BTTF# 20: Reseda's Filmation Studios and A Tribute To Louis Scheimer, The Legend Behind Saturday Morning Cartoons

Image courtesy Logopedia

Image courtesy Flipanimation

Welcome aboard the Delorean! 

Marty McFly here to take you on a journey to the former Filmation Studios at 18107 Sherman Way Reseda. The Delorean has the required plutonium plus some random garbage in the Mr. Fusion reactor ready for this trip. The time circuits are set to September 1962 (actual date unknown) and the flux capacitor is......fluxxing. The engine is running (not stalled this time) so we need to hurry. Hang on, as the ride can be a little bumpy as we travel back in time.

This post is written in honor of Louis Scheimer who was one of the original founders of Filmation who recently passed away on October 17, 2013 at the age of 84 (two days shy of his 85th birthday) from Parkinson's disease at his Tarzana home. 

Image courtesy Animatedviews.com

For every child growing up in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, watching cartoons on a Saturday morning became a ritual. That reality was made possible with a select few animation powerhouses surprisingly all based in the SFV including Hanna-Barbera in Universal City, Warner Brothers, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Walt Disney in Burbank, and last but not least, Filmation in Reseda which is the last place you think of when it comes to animation studios which is the subject of this post. 

Image courtesy Animatedviews.com

Filmation came about from the collaboration of Louis Scheimer, Hal Sutherland, and Norm Prescott in September 1962 which was headquartered in Reseda at the corner of Sherman Way and Lindley. I am not sure why an animation company would chose Reseda other than the typical reason that the land was plentiful and cheap in the 1960's SFV versus setting up shop in Hollywood, Burbank, or Universal City where the other filming companies were based and the talent was more abundant. I am also not sure why they picked Reseda and if they had purchased the land and constructed the building? Please do share if you know as I am extremely curious on this one. 

Image courtesy Animatedviews.com

The Filmation name was derived from "we were working on film, but doing animation"; so putting them together yielded "Filmation" according to Wikipedia. 

Image courtesy Animatedviews.com

The Filmation studio produced many popular hits that still have a lasting appeal today starting in the 60's with (I recommend viewing the filmography list at Wikipedia): 

• Aquaman, 
• The Adventures of Batman, 
• The New Adventures of Superman, 
• and The Archie Comedy Hour. 

The 70's would bring:

• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, 
• Star Trek: The Animated Series, 
• Shazam!, The Ghost Busters, 
• and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. 

Lastly, the 80's would bring my favorite cartoons like:

• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, 
• The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, 
• and The Original Ghostbusters. 

Filmation also produced live-action films and specials like The Secrets of Isis, The Ghost Busters, He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, and Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All to name a few. In developing the storyline for many of its shows, Filmation used simple life lessons explained by a key character in a child friendly manner.  Filmation also re-used animation and employed rotoscopoing which looked like the same images were used over and over again which it was but they did with class and looked professional. Filmation also believed in keeping their production based in the US except for Zorro rather than produce in a foreign country which was becoming more common with other animation studios. 

The Filmation work ambiance and culture was a great place to work with high morale and motivated employees attending holiday parties, pot lucks, and various work related outings. Across the street, employees would hang out at the Bunker Bar which is still present today (a great dive bar) and its been said that any production questions needed to be addressed before lunch because no one was around later to answer them because everyone was hanging out at The Bunker. 

Image courtesy Yelp

Filmation owners changed hands numerous times with the first sale to the TelePrompTer Corporation in 1969 who sold to Westinghouse Electric Corporation through its Group W Productions division in 1981. In 1989, Westinghouse sold Filmation to an investment consortium led by the L'Oreal Company. Before the sale was complete, Westinghouse closed the film studio on February 3, 1989 which left L'Oreal with the Filmation library only. Also, this closure happened a day before a new law went into effect requiring companies to give employees 60 days notice before a mass termination. Gotta love corporate America. 

