Muriel Fahrion | |
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| Born | Muriel Norris June 11, 1945 |
| Occupation | Illustrator/Designer |
| Years active | 1970s to Present |
| Employer | Outta Thin Air Studio |
| Known for | Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and The Get Along Gang |
| Website | www.outtathinairstudio.com |
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Muriel Norris Fahrion is an American illustrator and the original designer of the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. [1]
Muriel Norris Fahrion was born June 11, 1945, in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up and went to school in Rocky River, Lakewood, and Cleveland. She was one of seven children of John H. Norris and Catherine (Wunderle) Norris. [2] She began drawing at the age of four and attended free classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art during grammar and high school. After attending Lourdes Academy in Cleveland, she earned a scholarship to the Cooper School of Art in Cleveland, graduating with a major in illustration. [3]
Immediately following art school, Fahrion was hired by American Greetings as a greeting card designer.
In 1977, while Fahrion worked in her department, she was asked to come up with a rag doll character with strawberry and daisy theme in colors of pink and green for a greeting card series. It was then Fahrion created the original graphic and color depiction for Strawberry Shortcake, [1] her cat Custard along with Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie. [4]
Moving to TCFC (Those Characters From Cleveland) in 1978 Fahrion continued on the Shortcake line eventually depicting 32 characters in the line. Her sister, Susan Trentel, also of Cleveland, crafted the first Strawberry Shortcake doll based on the Fahrion's original greeting card design. [3] The line was launched in the winter of 1979 and 1980. This design made a big impact, and in two years, Strawberry Shortcake went from 12 card series to an entire selection of books, clothing, dolls, toy accessories, and home decor. The Shortcake group joined Herself the Elf, Holly Hobbie and Ziggy forming the new toy and licensing division "Those Characters from Cleveland" (TCFC), under American Greetings banner but located in separate building. TCFC became a well known think tank for toys and licensing. While there Fahrion also worked on drawings and ideas for numerous licensing items.
While working for Those Characters From Cleveland, Fahrion also participated with other toy design teams which included artists, prototypist and writers. She depicted the first concept art for the characters of The Get Along Gang and Care Bears, [1] once they were tagged as licensable both properties moved to other design teams. Like the first Strawberry Shortcake doll, many of these were first prototyped by her sister Susan Trentel who began working at TCFC. Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Get-Along-Gang were all made into animations.
Fahrion took several years away from American Greetings freelancing for Fisher-Price, developing illustrations for the Puffalumps and working with Disney and Snoopy licensing.
American Greetings' toy division eventually was reduced in size and moved back to the corporate headquarters. Fahrion then moved and became senior art director for Enesco in Chicago. After working a few years at Enesco, Fahrion moved to Noble, Oklahoma in 1995 where she worked for United Design. [3]
Moving to the small town of Medicine Park, Oklahoma, she and her husband, Michael Fahrion, ran a freelance studio Big Rock Works until they both retired and subsequently moved to Tulsa. [3] Following her husband's death on October 16, 2018, [3] Fahrion relaunched her career under Outta Thin Air Studio in 2019 where she created new characters. [5]
Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage Patch Kids' by Roger L. Schlaifer when he acquired the exclusive worldwide licensing rights in 1982.
Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings (1983) and The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine (1984) before headlining their own television series called Care Bears from 1985 to 1988. They also had multiple feature films including: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987).
American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, gift packaging, stickers and party products. In addition, the company owns the Carlton Cards, Tender Thoughts, Papyrus, Recycled Paper Greetings and Gibson brands.
Popples is a toy and television franchise created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a subsidiary of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored marsupial teddy bears with long tails ending in a pom-pom. Each Popple character transforms to resemble a brightly colored ball. In 2018, Popples was sold to Hasbro.
The Care Bears Movie is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. It was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana after the 1983 film Rock & Rule, in addition to being one of the first films based directly on a toy line and the first based on Care Bears. It introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, the Care Bear Cousins. The voice cast includes Mickey Rooney, Georgia Engel, Jackie Burroughs and Cree Summer. In the film, an orphanage owner tells a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-Lot. While traveling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save Nicholas, a young magician's apprentice, from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason and their friends soon meet another group of creatures known as the Care Bear Cousins.
