrator. It also features cameo appearances by performers including James Rebhorn, Paget Brewster, Janeane Garofalo, John Goodman, David Alan Grier, Don Novello, Jon Polito, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Max Grodenchik, Norman Lloyd, Jonathan Winters and Billy Crystal. The film follows Rocky and Bullwinkle, who are enlisting their help by a young rookie FBI agent named Karen Sympathy to stop Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader from taking over the United States.

Mr. Peabody is an anthropomorphic cartoon dog who appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s television animated series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, produced by Jay Ward. Peabody appeared in the "Peabody's Improbable History" segments created by Ted Key, and he was voiced by Bill Scott. In 2014, he was featured in the animated film, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. From 2015 to 2017, he appeared in a television series based on the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Scott (voice actor)</span> American actor, writer and producer

William John Scott was an American voice actor, writer and producer for animated cartoons, primarily associated with Jay Ward and UPA, as well as one of the founding members of ASIFA-Hollywood. He is probably best known as the head writer, co-producer and the voice of several characters from the popular programs Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show.

<i>King Leonardo and His Short Subjects</i> American animated television series

King Leonardo and His Short Subjects is an American Saturday-morning animated television series that aired on NBC from October 15, 1960 to December 23, 1961; the original Short Subjects package last aired on the network on September 28, 1963, when new segments of The King & Odie and The Hunter aired as part of Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. The show was initially sponsored by General Mills. It was produced by Total Television Productions and Leonardo Productions, named after the main character, and has been referred to as the second original color Saturday-morning cartoon program after "The Ruff and Reddy Show". Leonardo Productions was actually Producers Associates for Television, aka P.A.T.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullwinkle J. Moose</span> American animated film and television character

Bullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the 1959–1964 animated television series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, often collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle, produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott. When the show changed networks in 1961, the series moved to NBC and was retitled The Bullwinkle Show, where it stayed until 1964. It then returned to ABC, where it was in repeats for nine more years. It has been in syndication ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Ward Productions</span> American animation studio

Jay Ward Productions, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Costa Mesa, California. It was founded in 1948 by American animator Jay Ward. As of 2022, the studio was headed by Ward's daughter, Tiffany Ward, and granddaughter, vice president Amber Ward.

Ponsonby Britt was the credited—but fictional—executive producer of the television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Fractured Flickers, Hoppity Hooper, and George of the Jungle.

Alexander Hume Anderson Jr. was an American cartoonist who created the characters of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Bullwinkle, and Dudley Do-Right, as well as Crusader Rabbit. He was not directly involved in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, however.

The Dudley Do-Right Emporium was a small, eccentric gift shop named after the fictional Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-Right, located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California.

Outsourcing of animation has become widespread. Starting in the late 1950s, the animation for many low-budget American animated productions has been done by animation studios in foreign countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Philippines, India and North Korea. This is done to lower the cost of animation production.

Joaquin Rudolfo Zamora was a Mexican-American animator and a prolific animation director. His credits include The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, The Biskitts, Peanuts, and many others.

Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover, Joe Harris, and Treadwell D. Covington. They were executives in the advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who had the account for the General Mills food corporation. Total was formed to create cartoon characters encouraging children to buy General Mills breakfast cereals and other products. The company mostly created cartoons for television networks such as NBC. Underdog, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales were among the most popular series made by the studio.

<i>The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle</i> (TV series) 2018 animated television series

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is an American animated sitcom produced by DreamWorks Animation Television which is a reboot of the 1959–64 animated television series of the same name. It debuted on May 11, 2018, on Amazon Prime Video, being DreamWorks Animation Television's first series to air on a streaming service other than Netflix. Like its preceding spin-off The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, animation was outsourced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The second and final "part" of the series was released on January 11, 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Vargas Martínez, María Celeste; Sánchez, Daniel Lara (1 December 2011). "Un cuento de hadas fracturado: historia de la "maquila" animada en México". Cinémas d'Amérique latine (19): 53–58. doi: 10.4000/cinelatino.1004 .
  2. 1 2 Arnold, Mark (11 June 2009). Created and Produced by Total Television Productions (1st ed.). BearManor Media. ISBN   9781593933456.
  3. Scott, Keith (20 November 2001). The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose (1st ed.). St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN   9780312283834.
  4. Cawley, John; Korkis, Jim. "Rocky & Bullwinkle". cataroo.com. Retrieved 28 May 2023.