Image courtesy geektyrant.com

Although the company folded in 1989, its shows still remain somewhat. At some point, Hallmark Cards acquired a majority of Filmation's library while those cartoons that were based on characters licensed from other companies were under control of other studios like Warner Bros. In March 2004, Entertainment Rights acquired the Filmation Library and revealed that Hallmark  converted all of its shows to digital format in the 1990's into PAL-format for the international market with the original film prints discarded. Doh! These PAL-formate shows exhibit the "576i speedup" effect where the soundtrack plays 4% too fast resulting in the ptich being a half step higher than original. On April 1, 2009, Entertainment Rights was acquired by Boomerang Media and on May 11, 2009, Boomerang absorbed Entertainment Rights and its subsidiaries under the name Classic Media. In 2012, Classic Media was acquired by DreamWorks Animation which employs many former employees of Filmation. In fact, many former Filmation employees would end up working at the other top animation studios like Warner Brothers and Disney today. 

The Filmation office at Canoga Avenue and Victory taken on July 4, 1986 just prior to the move from Reseda to Woodland Hills for select production employees. Image courtesy Terry Guy Flickr page. 

Today, you can view many of the Filmation shows through Bounce TV and Retro TV, DVD's, and Youtube. 

Moving on to Louis Scheimer who was the leader of Filmation especially after Hal retired in 1974 and Norm followed in 1982 when the company was bought out. Lou had humble beginnings and lost his father when he was 14 years old. Lou attended Carnegie Tech to study fine arts. Up graduation, he married his girlfriend, Jay, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in animation and the rest is they say history. There are various stories and accounts written about Lou and his helm at Filmation. 

Image courtesy Memory Alpha Wikia

But his most notable accomplishments are winning an Emmy for Star Trek five years after NBC canceled it because of poor ratings. He proved that a mostly black show, Fat Albert, could survive on Saturday mornings which was Filmation's longest running show. He was a true family man that would employ his daughter and wife for voicework. And last but not least, he believed in the American people and fought to keep jobs in Reseda when everything was being farmed out. When Filmation was dismantled, Lou made the announcement to his employees who gave him a round of applause after he left the podium. Lou was last publicly seen at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con promoting a new book about Filmation with Andy Mangels. At Comic Con, Lou looked fragile and spoke very little as I am guessing he was mustering enough energy to make his appearance while fighting Parkinson's Disease but he still had his sense of humor throwing out one liners to the audience. I found an interview that Lou's daughter, Erika, conducted for a college project which ended with a very inspirational quote: 

As for my future, I don’t really know. I think that’s one of the nice things. I mean, if I really knew what the hell I was going to be doing ten years from now, I might not even want to do it. One of the interesting things is that you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. There‘s always some other challenge out there. There’s always some possibility of doing something more interesting, something better, something more worthwhile. (Web Archive)

The Lou Scheimer book by Andy Mangels

Obituary from LA Times on October 20, 2013

Some other random notes about Lou Scheimer, he lived up the street in Tarzana in a home designed by Dion Neutra, son of famed architect Richard Neutra. The home measures 4 Beds/5 Baths on 5,226 sqft on a total lot size of 2.88 acres built in 1972 which I am guessing was commissioned by Scheimer but not really sure about that. At any rate, he lived in a cool house sited on top of hill overlooking the SFV. Usually after the owner of a home passes away, the surviving members sell the home so we will keep a close eye on this property to see if it hits the market. 

Image courtesy Google Maps

And now its time to fire up the Delorean and go back to the future to the present day site of Filmation which has become a commerical office but still standing. Unfortunately the sign is gone and I imagine its been trashed. I would do anything for that sign. Just behind this building is St. Catherine's of Siena Church where Boogie Nights was filmed with the infamous scene of Dirk Diggler (Mark Whalberg) taking a beating along with Buck Swopes (Don Cheadle) walking out with a bag full of cash from the doughnut store after the gun battle. 

You can view more SFV history and Back To The Future series here. 

