User:Lolcatistan/Argosy catalogue

NOTE: A lot of these show and ideas originally came from Idea Wiki, Scratchpad, various ”what if” AUs, and other sources (mainly wikis). I use them under the CC-BY-SA license used by the majority of Wikia and Miraheze sites, as I have a bit of a creative block sometimes.

Symbol meanings

 * (VR): Co-produced with Code 82 Corporation/Village Roadshow Animation.
 * (38): Co-produced by Morgan “Reloaxa” Jordan’s company, Thirty-8 Animations.
 * (NZ): Produced at Wellington, NZ satellite studio.
 * (PR): Produced at Puerto Rico satellite studio.
 * (UK): Produced at Maidstone, UK satellite studio.
 * (ARG): Produced at Argentine satellite studio.
 * (TW): Co-produced with Taiwanese satellite studio.
 * (SC): Series is a sketch comedy consisting of sketches/shorts —- some repackaged archive material, but mostly brand-new.
 * (PS): Suitable for a preschool audience.
 * (AA): Adult animation.
 * (PBS): Produced for PBS thru KCTS.
 * (LAH): Live-action/animated hybrid.
 * (TSA): Film adapted from a TV series.
 * (CBA): Film or TV show adapted from a comic book.
 * (CSA): Film or TV show adapted from a comic strip.
 * (VGA): Film or TV show adapted from a video game.

Argosy Animation Studios
The main animation department of Argosy.

1933-1960: Theatrical Era
At the time, AoFM (the predecessor to Argosy Pictures) was a loose coalition of small film companies trying their darned best to be considered on par with the major studios. It didn’t even have a parent organization until 1937: before then, it was more of a “protection racket” between various regional distributors that solely existed to give independent filmmakers and producers a voice; hence the name, “Association of Film Makers”. Of course, some of these small independent companies (many of which were one-man operations) saw the success of Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, and the earliest Looney Tunes, and wanted their own piece of the cartoon pie.
 * Wondertoons (1933-1973) (created by Theodore E. Sullivan)
 * Daniel and Cindy (1939-1960) (created by Michael Avery and Willie Barber)

1960-1981: Shires Era
The modern incarnation of Argosy Animation has its beginnings in 1960, when Argosy went into television animation. Not much notable occurred during this time. This was before they brought in Ellen Peck and Paul Lopez. The only thing of note, was that Argosy quite literally invented the concept of the Saturday Morning Cartoon. The only thing the company had going for it pre-Peck/Lopez was Michael Shires, an amateur newspaper cartoonist who was fired from Disney for trying to unionize, and was the progenitor of Argosy’s 25-dollar-per-hour wage policy that continues today.
 * The Adventures of Tiffany (1960-1975) (created by Michael Shires and William Matthews)
 * The Gumazing Gum Girl! (1967-1970) (CBA) (created by Michael Shires)
 * Ninja-Rina (1969-1977) (CBA) (created by Michael Shires)
 * The Malik and Maria Show (1970-1977) (CBA) (created by Michael Shires)
 * Sol Azteca (1976-1978) (CBA) (created by Michael Shires and Michael Shires Jr.)

1981-1993: Stacker Era
This was when the Argosy corporation was under the control of convicted tax fraudster, Phil Stacker. Stacker (who had performed a hostile takeover of Argosy through his holding company, Stacker and Associates) led the company he had acquired less than a year earlier into bankruptcy in 1982 (which led to a buy-out by longtime rival MTM), allegedly bribed Mary Tyler Moore and Grant Tinker to retain him in an executive position, and somehow kept control of the company he mismanaged (even after a buyout by a British TV station, TVS) until the International Family buyout in 1993. Peck and Lopez had been freshly hired, and had a considerable presence, cranking out shows like clockwork. A lot of (now-mostly-forgotten) shows, many involving cats. However, higher-ranking executives like Stacker still had some control over the creative output of the company. Much of these series had ended by the 1989-1991 period, as Argosy were working on new projects, and wanted “new blood”. In the meantime, reruns were syndicated. The only thing still being produced in the gap between the end of Long-Tail Kitty and the massive 1993 overhaul (other than parent-company-corporate-synergy-obligated MTM co-productions) was Revenge of Sarah.
 * The Mimsie and Smokey Show (1983-1989) (SC) (created by Paul Lopez and Michael Shires Jr.)
 * The Twisted World of MTM (1989-1993) (SC) (created by Ellen Peck and Paul Lopez)
 * Long-Tail Kitty (1983-1991) (created by Paul Lopez)
 * Clyde (1983-1991) (CSA) (created by Paul Lopez based on characters by Michael Shires and Michael Shires Jr.)
 * The All-New Gumazing Gum Girl! (1984-1989) (CBA) (created by Paul Lopez based on characters by Michael Shires)
 * Orange Gus (1983-1991) (created by Paul Lopez)
 * Adriana Pendleton (1985-1989) (created by Ellen Peck)
 * Revenge of Sarah (1989-2001) (created by Ellen Peck)
 * The Spacebots (1985-1989) (created by Paul Lopez)

1993-2006: Argosy Golden Age
This was when Ellen Peck and Nathan Blake took helm of the company as a whole after Lopez’ death and Stacker’s arrest. In 1989, Ellen’s team started work on a series vaguely based on the cat in the company’s production logo. They were given full creative control, exorbitant amounts of money, and the ability to hire whoever they wanted. The executives (a mixture of British TV moguls and televangelists) were expecting former Disney or Hanna-Barbera talent; instead, they got Robert Stainton, a mad electronics-tinkerer from Chicago and inventor of an early form of computer animation, who Ellen had seen on a WGN news interview received on her quasi-legal C-band satellite dish (which she had paid for using money that was meant to go towards hiring a character designer). “Ol’ Robby” brought his patented Rotanimation system to the table. The result: The Aaron Show. The period of 1993-2006 was considered the “Argosy Golden Age”, and was also marked by the establishment of satellite studios in places such as New Zealand and Puerto Rico. Argosy also became known at the time for an inability to cancel shows; the last time Argosy themselves officially cancelled a show was in 1989 when Adriana Pendleton and The Spacebots were pulled due to declining ratings. Since then, all Argosy shows have ended at the creator’s discretion.
 * The Aaron Show (1993-2006) (created by Ellen Peck and Nathan Blake)
 * Foxy (1993-1996) (created by Terry Ward)
 * The Adventures of Mercy (1993-2006) (created by Jeremy McAbee)
 * AuldTopia Kids (1993-2006) (created by Andrew Auld)
 * Snuffy (1993-2006) (PR) (created by Elijah Taino)
 * Felicia (1996-1998) (created by Thomas Hammocks)
 * Catgirl and the Clawed Crusaders (1998-2001) (created by Crystal Stainton)
 * Juline’s Tree (1998-2002) (PR) (PS) (created by Elijah Taino)
 * The Jumping Ground (1998-2019) (NZ) (VR) (AA) (created by Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon)
 * Mitchell van Morgan (1999-2006) (VGA) (created by Peter Bullard and Jihee Nam)
 * My Bedroom is Freaking Out! (2001-2006) (created by Ellen Peck)

2006-2012: Argosy Interregnum
In 2006, Peck resigned to an executive role (CEO and [self-proclaimed] Founder) in the company, having just bought out the MTM parent company from its Canadian owners who found it worthless. This was also the year when the majority of the 90s shows ended; Ellen ended The Aaron Show in that year because she had more important things to take care of, and most of the other animators gave up because TAS was the flagship of the whole syndicated Argosy Animation block, and what use is there continuing without a flagship? The only show from the 1993 lineup of the block still running today is Stella and Adriana, and that’s a Marifransia production which is only distributed, not produced, by Argosy. This list also includes shows that started during the tail-end of the Golden Age, but are widely associated with the Interregnum era by fans.
 * Pamela Shimura: The Series (2004-2012) (created by Evan Tackett)
 * Sketch Satires (2005-present) (AA) (SC) (created by Tiger Lee Clarke)
 * Zippy (2006-2015) (created by Kayla Greene)
 * The Mel Twins (2006-2012) (created by Cameron Perez)
 * Buttons and Rusty: Welcome to Chucklewood (2006-2009) (PBS) (created by Terry Ward)
 * Slither (2010, miniseries) (AA) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)

2012-present: Argosy Renaissance
In 2011, Ellen returned to a major creative role, becoming the Chief Creative Officer of the reorganized ArgosyMTM Group. Immediately, a rebooted (or, more accurately, continued) Aaron TV show, The New Aaron Show, was greenlit.
 * Reloaxa's Avid Animations (2012-present) (38) (UK) (SC) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * The New Aaron Show (2013-present) (created by Ellen Peck and Blake Kenimeir)
 * The Small Adventures of Tacky & Gummy (2013-present) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Weird World: The TV Show (2014-2022) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Robot-Ghost & Zeke (2014-present) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Raccoo! (2015-present) (NZ) (VR) (created by Tiger Lee Clarke)
 * Mystic Island (2016-present) (NZ) (VR) (created by Tiger Lee Clarke and Lauren Faust)
 * Clockwork College (2016-2019) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Ting-Tè Taiwan (2017-2020) (38) (UK) (TW) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Harvey Girls Forever! (2018-present) (created by Brendan Hay and Aliki Theofilopoulos)
 * WRIST Bandz (2018-2021) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Pamela Shimura Action! (2018-2020) (created by Malachi Miles based on characters by Evan Tackett) (Note: Widely considered to be the absolute worst series made during the Argosy Renaissance. Was placed on indefinite hiatus in 2020 after sexual assault allegations towards Malachi Miles.)
 * Beach Girls (2018-present) (AA) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * The Endless Monsters (2019-present) (PS) (created by Walt Wesley)
 * Jewel Ageless (2019-present) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)
 * Soulflake (2019-present) (AA) (38) (UK) (created by Morgan Jordan)