The Get Along Gang is a group of characters created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, and Mark Spangler for American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland", for a series of greeting cards. The Get Along Gang is a group of 6 pre-adolescent anthropomorphic animal characters in the fictional town of Green Meadow, who form a club that meets in an abandoned caboose and who have various adventures whose upbeat stories were intended to show the importance of teamwork and friendship. The success of the greeting card line led to a Saturday morning television series, which aired on CBS for 13 episodes in the 1984–1985 season, with reruns showing from January to June 1986.
Thomas Albert Wilson, was an American cartoonist. Wilson was the creator of the comic strip Ziggy, which he drew from 1971 to 1987. The strip was then continued by his son, Tom Wilson Jr.
Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins is a 1985 American animated television special that premiered on March 29, 1985. This is the third and final Strawberry Shortcake television special from Nelvana and the last one to feature the American Greetings character up until DIC revived the franchise for a new generation in 2003. Unlike the previous two specials, they were distributed by LBS Communications, but the third special wasn't, instead being distributed in syndication.
Bernard Loomis was an American toy developer and marketer who introduced some of the world's most notable brands including Chatty Cathy, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Baby Alive, and Strawberry Shortcake, but perhaps his biggest marketing success was bringing a then-unknown film property called Star Wars to the toy shelves.
Colorforms is a creative toy named for the simple shapes and forms cut from colored vinyl sheeting that cling to a smooth backing surface without adhesives. These pieces are used to create picture graphics and designs, which can then be changed countless times by repositioning the removable color forms. The name also refers to the specific registered trademark brand these products are produced under, as well as the company that manufactures the toys, Colorforms Brand, LLC.
The World of Strawberry Shortcake is a 1980 animated television special written by Romeo Muller, directed by Charles Swenson, and produced by Swenson, Muller, and Fred Wolf. Starring the voices of Romeo Muller, Russi Taylor, Julie McWhirter, and Joan Gerber, it was made by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in the United States in partnership with Toei Animation in Japan. The soundtrack was written and performed by Flo & Eddie of the rock group, The Turtles, for the opening theme of the series.
Gund Manufacturing Company is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently run by third generation family owner Bruce Raiffe whose grandfather Jacob Swedlin purchased the company from the original founder in 1925. Their slogan is “Gotta Getta Gund”.
Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City is a 1981 animated television special written by Romeo Muller, produced by Muller and Buzz Potamkin, and directed by Hal Silvermintz. This is the second special to feature the American Greetings character Strawberry Shortcake.
Strawberry Shortcake is an American preschool direct-to-video animated series produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and American Greetings based on the franchise of the same name that debuted in March 2003. The series consists of 45 episodes, plus one short and one movie. Part of the series was broadcast on television including by CBS, HBO, and HBO Family, and in broadcast syndication. None of the voice actors from the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake animated specials returned to reprise their roles, with producers instead opting for younger and lesser known voice actors.
Strawberry Shortcake is a cartoon character used in greeting cards originally published by American Greetings. The line was later expanded to include dolls, posters, and other products featuring the character, as well as an extended cast of friends and pets. In addition, the franchise has spawned television specials, animated television series and films. The franchise is currently owned by the Canadian children's television company WildBrain through the holding company Shortcake IP Holdings LLC.
Jack Chojnacki served as the co-president of Those Characters from Cleveland Inc., a division of U.S. greeting card company American Greetings (AGC), in the 1980s. He assisted in the creation of several AGC franchises, including Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears.
The Hatchery LLC is an American media production company, which was owned by American Greetings and Mandalay Entertainment and located in Burbank, California.
Those Characters from Cleveland, LLC, officially trading as Cloudco Entertainment and formerly known as AG Properties and American Greetings Entertainment, is an American company which formerly traded as American Greetings' former character brand division. Properties owned by the company include Care Bears, Holly Hobbie, Madballs, Buddy Thunderstruck, Tinpo, The Get Along Gang and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese.
The Cooper School of Art was a private art college located in Cleveland, Ohio. The school emphasized education and career preparation for the commercial art market. It operated from 1924 until 1981.
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