Sources:

Wikipedia - Filmation

Terry Guy's Flickr Page......picture of Woodland Hills building

Flipanimation.net.......Former employee stories

Youtube of Lou Scheimer at 2012 San Diego Comic Con.....Lou's last public appearance

Filmation Logos

Robert Writer......Former employee page dedicated to Filmation

Erika Scheimer interview of Lou

Animated Views....a look back at Filmation and Part 2

Youtube channel of select Filmation cartoons

Bee-otch of the Day....tribute to Lou Scheimer

James Cagney Ranch Update with Slideshow and Article (BTTF# 17a)

Back in June 2013, I received an email from Rick Miseroy regarding the James Cagney Ranch in Granada Hills who explored that area as a teenager in the 70's and again in the 80's. Coincidentally, Rick also had an interest in photography at that time and captured some amazing photos of the area prior to major development took place marking the entire area unrecognizable to its original roots today. 

I too have been fascinated with this site that I wrote a blog post about it capturing what I can find mostly on the internet and some books back in March 2013 which can be found here which is what prompted Rick to contact me to share our research (mostly his). I feel extremely fortunate to have been contacted by Rick who pointed out some errors in that post and even provided some documentation and more amazing photos which is shown below (note: you may not be able to view the Scribd documents if viewing outside of the blogger webpage such as email, RSS feeds, mobile, etc.). Rick has become somewhat of an expert in regards to the James Cagney ranch and his hard work and dedication to preserve this area's history is well commended.  

Enjoy the slide slow and article from Rick below including some additional photos at the bottom of the ranch and main home. You can view my original blog post on this topic with more historical photographs here. 

Bull Canyon Slideshow by SFValleyblog (actually Rick Miseroy)

Bull Canyon Meadows by SFValleyblog (actually Rick Miseroy)

Below are three additional photos provided by Rick:

Aerial view of the Sunshine Ranch. This was probably taken in the 1920s. This picture is facing north. The street that runs from the lower right to about the middle left of the picture is Rinaldi St. Somewhere near the middle of Rinaldi you'll see a street that runs perpendicular to it with a bunch of buildings. This street is Shoshone. The street that intersects Shoshone at an angle is Mayerling. If you follow Mayerling all the way back you can barely make out the green water tank at the end of Zelzah. At the corner of Shoshone and Mayerling you can see the orange grove where St. Eurphasia Church now stands. If you follow Shoshone up a little farther you can see Highwater Road and the green water tank on it. If you look just to the left of Rinaldi and Shoshone you can see a large white building which was the ranch house. It was torn down just a few years ago. Just behind and to the left of the house you can see the letters SR, for Sunshine Ranch, in the hillside. Continuing to the left of the ranch house on Rinaldi you can see White Oak going south. It looks like a white line.

Image courtesy Rick Miseroy

Sunshine Ranch, this picture is looking north from about San Fernando Mission between Shoshone and White Oak. I don't know if you can see it but the SR letters are barely visible on the hillside in the middle of the picture. And in the background of course is an undisturbed Mission Peak.

Image courtesy Rick Miseroy

Aerial photo of old Granada Hills.Chatsworth St is the main street going from left to right.Rinaldi is the street at the top od the photo going from left to right. The 3 main streets going from top to bottom are Zelzah on the left, then White Oak and then Louise Ave.

Image courtesy Rick Miseroy

Below are images of the main home between 1986 -1988 provided by Rick Miseroy. 

Below are images of the main home of the ranch from 2013. I didnt disturb the residents so these are the best shots that I can get. 

BTTF# 19: The Tragic Death of Child Actress Judith Barsi in Canoga Park Remembered 25 Years Later

 Image courtesy Suaviterinmodo Flickr page.

Los Angeles Herald Examiner 1988 article. Image courtesy Suaviterinmodo Flickr page.

Hello Magazine 1988 article showing Judith's corpse being carried out while two police officers on the left weep in sorrow. Image courtesy Suaviterinmodo Flickr page.

Welcome aboard the Delorean! 

