Marvel Productions

This article is about the television and motion picture studio. For its parent company, see Marvel Comics{{#switch:{{#sub:Marvel Comics|-1}}|!=|.=|?=|.}} For a list of other meanings, see Marvel (disambiguation).

Marvel Productions and Sunbow logos as they appeared in the credits of Transformers, Jem, and G.I. Joe

Marvel Productions Ltd. was an animation studio based in Hollywood, California. It was co-producer on The Transformers, The Transformers: The Movie and a good chunk of your '80s childhood viewing.

History

Marvel Productions began in 1981 with the purchase of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises by Marvel Comics' parent company Cadence. While co-founder Friz Freleng had returned to Warner Bros., the studio where he had made his name, David DePatie remained at the renamed studio. Despite this, he was reportedly quite hostile towards his new corporate brethren, with Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter claiming that, under DePatie, Marvel Productions "thought of us as amateruish morons".<ref>Jim Shooter: Secret Origin of the Transformers Part 1</ref>. DePatie also reportedly refused to use any traditional Marvel branding in the company's identity.<ref>Jim Shooter: Secret Origin of the Transformers Part 2</ref>

While completing DePatie-Freleng's then in-production projects, including a final Pink Panther special, Marvel Productions took the baton from its predecessor's New Fantastic Four and Spider-Woman, creating new animated series based on Marvel Comics properties, such as Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk. As Marvel began working with toy company Hasbro on development of new boy toys brands such as G.I. Joe and Transformers, Marvel Productions was enlisted to produce animated series based on these in-tandem with the comic book titles. These series were co-productions with Sunbow, the production company of Hasbro's ad agency Griffin-Bacal. Notably, Marvel Productions attempted to pitch their own take on the Transformers concept in place of the one created by Marvel Comics, but Hasbro shot them down.

DePatie left the company in 1984 for Hanna-Barbera and was replaced by Margaret Loesch, who sought to strengthen ties with the comics division, not least by making better use of Marvel founder Stan Lee, who was now based with the company. Ironically, by this time, Marvel Productions' output began to feature less and less based on Marvel Comics' own properties, instead consisting more of the continuing production of Hasbro's properties and other licensed shows, such as various series based on Jim Henson's Muppet properties and even Defenders of the Earth (based on characters from King Features, a rival comics publisher...albeit in newspaper comics). By 1987, Sunbow had taken charge of all new Hasbro animated properties, such as Visionaries, leaving Marvel Productions to work on new original series, like Little Clowns Of Happytown, and toy licenses from other companies, such as Tyco's Dino-Riders. In 1991, Marvel Productions collaborated with Sunbow one last time on Bucky O'Hare And The Toad Wars. However, starting in 1992, Sunbow decided to move the co-production of their programming to Graz Entertainment, a new company formed by outgoing Marvel Productions staff Jim and Stephanie Graziano.

Marvel Productions continued into the early 1990s with a string of mostly short-lived programs, often based on niche licenses like Rude Dog and the Dweebs (a clothing mascot) and Kid 'n' Play (a minor beat combo of the time). During this period, ownership of the studio changed many times: Cadence had sold both Marvel divisions to New World Pictures in 1986, but the comics division, now Marvel Entertainment Group, was sold on separately by New World in 1989. Marvel Productions continued as a distinct part of the New World family until that was bought in entirety by the Andrews Group - the same company that had purchased MEG the year previous. In 1993, after a series of restructurings within New World, Marvel Productions was renamed New World Animation, with the iconic Biker Mice From Mars being the last series to bear the Marvel Productions name.

Notable productions

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• Spider-Man (1981) (Syndication series. Sometimes referred to as "Spider-Man 5000")
• Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981-1983)
• The Incredible Hulk (1982)
• Pandamonium (1982)
• Meatballs & Spaghetti (1982)
• Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985)
• G.I. Joe (1983-1986)
• Charmkins (1983)
• My Little Pony (1984-1986)
• The Transformers (1984-1987)
• Muppet Babies (1984-1991)
• Little Muppet Monsters (1985)
• Robotix (1985)
• Bigfoot And The Muscle Machines (1985)
• Jem (1985-1988)
• The Glo Friends (1985-1986)
• Inhumanoids (1986)
• My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
• The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
• Defenders of the Earth (1986)
• Moondreamers (1986)
• Potato Head Kids (1986)
• G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
• Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock (1987)
• Little Wizards (1987)
• Little Clowns Of Happytown (1987)
• Blonde And Dagwood (1987)
• Dino Riders (1988)
• Robocop (1988)
• Rude Dog and the Dweebs (1989)
• Pryde Of The X-Men (Produced 1987, aired 1989)
• Kid N' Play (1990)
• Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes (1990-1991)
• Little Shop (1991)
• Space Cats (1991)
• Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars (1991)
• Biker Mice From Mars (1993-1996)

}}

References

<references />

External links

• [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Marvel Productions|{{#if:Marvel Productions on Wikipedia|Marvel Productions on Wikipedia|Marvel Productions}}]].

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