Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Today's interview is with Animation and Comic book writer Buzz Dixon. Buzz Dixon wrote for such programs as G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, Thundarr the Barbarian, Alvin and the Chipmunks and later the Graphic Novel series Serenity. In this interview Mr. Dixon tells of his career including his work for Filmation, Ruby-Spears, Sunbow, Warner Bros and later Stan Lee productions. I want to thank Mr. Dixon for taking the time to speak with me about his career. Special thanks to Josh Hadley for his research help.
This interview was recorded via Skype on April 23rd 2020. This interview is the property of the JM Archive and The Spider's Lair Studios. Any work referencing this material must give written and/or oral credit to the interview and its source. This interview may not be excerpted or re-posted without expressed written or oral permission from the Spiders Lair Studios.
0:03 Introduction
0:18 On his earliest memories of film
1:30 On hobbies he had as a child
2:01 On the first book he ever "wrote"
3:20 On his early education, being drafted into the army, On attending Military Journalism School, being a newspaper editor in the army, being accepted for USC film school but ultimately not going after being hired at Filmation Studios
8:11 On applying for work at Filmation and being hired by Arthur H Nadel and Lou Scheimer
13:30 On working on the un-produced segment Starlight and Sunbright for Tarzan and the Super 7
15:39 On writing segments for Tarzan and the Super 7
17:09 On not writing live action segments despite wanting to and suggesting money saving modifications for Jason of Star Command
19:07 On the type of animation that Filmation was producing at that time
23:29 On Filmation founder and President Lou Scheimer
25:12 On leaving Filmation and being hired at Ruby-Spears productions to write for Mighty Man and Yukk segments on The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show
27:26 On the differences between Animation scripts and Live-Action scripts
29:11 On the process of writing an Animation script from pitch to final script
32:56 On Ken Spears and Joe Ruby
38:25 On him and Gary Greenfield conflicting with Joe Ruby on the idea for a Q-bert cartoon
40:53 On the shows Heathcliff and Thundarr the Barbarian
43:00 On being credited as a writer for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo despite never having worked on the program and why that happened at Ruby-Spears productions
45:08 On writing for Alvin and the Chipmunks and interactions with Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman
46:33 On leaving Ruby-Spears
49:57 On writing the episode Quest of the Skeleton Warrior for the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon
54:19 On Christy Marx
55:18 On what makes his scripts different from other writers he's worked with
59:05 On being hired at Sunbow to consult and then write for G.I. Joe A Real American Hero
1:04:06 On the G.I. Joe episode 20 Questions and creating the character Hector Ramirez
1:11:55 On Hector Ramirez being based on Giraldo Rivera
1:15:32 On royalty payments fro the various shows he has written and lack thereof
1:18:03 On writing for Transformers and the episode The God Gambit
1:21:04 On Bionic Six
1:22:06 On writing the Bravestarr episode The Ballad of Sara Jane
1:23:39 On Jem and the Holograms
1:25:23 On writing for the show Inhumanoids
1:29:12 On writing one episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1:29:56 On writing one episode of Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
1:31:23 On writing the Tiny Toon Adventures episode C Sharp or B Flat, An episode that had next-to no dialogue set to the Hungarian Waltz
1:35:03 On writing the Batman the Animated Series episode Cat Scratch Fever
1:38:38 On why he stopped writing for television animation and writing the Serenity Graphic Novel series
1:42:43 On his proudest achievement during his career
1:44:24 On advice he has for those hoping to work as writers as well as mentioning others who helped him during career
Today's interview is with Animation and Comic book writer Buzz Dixon. Buzz Dixon wrote for such programs as G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, Thundarr the Barbarian, Alvin and the Chipmunks and later the Graphic Novel series Serenity. In this interview Mr. Dixon tells of his career including his work for Filmation, Ruby-Spears, Sunbow, Warner Bros and later Stan Lee productions. I want to thank Mr. Dixon for taking the time to speak with me about his career. Special thanks to Josh Hadley for his research help.
This interview was recorded via Skype on April 23rd 2020. This interview is the property of the JM Archive and The Spider's Lair Studios. Any work referencing this material must give written and/or oral credit to the interview and its source. This interview may not be excerpted or re-posted without expressed written or oral permission from the Spiders Lair Studios.
0:03 Introduction
0:18 On his earliest memories of film
1:30 On hobbies he had as a child
2:01 On the first book he ever "wrote"
3:20 On his early education, being drafted into the army, On attending Military Journalism School, being a newspaper editor in the army, being accepted for USC film school but ultimately not going after being hired at Filmation Studios
8:11 On applying for work at Filmation and being hired by Arthur H Nadel and Lou Scheimer
13:30 On working on the un-produced segment Starlight and Sunbright for Tarzan and the Super 7
15:39 On writing segments for Tarzan and the Super 7
17:09 On not writing live action segments despite wanting to and suggesting money saving modifications for Jason of Star Command
19:07 On the type of animation that Filmation was producing at that time
23:29 On Filmation founder and President Lou Scheimer
25:12 On leaving Filmation and being hired at Ruby-Spears productions to write for Mighty Man and Yukk segments on The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show
27:26 On the differences between Animation scripts and Live-Action scripts
29:11 On the process of writing an Animation script from pitch to final script
32:56 On Ken Spears and Joe Ruby
38:25 On him and Gary Greenfield conflicting with Joe Ruby on the idea for a Q-bert cartoon
40:53 On the shows Heathcliff and Thundarr the Barbarian
43:00 On being credited as a writer for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo despite never having worked on the program and why that happened at Ruby-Spears productions
45:08 On writing for Alvin and the Chipmunks and interactions with Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman
46:33 On leaving Ruby-Spears
49:57 On writing the episode Quest of the Skeleton Warrior for the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon
54:19 On Christy Marx
55:18 On what makes his scripts different from other writers he's worked with
59:05 On being hired at Sunbow to consult and then write for G.I. Joe A Real American Hero
1:04:06 On the G.I. Joe episode 20 Questions and creating the character Hector Ramirez
1:11:55 On Hector Ramirez being based on Giraldo Rivera
1:15:32 On royalty payments fro the various shows he has written and lack thereof
1:18:03 On writing for Transformers and the episode The God Gambit
1:21:04 On Bionic Six
1:22:06 On writing the Bravestarr episode The Ballad of Sara Jane
1:23:39 On Jem and the Holograms
1:25:23 On writing for the show Inhumanoids
1:29:12 On writing one episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1:29:56 On writing one episode of Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
1:31:23 On writing the Tiny Toon Adventures episode C Sharp or B Flat, An episode that had next-to no dialogue set to the Hungarian Waltz
1:35:03 On writing the Batman the Animated Series episode Cat Scratch Fever
1:38:38 On why he stopped writing for television animation and writing the Serenity Graphic Novel series
1:42:43 On his proudest achievement during his career
1:44:24 On advice he has for those hoping to work as writers as well as mentioning others who helped him during career