Marty McFly here to take you on a journey to the former Judith Barsi family home at 22100 Michale Street Canoga Park (West Hills). The Delorean has the required plutonium plus some random garbage in the Mr. Fusion reactor ready for this trip. The time circuits are set to August 25, 1988 (25 years ago today) and the flux capacitor is......fluxxing. The engine is running (not stalled this time) so we need to hurry. Hang on, as the ride can be a little bumpy as we travel back in time.

Let me start off by saying that this is a tragic story to tell which was just as difficult for me to write as when my father passed away in May 2013 but yet I never knew Judith Barsi. I apologize for starting off your day on a sad note but history cannot be ignored and the more we learn, the better off we theoretically should be. 

The name Judith Barsi might not ring a bell but in the mid to late 80's she was an up and coming child actress starring in 72 commercials,  4 TV movies, six big screen film including two animated movies, and made several TV guest appearances. She had appeared in Jaws IV: The Revenege, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Punky Brewster, Growing Pains and Fatal Vision where she played a daughter murdered by her father which would eerily foreshadow her future.

Barsi was born to Hungarian parents, József "Arizona Joe" and Maria (Virovacz) Barsi. The real-life-villains.wikia.com site describes Judith's father best: 

Joe was a Hungarian-American plumbing contractor and banjo/fiddle musician who was best known as the father of child actress Judith Barsi. Burdened by low self-esteem, stemming from mockery over his Hungarian accent and the social rejection he suffered in Hungary, József developed a drinking problem and a paranoid personality which was to torment him throughout his life, culminating in him murdering his wife and daughter before taking his own life.

Joe was born on November 26, 1932 in a "[rough] industrial" area of Hungary, during the reign of Admiral Horthy. An illegitimate child, József never knew his father, and suffered from social rejection and bullying by other children and from his own school teachers. His first daughter, Ági, later speculated that József resented his mother for allowing his father to abandon him, and consequently viewed all women as "whores".

Joe Barsi. Image courtesy Real Life Villians.com.

Joe was originally married to Klara (maiden name unknown) sometime in the late 50's in France after escaping the 1956 Soviet occupation of Hungary. He had two children, a son named Barna (1957 - 1995) and a daugther named Ági (1958 - 2008). Joe developed a drinking problem and began to physically abuse his wife. The family moved to New York in 1964 where Joe began to abuse his son, Barna, which prompted Klara to divorce and move to Arizona sometime in 1969. Barna would later commit suicide in 1995. 

Joe, Klara, Agi, and Barna. Image courtesy Real Life Villians.com.

Joe moved to California where he worked as a plumber and met Maria, a waitress, in a Los Angeles bar known as a meeting place for immigrants. Maria was also a Hungarian immigrant that fled after the Soviet occupation and suffered from pyschological and physical abuse from her father. Joe would pay for his drinks with $100 bills which caught the attention of Maria as she sought security at that time. 

Joe and Maria. Image courtesy Real Life Villians.com.

Joe and Maria would later marry sometime in the 70's and their only daughter, Judith, was born on June 6, 1978. Maria was an aspiring actress but never caught a break so she began grooming her daughter to become an actress which was a 1 in 10,000 success rate and would eventually be discovered at a San Fernando Valley skating rink (not sure which one but I would like to speculate that is was Skateland in Northridge but dont quote me). 

Joe and Judith. Image courtesy Real Life Villians.com.

The judith-barsi.com memorial site described Judith when first meeting an agent as:

She was mistaken for a three-year-old child. Judith was cute, precocious, intelligent and a lot of fun to work with. They signed her on immediately. 

Afterwards, Judith Barsi's career took off as she earned an estimated $100,000 per year (or roughly $200,000 in 2013 dollars) by her fourth grade year. This extra income helped the family purchase a modest suburban ranch style home in Canoga Park bordering on West Hills. The home was located at 22100 Michale Street which measures 3 Beds/2 Baths on 1,663 sqft on a total lot size of 0.26 acres built in 1960. The home was purchased sometime in 1985 for an unknown price as the property records dont go that far back but if  I had to speculate, it would be somewhere around $120,000 to $150,000 which Judith's salary could pay for in almost one year. Judith attended Nevada Elementary School but would miss school so much because of her acting schedule. 

