03-21-2018, 02:42 PM | #1 |
Random Punk
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Who actually owns the 80s show?
I've recently gotten back into the franchise, and while I'm sure it's explained elsewhere, the ownership regarding the 1987 series just boggles me.
When Viacom bought the franchise, that did not include the show. However, based on merchandise and social media posts I've seen, Nickelodeon can utilize the 80s likenesses of the turtles, as well as other separately owned TMNT adaptations like the NLC/GH trilogy. They were even able to get back the original VOs for the 2012 series (having Rob Paulsen voice one turtle from each team helped, I guess). On the other hand, on more recent DVDs of the '87 series, Lionsgate does credit Viacom in the legal info. I am aware they inherited the distribution rights to the cartoon through an acquisition, but who actually owns the series? Thanks for your help in advance. |
03-21-2018, 03:01 PM | #2 |
Overlord
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Fred Wolf Films owns the actual episodes, and it is still an active studio:
http://www.fredwolffilms.com/ I think Lionsgate currently holds the "home video" rights. Since Nick/Viacom owns the actual franchise, I expect there is still some obligation to Lionsgate to credit or acknowledge them. Nothing prevents Nick/Viacom from using the likeness or characters from the old show (Mirage Studio artists did they all the time and were often commissioned to do Fred Wolf style artwork), but they are fairly careful to avoid using any actual excerpts from the episodes.
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03-21-2018, 03:04 PM | #3 | |
Weed Whacker
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Quote:
http://fredwolfartgallery.com/pages/bio.html
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03-21-2018, 03:05 PM | #4 | |
Random Punk
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF8_DgFq-iA |
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03-21-2018, 03:13 PM | #5 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Does Fred Wolf make any modern cartoons? I haven't heard about any cartoon made by them from like 2000 onward over these last 18 years.
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03-21-2018, 03:37 PM | #6 | |
Overlord
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Quote:
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Experience the TMNT Fan Commentaries! Check out my TMNT fan comic, "Nothing to Fear"! View my sketch work! I'm selling some of my hard-to-find TMNT items! Last edited by oldmanwinters; 03-21-2018 at 05:00 PM. |
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03-21-2018, 03:41 PM | #7 | ||
Banned
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03-21-2018, 03:47 PM | #8 | |
Overlord
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I can't help but think Viacom approached Fred Wolf Films for a series buyout deal but the studio is holding out for an obscene buyout offer or at least the expiration of their current Lionsgate contract.
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03-21-2018, 04:04 PM | #9 |
Emperor
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Uh yeah, looking at the Fred Wolf website right now, calling them "active" is a bit of a stretch. From the looks of it, they haven't produced a movie in 33 years, a TV show in 21 years and a web cartoon (seriously?) in 18 years (seriously, how was web based animation profitable in 2000? It was pretty much just Newgrounds back then). Taking even a cursory glance at this sad excuse for a website, I'm convinced Fred Wolf the company just exists as a shell for Fred Wolf the person, to make license money off old shows and movies. And practically all of them are obscure.
It's hard to imagine how this pathetic joke of a company once produced ten seasons of a cashcow. |
03-21-2018, 07:20 PM | #10 |
Overlord
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What else did they do besides Turtles?
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03-22-2018, 03:12 AM | #11 |
Emperor
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Well you could just check the links in this thread yourself. However, I doubt you'll recognise any of it, at least nothing you'll care about. And take some of these credits with a pinch of salt, they seem to be credited Fred Wolf the person rather than his company.
Out of what I could find that seems relatively noteworthy:
I find that last one amusing. The anime from the 60's is known for ignoring the manga it's based on, which is funny because this show seems to take an even bigger dump on it. |
03-22-2018, 12:04 PM | #12 |
Overlord
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80's cartoons in general were a weird breed. Hanna-Barbera made all those classic shows and Superfriends at the time, and there weren't that many competing studios at the time.
Cartoons didn't really take off till the 90's, except back then they also made countless cartoons based on movies or shows that only ran 26-65 episodes. Then the anime craze happened in the late 90's and early 2000's so less new stuff was produced, but then that died down and here we are in the modern era of Nick and Disney shows. |
03-22-2018, 03:19 PM | #13 | |
Mad Scientist
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03-22-2018, 03:26 PM | #14 | |
Emperor
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The characters barely move a muscle, it's usually just the lips or neck. And when they are required to do anything else, it's almost always recycled. It baffling to watch the cheapness. Oh, and David Wise was on it, so you know they prioritised quantity over quality when it came to the writing. |
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03-22-2018, 03:34 PM | #15 |
Overlord
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*shakes a cane* aaand that's the way we liked it!
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03-22-2018, 03:36 PM | #16 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
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80's cartoons are very dated, especially in animation. The original TMNT cartoon managed to have a late 80's and early 90's feels to it so it doesn't feel as dated as some of those other 80's cartoons. Look at Superfriends, characters weren't even allowed to fight and nobody had any distinct personality. Both Superman and Batman had the same personality, you couldn't tell the difference.
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03-22-2018, 04:17 PM | #17 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Jul 2017
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Well I may see them differently watching them now but I remember liking them as a child, obviously the animation would look dated compared to now, but I hadn't experienced the 2000's back then
I revisited Inspector Gadget when the new show came out as I was showing it to my children, I don't think that looked terrible. |
03-22-2018, 05:21 PM | #18 | ||||||
Foot Elite
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By the way you forgot to mention Budgie The Little Helicopter which was a minor hit at the time. Quote:
And guess what? To some, they're great animation... Quote:
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03-22-2018, 06:18 PM | #19 |
Overlord
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To avoid any confusion, by "active," I only meant it hadn't been sold to another corporation or officially out of business, ala Filmation, DiC, or Sunbow.
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03-22-2018, 06:45 PM | #20 |
Jedi Master
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Would Dan Berger have the answer if I were to ask him? It seems to be convoluted.
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