Who created M'Ress?

[Christopher]

Look I'm going to show my ignorance here so forgive me. If Tina Louise could sue if they used her likeness as Ginger does that mean that every time they sell a TOS Kirk figurine, salt shaker, ninja turtle, Shatner gets a cut ? I didn't realise that - I thought that CBS got all the money. Or have I missed something?

Well, permission and payment are different issues. But your face is your property, so other people can't use it without your permission. Photographers or artists need the consent of anyone whose face they record or reproduce in something they intend to sell for profit. If Ms. Louise refused to allow Filmation to use her likeness, then she'd be within her rights to sue them for using it whether there was money involved or not, because they'd be using something that belonged to her without her permission.

I think there is payment involved with actors' likenesses, though, at least those who have it specified in their contracts. