Uploaded June 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
The JM Archives is proud to present the first in a three-part interview series with Animation writer, producer, executive: Robby London. In this interview, Robby speaks of his early years in the psychology field, ghost-writing animation scripts for Hanna-Barbera, being hired as a writer at Filmation for shows like The New Adventures of Zorro, Gilligan's Planet, The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, He-Man and the Master's of the Universe, His career overseeing Filmation's first two features animated films and so much more. I want to thank Mr. London for taking the time out of his schedule to speak with us about his career. Special thanks also to Christopher Inoa for research assistance with this interview
This interview was recorded via Skype on May 12th 2020 with additional pick ups for clarity taking place on June 3rd 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.
0:00 Introduction
0:25 On his earliest memories of television
0:58 On his childhood hobbies and early love of music
1:39 On the kind of music he was initially interested in
2:56 On Earning a Bachelors Degree in psychology
3:45 On working on a counseling line in Michigan, Moving back to Los Angeles and the jobs he had there
6:08 On ghost-writing for the Hanna-Barbara show The Super Globetrotters and how that lead to being hired by Arthur H Nadel as a writer at Filmation
11:15 On being hired at Filmation and turning down a job at Entertainment Tonight
13:43 On apprenticing at Hanna Barbara for two months, what made a good premise for a cartoon script and writing premises for The New Adventures of Zorro
18:50 On the process he had for writing a premise
20:17 On Filmation executive vice president of creative affairs: Arthur H Nadel
28:22 On Filmation president Lou Scheimer
30:14 On the type of shows that were being made at Filmation and the limited animation process the company practiced
35:35 On writing an episode of Blackstar and co-worker Tom Ruegger
38:15 On ghostwriting several episodes of Super Globetrotters for Hanna-Barbera
38:54 On writing an episode of Hero High and on techniques to add time to shows that ran short
44:32 On writing for Gilligan's Planet and writing for the cast
49:33 On writing for The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and not enjoying working with Bill Cosby
54:39 On writing the Fat Albert episode Kiss and Tell which dealt with the subject of sexually transmitted diseases and the episode It All Adds Up which dealt with deceptive advertising
58:15 On the initial development of He-Man and the Master's of the Universe, Creating the series bible, Writing the Pilot script and developing the character of Orko
1:06:31 On running He-Man and the Master's of the Universe and the amount of time it took to write the average script for the series
1:07:51 On script requirements and pro-social messages for He-Man and the Master's of the Universe
1:17:16 On leaving He-Man as writer to become one of the Executives of the Filmation Feature department
1:22:05 On re-writing and producing the feature Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, traveling to New York to direct James Earl Jones for the film and the reception of the film once it was released
1:31:59 On writing and producing the feature Happily Ever After
1:37:37 On adapting Filmation's Ghostbusters into the cartoon series writing an introductory five episodes
1:43:20 On the decision to leave Filmation to work at DIC productions and the impact of Filmation
The JM Archives is proud to present the first in a three-part interview series with Animation writer, producer, executive: Robby London. In this interview, Robby speaks of his early years in the psychology field, ghost-writing animation scripts for Hanna-Barbera, being hired as a writer at Filmation for shows like The New Adventures of Zorro, Gilligan's Planet, The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, He-Man and the Master's of the Universe, His career overseeing Filmation's first two features animated films and so much more. I want to thank Mr. London for taking the time out of his schedule to speak with us about his career. Special thanks also to Christopher Inoa for research assistance with this interview
This interview was recorded via Skype on May 12th 2020 with additional pick ups for clarity taking place on June 3rd 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.
0:00 Introduction
0:25 On his earliest memories of television
0:58 On his childhood hobbies and early love of music
1:39 On the kind of music he was initially interested in
2:56 On Earning a Bachelors Degree in psychology
3:45 On working on a counseling line in Michigan, Moving back to Los Angeles and the jobs he had there
6:08 On ghost-writing for the Hanna-Barbara show The Super Globetrotters and how that lead to being hired by Arthur H Nadel as a writer at Filmation
11:15 On being hired at Filmation and turning down a job at Entertainment Tonight
13:43 On apprenticing at Hanna Barbara for two months, what made a good premise for a cartoon script and writing premises for The New Adventures of Zorro
18:50 On the process he had for writing a premise
20:17 On Filmation executive vice president of creative affairs: Arthur H Nadel
28:22 On Filmation president Lou Scheimer
30:14 On the type of shows that were being made at Filmation and the limited animation process the company practiced
35:35 On writing an episode of Blackstar and co-worker Tom Ruegger
38:15 On ghostwriting several episodes of Super Globetrotters for Hanna-Barbera
38:54 On writing an episode of Hero High and on techniques to add time to shows that ran short
44:32 On writing for Gilligan's Planet and writing for the cast
49:33 On writing for The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and not enjoying working with Bill Cosby
54:39 On writing the Fat Albert episode Kiss and Tell which dealt with the subject of sexually transmitted diseases and the episode It All Adds Up which dealt with deceptive advertising
58:15 On the initial development of He-Man and the Master's of the Universe, Creating the series bible, Writing the Pilot script and developing the character of Orko
1:06:31 On running He-Man and the Master's of the Universe and the amount of time it took to write the average script for the series
1:07:51 On script requirements and pro-social messages for He-Man and the Master's of the Universe
1:17:16 On leaving He-Man as writer to become one of the Executives of the Filmation Feature department
1:22:05 On re-writing and producing the feature Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, traveling to New York to direct James Earl Jones for the film and the reception of the film once it was released
1:31:59 On writing and producing the feature Happily Ever After
1:37:37 On adapting Filmation's Ghostbusters into the cartoon series writing an introductory five episodes
1:43:20 On the decision to leave Filmation to work at DIC productions and the impact of Filmation
