| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation Live-action |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Founder | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California, USA Rome, Italy |
| Products | Television shows Theatrical films Television specials Direct-to-video films Television films Television commercials |
| Parent | Filmways (1977–1981) Taft Broadcasting (1981–1987) Great American Broadcasting (1987–1991) RS Holdings (1991–1996) |
Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California-based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation; with another branch in Rome, Italy. The firm was founded in 1977 by veteran writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears.
History[]
Both Ruby and Spears started out as sound editors at Hanna-Barbera, and later branched out into writing stories for such programs as Space Ghost and The Herculoids. In 1969, they were assigned the task of developing a mystery-based cartoon series for Saturday mornings, the result of which was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. They were also writers and producers for DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, particularly for The Barkleys and The Houndcats.[1]
Ruby-Spears Productions was founded in 1977 while Ruby and Spears were network executives at ABC supervising the Saturday morning programing. ABC Entertainment president Fred Silverman wanted to create competition for Hanna-Barbera, which was providing a bulk of the Saturday morning content for all three major networks and concerns of quality began to arise.[2] The company's credits include the animated series Fangface, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Thundarr the Barbarian, Rubik, the Amazing Cube, the 1983 version of the Alvin and the Chipmunks series, Mister T, Sectaurs, The Centurions, the 1988 Superman series, the Police Academy animated series and the American Mega Man cartoon series.
Only two series, Police Academy: The Animated Series and Piggsburg Pigs!, used Canadian voice talent rather than American one like most of their other cartoon shows. Ruby-Spears was also responsible for the animated sequence in the 1988 film Child's Play.
The Ruby-Spears studio was founded in 1977 as a subsidiary of Filmways and was sold in late 1981 to Taft Broadcasting, becoming a sister company to Hanna-Barbera Productions. In 1991, Ruby-Spears was spun off into RS Holdings while most of the original Ruby-Spears library (its pre-1991 library) was sold along with Hanna-Barbera to Turner Broadcasting System, which in turn merged with Time Warner in 1996. The Ruby-Spears studio closed in 1996.[2]
See also[]
- List of Ruby-Spears productions
References[]
- ↑ Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012). "Program 276 (Legendary animation producers JOE RUBY and KEN SPEARS discuss their long association, which began at Hanna-Barbera in 1959 when they were film and sound editors and eventually led to the formation of their own company in 1977, and writer MARK EVANIER talks about the differences between working for H-B as opposed to R-S.)". Stu's Show. Retrieved 03-18-2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shostak, Stu (01-16-2013). "Program 305 (TV animation producers JOE RUBY and KEN SPEARS return to discuss the formation of their own company and creating such series as "Fangface", "Rickety Rocket", "Goldie Gold" and many others. Also - animation writer MARK EVANIER talks about working on "Thundarr" and "Plastic Man" for the team.)". Stu's Show. Retrieved 03-18-2013.
Animation industry in the United States
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|---|---|---|
| Companies/studios | Active | 21st Century Fox (20th Century Fox Animation • Blue Sky Studios • Fox Television Animation) • Ace & Son • Augenblick Studios • Bento Box Entertainment • The Curiosity Company • DHX Media (WildBrain) • Disney (Disney Television Animation • DisneyToon Studios • Industrial Light & Magic • Lucasfilm Animation • Marvel Animation • Pixar Animation Studios • Walt Disney Animation Studios) • Film Roman • Floyd County Productions • Frederator Studios (Frederator Films) • Fuzzy Door Productions • Golden Films • Hasbro (Hasbro Studios) • Jim Henson's Creature Shop • Kinofilm • Klasky Csupo • Laika • Little Airplane Productions • Man of Action Studios • Marza Animation Planet • Mattel (Hot Animation) • Mexopolis • Mondo Media (6 Point Harness) • NBCUniversal (DreamWorks Animation • Big Idea Entertainment • DreamWorks Classics • Harvey Entertainment • Jay Ward Productions • Illumination Entertainment • Universal Animation Studios • PorchLight Entertainment • Radical Axis • Reel FX Creative Studios • Renegade Animation • Rough Draft Studios • ShadowMachine • Sony Pictures (Adelaide Productions • Sony Pictures Animation • Sony Pictures Imageworks) • Splash Entertainment • Sprite Animation Studios • Spümcø • Stoopid Monkey • Time Warner (Cartoon Network Studios • Warner Bros. Animation • Williams Street) • Titmouse, Inc. • United Plankton Pictures • Vanguard Animation • Viacom (MTV Animation • Nick Digital • Nickelodeon Animation Studio • Paramount Animation) • World Events Productions |
| Defunct | 70/30 Productions • Amblimation • Animation Collective • Animation Lab • Animation Magic • Cartoon Pizza • Circle 7 Animation • Cookie Jar Group • Crest Animation Productions • Curious Pictures • DePatie-Freleng Enterprises • DIC Entertainment • DNA Productions • Famous Studios • Filmation • Fleischer Studios • Fox Animation Studios • Hanna-Barbera • Jetlag Productions • Kroyer Films • Laugh-O-Gram Studio • Marvel Productions • MGM-Pathé Communications • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation • MGM Animation/Visual Arts • MGM Cartoons) • Pacific Data Images • Rankin/Bass Productions • Ruby-Spears • Screen Gems Cartoons • Skellington Productions • Soup2Nuts • Sullivan Bluth Studios • Sunbow Entertainment • Terrytoons • United Productions of America • Van Beuren Studios • Walter Lantz Productions • Warner Bros. Cartoons • Will Vinton Studios • Williams Street West | |
| Industry associations | The Animation Guild, I.A.T.S.E. Local 839 • ASIFA-Hollywood | |
| Awards | Academy Awards • Annie Award • Daytime Emmy Award • Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards • Primetime Emmy Award | |
| History | Silent era • Golden age (World War II) • Television era • Modern era | |
| Genres | Animated Infomercial • Animated sitcom • Buddy film • Comedy-drama • Superhero fiction • Western | |
| Related topics | American Comics (History of American comics • Tijuana bible) • Humorous Phases of Funny Faces • Flash animation | |