Animate in Peace: Lou Scheimer

It was Comic-Con 2012 when I saw Lou Scheimer at a panel discussing and celebrating his work at Filmation, the studio he founded and ran in the 1980's.  Battling what I think was Parkinson's disease, the man behind the animated adventures of He-Man, She-Ra, Flash Gordon, Fat Albert, Marshall Bravestarr and hundreds of others was in the room but not on the planet if you know what I mean.  Later, on the convention floor I stumbled across a booth where he was signing and he graciously put pen to paper on this snazzy banner showcasing the multitude of characters he'd helped bring to life.

Whenever you hear about Scheimer at conventions, there's always panels at Comic-Con or Power-Con, former employees speak fondly of the man who knew how to stretch a dollar while keeping it in the United States.  Unlike other powerhouse animation studios like Hanna-Barbera, which farmed out most work overseas.  What also set Filmation apart and probably hurt it in the later years, was their penchant to include morals in every episode and life lessons in the form of PSA's at the end of each adventure.  Along with non-Filmation entity G.I. Joe (Now you know and knowing is half the battle), those PSAs probably molded more than a few kids to become better adults.

Today's lesson: