Lou Scheimer: Creating
the Filmation Generation is Scheimer’s 2012 autobiography, which he wrote
with Andy Mangels. Scheimer co-founded Filmation in 1962, and he was the only
one left when the sale to L’Oreal shut the company down in 1989. As such, this
book also serves as a comprehensive history of Filmation, which is best known
for such cartoons as He-Man and the
Masters of the Universe, Fat Albert
and the Cosby Kids, and Star Trek:
The Animated Series.
The book begins with Scheimer’s parents’ immigration to the
United States and his childhood and schooling; from the foundation of Filmation
onward, Scheimer keeps things mostly chronological but largely gives a
show-by-show account of events. I only have one real complaint about the way
the book is laid out—it would have been nice to get more information on the
animation process earlier in the book so that certain portions would be easier
to follow.
The book has a very conversational tone, which makes it extremely
engaging. Scheimer’s personality really comes through unfiltered, and by all
accounts, he was quite a character. He never met a tangent he didn’t like, but
most of what he has to say is so interesting that it’s easily forgiven (e.g.,
his dad purportedly punched Hitler in the face).
Scheimer heavily emphasizes his passion and vision for
animation throughout the book. He was a trailblazer, he says, for incorporating
racial diversity into children’s cartoons, and for producing material that
communicated values, morals, and instruction. He was also committed to keeping
animation jobs in the United States when most studios were sending large
amounts of work overseas (this is, in fact, one of the primary reasons for
Filmation’s well-known and oft-maligned stock animation system.
This is a huge book—8.5” by 11”, and almost 300 pages—and it’s
kind of unwieldy. It’s worth wrestling with, though, because of the vast number
of pictures. Contrary to what its Amazon page would lead you to believe,
however, the book is not in full color. Only pp. 209–224 are; the rest are in
black and white, so caveat emptor. The
book really could have done with some serious copyediting, especially to clean
up Scheimer’s serial misuse of “I” when he should have used “me” and the
redundancies in the writing (Mangels, isn’t that your job?).
For me, at least, the production and editorial knocks on the
book are readily forgivable. Lou
Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation gave me a new appreciation for
Scheimer, for Filmation, and for some of the cartoons I grew up with; I’m
grateful simply that the book exists.
If any of the Filmation shows you grew up with are still
meaningful to you as an adult, odds are you’ll find Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation well worth your
time.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