After the home was purchased, Joe was so paranoid that he had a wrought iron fence with spikes built around the property.  When talking with neighbors, he would keep the conversation to a minimum and was very secretive. However Maria would talk to the neighbors and some of the other stage moms who would hear the horrible stories of Joe. 

The pictures below are from a recent home listing where the current owners unsuccessfully tried to sell the home for $699,000 on November 13, 2007 through May 15, 2010. These pictures should not be interpreted as when the Barsi's were living in the home as it has most likely been upgraded since 1988. 

Images courtesy Number1Expert

And this is when the story gets depressing and sad according to Wikipedia:

As Judith's career success increased, József became increasingly abusive, jealous and paranoid, and would routinely threaten to kill himself, his wife, and daughter. His alcoholism worsened, and resulted in three separate arrests for drunk driving. In December 1986, Maria reported his threats and physical violence toward her to the police. After police found no physical signs of abuse, Maria eventually decided not to press charges against József.

After the incident, József reportedly stopped drinking, but continued to threaten his wife and daughter, which included threats of cutting their throats as well as burning down the house. He reportedly hid a telegram informing Maria that a relative in Hungary had died, in an attempt to prevent her and Judith from leaving America. Physical violence also continued, with Judith telling a friend about her father throwing pots and pans at her resulting in a nosebleed. Due to her father's abuse, Judith began putting on weight and exhibited disturbing behavior, which included plucking out all her eyelashes and pulling out her cat's whiskers. After breaking down in front of her agent during a singing audition for All Dogs Go to Heaven, Judith was taken by Maria to a child psychologist, who identified severe physical and emotional abuse and reported her findings to Child Protective Services (CPS).

The investigation was dropped after Maria assured the case worker that she intended to begin divorce proceedings against József and that she and Judith were going to move into a Panorama City apartment she had recently rented as a daytime haven away from József. Friends urged Maria to follow through with the plan, but she resisted, reportedly because she did not want to lose the family home and belongings.

According to a National Enquirer article, Maria had rented a $700 apartment at the Regency Premier located at 8525 Tobias Avenue #314 Panorama City, CA 91402 which is directly across the street from the Panorama Mall. I am not sure why she had picked this location but it wasnt far enough from Joe as he had suspected that Maria was moving out and followed her one day. He noticed her carrying moving boxes into the apartment and asked her about it where Maria replied that she was giving away some items to some friends. Maria suspected that Joe didnt believe her and sensed things were getting worse. She even tried to make the house look like a pigsty to force Joe out as he was a neat freak. But she wanted to maintain her home and belongings and didnt want to lose it including her child's acting career. She had also been waiting on a $12,000 tax refund check that she didnt want Joe to get his hands on and probably needed the proceeds to support Judith and herself living on their own. Judith's co-star from Growing Pains, Tracey Gold, even tried to help out but Maria resisted. On Monday July 25, 1988, Judith had an appointment with Hanna-Barbera which she missed. 

Regency Premier Apartment Building 8525 Tobias Avenue Panorma City. Image courtesy Hotpad.com

The paragraph below from Wikipedia describes the horrifying final day for Judith and Maria:

Judith was last seen riding her bike on the morning of Monday, July 25, 1988. That evening, József shot Judith in the head while she was asleep in her room, and then shot his wife, Maria. József spent the next two days wandering around the house, and said during a phone call with Judith's agent on Tuesday night that he intended to move out for good, and just needed time to "say goodbye to [my] little girl."He then poured gasoline on the bodies and set them on fire. After incinerating the bodies, József went into the garage and shot himself in the head with a .32 caliber pistol. On August 9, 1988, Barsi and her mother were interred in unmarked graves at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Judith Barsi Death Certificate. Image courtesy Find A Death.com

Roughly two months after the Barsis death, the LA Times reported on September 7, 1988 that the CPS was scolded by a county advisory panel for dropping its investigation of threats of violence against Judith and Maria Barsi. The outcome of the investigation was that more funds be allocated so that social workers are not overburdened and that before a case is closed, the home should be visited and/or the child interviewed. 

