From Print to Media

A superhero animation explosion occurred in the mid 1960’s.  By 1966 several titles became animated under a small Canadian company by the name of Grantray Lawrence.  The company, founded by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Robert Lawrence, had little money and limited budget.  Because of Canadian law, broadcasting regulation guaranteed that animation by Grantray Lawrence would be aired continuously on Canadian television.This allowed the company to produce low budget animation whose quality lacked little discretion.

The company came out with six Marvel Comic titles in 1966 alone.  These included Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Submariner and The Marvel variety show. At times these cartoons look as though images were cut directly out of comic pages, pasted unto cells and added with voice.  Only the 1967 production of Spider-man stood out.  This was mainly due to the theme song, which to this day has a strong cult following.  The following year Grantray Lawrence Productions went bankrupt and Krantz Productions took over the series.  In New York, a young Ralph Bakshi, the famed underground animator, was put in charge of the series. Bakshi gave the stories a slightly darker façade and focused more on Peter Parker.  Hanna Barbara Animation Studios released The Fantastic Four.