TRILLIUM PRODUCTIONS
Trillium Productions was part of the Al Guest group of companies based on University Ave. in Toronto. These were owned and operated by the husband/wife team, Al Guest from Winnipeg an animation cameraman and former editor at CBC and his wife Jean Mathieson a prominent animator in her own right.
The operation began in 1957 as Spectrum Productions doing commercials for advertisers. Eventually the company settled on the name Al Guest Animation. It was a well-established company when it decided to enter the field of animated television serials. Herein lies a cautionary tale.
Al Guest signed a million dollar contract with Steve Krantz to do fifty-two, twenty-two minute episodes of an animated series to be called Rocket Robin Hood (1966 to 1969). Trillium Productions part of the Guest Group of Companies was probably specifically founded to handle this project. Steve Krantz was an American animator and film producer who had set up Krantz Films in Canada and probably the deal was done through that organization.
Although billed as a Canadian animated television series the agreement appears to have been more a service contract. Ownership of the property was in the hands of Steven Krantz, who financed it. Shamus Culhane the initial director was an American animator. Ralph Bakshi who replaced him was another American animator. Bakshi is credited as the writer although he came into the production late. It appears that the stories were essentially classic Robin Hood conflicts relocated into the future, year 3000 and onto an asteroid called new Sherwood Forest. Apparently, a sale to CBC qualified it as Canadian.
Relations between the two men quickly deteriorated. The issues appeared to be quality of the product and missed deadlines. Quality problems were probably due to the fact this was Trillium’s first venture into the field and there was a steep learning curve. But cost was also a big issue. Bakshi later commented that while episodes under Shamus Culhane who he replaced cost $18,000, he produced them for $14,000 saving Krantz four thousand dollars an episode. Also it is said Krantz’s quest for bigger profits drove into bankruptcy Grantray-Lawrence Animation another Canadian company founded by American film makers probably to take advantage of the Canadian government’s efforts to support Canadian made productions. Kantz ended up owning its product as well. This quest for bigger profits must have also been a factor in the product’s quality. Relations between the two men degenerated into legal conflict each suing the other on various issues. At this point, Krantz decided to switch production to New York. He tasked Bakshi who was commuting between New York and Toronto to grab production materials like model sheets when he was in Toronto and bring them back to New York. Bakshi did this, managed to elude the police, (there was a warrant out for his arrest) and escaped across the border. The third season of Rocket Robin Hood was done in New York although the voice aspects were still done in Toronto probably at Krantz Films.
Al Guest was financially too weakened to launch a suit against Krantz in New York and without product he was forced to liquidate his companies and leave Canada for England probably to avoid the obligations he had accumulated as a result of the Rocket Robin Hood project. Vladimir Goetzelman a former employee founded Cinera Productions and hired many of the staff left unemployed by the Guest group’s collapse. Later Al returned to Toronto but was never able to re-establish himself there. He and Jean Mathieson finally left for the U.S. where they eventually rebuilt their careers.
SOURCE:
Article book:
Cartoon Capers. Writ., Karen Mazurkewich. McArthur & Co.: 131-133.
Article periodical:
Internet:
academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Grantray-Lawrence_Animation
www.cbc.ca/television/tbt-when-rocket-robin-ruled-outer-space-1.5139219
cartoonresearch.com/index.php/rocket-robin-hood
www.kevinmccorrytv.ca/rrobin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/krantz-Films
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket-Robin-Hood