The Voice Acting Roles of Lou Scheimer Quiz

Answer: Dumb Donald

"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" was based on the comic stories Bill Cosby told about his childhood in North Philadelphia. Lou Scheimer voiced the character of "Dumb" Donald, recognizable for the pink knit cap that covered most of his face. He also voiced Stinger from the "Brown Hornet" segments as well as Legal Eagle.

Louis Scheimer (1928-2013) founded Filmation in 1962 with Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott. They would play an important role in children's television through the 1980s.

Answer: Stubby the Monkey

"The New Adventures of Gilligan" was based on the popular '60s sitcom. Lou Scheimer voiced Gilligan's friend, Stubby the Monkey, whose character did not appear on the original show. The show featured significant creative input from "Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz.

Lou's work as a voice actor came about in part to keep costs down. Other voice actors were usually contracted for no more than three parts. Lou would fill in with additional parts.

Answer: N'Kima the Monkey

"Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle" is considered by many to be one of the best adaptations of the Tarzan story. The character of N'Kima the monkey, voiced by Lou Scheimer, is found in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Lou also voiced Terkoz the Mangani. The show lasted for 36 episodes.

Self-conscious about not being a "real" actor, Lou often recorded his lines separately from the other actors. Lou would sometimes be credited on-screen as Erik Gunden, based on his middle name and part of his family's original name, Gundenscheimer.

Answer: Clayface

The villain Clayface was a recurring role for Lou Scheimer on "The New Adventures". His two more prominent roles on the series--the Bat-Compuyer and Bat-Mite--would have made this question a give away. In any case, the real selling point of this series was including the voicework of Adam West and Burt Ward. (The last two seasons of "Superfriends" had Adam West, but partnered him with Casey Kasem.)

Lou's voice was sometimes run through a "harmonizer" to change the pitch without changing the speed.

Answer: M. O. the Maintenance Operator

M.O. was a maintenance robot that maintained Sentinel One, a sentiment computer that ran the Space Sentinels space craft. The Sentinels themselves were an ethnically diverse group of young humans who were given eternal youth and Super powers to enable them to act as protectors of Earth. Like many cartoons of the 1970s, the Sentinels opposition were often presented as misguided rather than actively evil.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Filmation was a leader in US animation in increasing the diversity of characters shown on Ssturday morning.

Answer: Gremlin

The character of Gremlin, a dragon who could shape the smoke he blew out of his mouth, appeared in the second season of "Flash Gordon", when the network wanted a switch from a serial to an episodic series. Based on the comic strip character of Flash Gordon, the series is considered a very adaptation of the source material. Lou also voiced the narration for the series. The series made extensive use of rotoscoping (drawing animation based on live action film).

While Lou seldom voiced the title or lead character of a series, he would often be the voice of a supporting or comic relief character.

Answer: Olympian Computer

While Lou Scheimer voiced the Olympian Computer on "Sport Billy", his son Lane voiced the titular character. Sport Billy was a visitor to Earth from the planet Olympus who tried to spread the idea of sportsmanship. He carried the Omni-Sack, a gym bag from which he could draw various pieces of sports equipment as needed. The character of Sports Billy was later adapted as a mascot for FIFA.

In addition to Lou and Lane, his daughter Erika and wife Jay also voiced characters at times for Filmation.

Answer: Orko

"He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" combined fantasy and science fiction in its setting of Eternia. Lou Scheimer voiced the character of Orko, the bumbling court magician who was one of the few people to know He-Man's secret identity. Lou also voiced several other characters on the show, including King Randor and Stratos. He even received an on-screen credit as Erika Lane for being co-composer of the theme music.

The pseudonym of "Erika Lane" was based on the names of Lou's two children with his first wife, Jay: Erika and Lane.

Answer: Tracy the Gorilla

"Ghostbusters" was based on a 1975 live-action series "The Ghost Busters" produced by Filmation and not the 1984 live-action movie produced by Columbia Pictures. Lou Scheimer voiced the character of Tracy the Gorilla, who had appeared in the previous live-action series. Tracy brought both brains and brawn to the team. Lou also voiced other characters in the series, including the talking skeleton television, Skelevision, who often delivered the moral of the episode.

The presentation of the moral of the episode at the end of the same, presented in terms a young child could understand, was one of the most familiar features in a filmation cartoon. It seems that it was also a feature that was personally important to Lou Scheimer.

Answer: Doc Clayton

Lou Scheimer voiced the character of Doc Clayton, the physician for the town of Kerium, who frequently assisted Marshall Brave Starr. "Brave Starr" was the last animated series that was produced by Filmation and broadcast before the company shut down. Set on the planet of New Texas in the 23rd century, "Brave Starr was a mix of western and science-fiction. Lou also voiced Barker and Howler, two of the Leaper Riders.