The same organization that was setup to prevent and fight against such abuse failed miserably and they still continue to do so. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but there are stories still reported today where women and children face constant threats and abuse. Take for instance, the story of Michelle Kane who was hiding at a friend's house in West Hills from her abusive husband, Michael Kane. On Saturday June 15, 2013, Michael stormed the West Hills house and stabbed Michelle to death in the front lawn. Luckily, the two children were not hurt in this tragedy. Michelle had sought help from the LAPD the previous day but no luck. In a strange "this is a small world" thinking, the Kane family townhome is located a few blocks from the former Barsi home. 

In 2004, thanks to the fundraising efforts led by Nancy Kelly and with the gratitude of many fans, headstones were purchased for Maria and Judith which can be seen below. 

Judith Barsi grave at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Image courtesy Find A Grave.com 

Maria and Judith Barsi grave at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Image courtesy Find A Grave.com

One side note, there is supposedly a head shot of Judith Barsi showing the gunshot to the head but that can be possible because her body was literally incinerated. For those that are curious, you can view the photo at findadeath.com. If anyone can confirm that the image is legitimate, please let me know. 

Now its time to fire up the Delorean and go back to the future.  The Barsi home was sold by the survivors of the Barsi family for $124,000 on September 14, 1989 which was 13 months after their deaths. The home changed hands a couple of times where it was last sold on July 12, 2001 to Francisco and Ruth Bernal for $272,000. The property records are shown below which show Maria Barsi at the very bottom. As mentioned earlier, the Bernal family tried to sell this home from 2007 through 2010 and we will keep our eyes and ears open if the listing pops up again. I wonder if there are any ghost stories from this home. 

Lastly, if this story has touched you in some way, you can support the Judith Fund at judith-barsi.com and/or the Child Help USA Organization which is for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. 

At the very bottom, the name Maria Barsi can be seen for the sales transaction of their Canoga Park home. Image courtesy Propertyshark.com

The 10 minute new story below is a must watch which captures all the details of this story. I am not sure of the original source but I believe its from one of those crime shows. 

And the home as it looks today:

You can view more SFV history and BTTF posts here. 

Sources:

Three Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide by Gabe Fuentes. Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1988.

A Script of Fear: Repeated Threats by Father of Child Actress Carried to Tragic End by John Johnson and Gabe Fuentes. Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1988.

Barsi Probe: Judge Asked to Reveal Files on Slain Child by John Johnson. Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1988.

Local News in Brief: Child-Abuse Files Ordered Opened. Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1988.

Panel Scolds Agency in Girl's Death by Gabe Fuentes. Los Angeles Times, September 7, 1988.

A Lesson Learned from Family Tragedy by Sherry Barger. Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1988.

Local News in Brief: New Unit Urged for Child Welfare Cases. Los Angeles Times, November 5, 1988.

Child Actress Judith Barsi: A Life Cut Tragically Short by Denis Noe. TruTV.com, December 2, 2012.

Judith Barsi Photo Gallery -- Fanpix.net

Judith Barsi -- Find a Grave

Judith Barsi -- Find a Death

József Barsi -- Real Life Villains

Judith Barsi -- Wikipedia

Judith Barsi -- Suaviterinmodo Flickr Page

Judith Barsi -- Memorial Site (www.judith-barsi.com)

Judith Barsi -- Memorial Site (judithbarsi.dc-lundberg.net)

Death of a Family - Judith Barsi's Story. Youtube video uploaded on September 13, 2009.

Canoga Park Home Redfin Lisitng

Canoga Park Home Blockshopper Listing

Judith Barsi Home - Propertyshark