1933-1960: Theatrical Era

 * Platero (1951) (ARG)

1960-1981: Shires Era

 * Trapito (1975) (ARG)
 * The Gumazing Fantasy (1977) (CBA)

1981-1993: Stacker Era

 * Ico the Brave Little Horse (1983) (ARG)

1993-2006: Argosy Golden Age

 * Pamela Shimura (1998)
 * Aaron’s Great Adventure (1999) (TSA)
 * Manuelita (1999) (ARG)
 * The Joys of Pantriste (2000) (ARG)
 * Pamela Shimura 2 (2002)
 * Magina (2003)
 * Pamela Shimura 3 (2006)

2006-2012: Argosy Interregnum

 * Zippy: The Movie (2008) (TSA)

2012-present: Argosy Renaissance

 * Weird World (2013) (38) (UK)
 * Ink and Paint (2015) (LAH)
 * Harvey Street Kids (2015) (CBA)
 * The Jumping Ground Movie (2016) (TSA) (NZ) (VR) (AA)
 * Weird World 2 (2016) (38) (UK)
 * Making Friends (2018)
 * Weird World 3 (2018) (38) (UK)
 * Clockwork College: The Movie (2019) (38) (UK)

Upcoming

 * The Weird World 4nale (Part 1) (2023) (38) (UK)
 * The Weird World 4nale (Part 2) (2024) (38) (UK)

1981-1993: Stacker Era

 * The Carmen Show (1981-2002) (PBS) (created and hosted by Carmen Jensen)
 * Gussy Goat’s Cool Adventures (1984-1987) (created by Phil Stacker) (Note: Widely regarded as the absolute worst TV series made under the Argosy name, if not the absolute worst TV series in broadcasting history.)

2006-2012: Argosy Interregnum
During the Argosy Interregnum, the struggling company was mainly kept afloat by its puppet shows targeted towards preschoolers. These aired on the Argosy Kids cable network, which expanded its reach in 2006 by becoming one of the first networks to take to the then-novel digital subchannel format.
 * Nala & Hoots (2006-present) (PS) (created by Kenny Yates)
 * Pansy’s Club (2007-present) (PS) (created by Kenny Yates)

2012-present: Argosy Renaissance

 * The Hexingtons (2011-2017) (created by Timmy Gladdison)
 * Collamerrywood (2012-2017) (created by Anthony Earnsburg)
 * Mitchell van Morgan (2015-present) (VGA) (created by Timmy Gladdison based on characters by Peter Bullard and Jihee Nam)
 * Lilaperrywood (2017-present) (created by Anthony Earnsburg)
 * The Octingtons (2019-present) (created by Timmy Gladdison)

Animated

 * Stella and Adriana (1991-present) (Marifransia production) (created by Stella Liu)

Video game franchises

 * Mitchell van Morgan (1998-present)

Comic franchises owned by Argosy
Argosy actually set up a newspaper cartoon division, Argosy Features Syndicate, just to publish Michael Shires and Michael Shires Jr.’s comic strips. Argosy has also dabbled into comic books, with Shires creating the iconic character, Gum Girl. (This listing excludes acquired franchises like the many Harvey and Archie series.)

Comic strips

 * Clyde (1978-present) (created by Michael Shires and Michael Shires Jr.; currently drawn and written by Ellen Peck since 1989)

Comic books

 * The Gumazing Gum Girl! (1963-2013, original comic series; 1963-present, franchise) (created by Michael Shires)
 * Marvin Beederman Superhero (1964-2006, original comic series; 1964-present, franchise) (created by Michael Shires)

Other/miscellaneous

 * Cuties (2020) (acquired by MTM Films (outbidding Netflix) just so it would never be released outside France; the digital copy of the film is allegedly marked within ArgosyMTM’s systems with “(EXTREMELY INAPPROPRIATE FOR ANY AUDIENCE - DO NOT RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTE EVER)”; has aired late at night on some cable channels in Europe under the Embassy label, so that Argosy can retain its rights to the film)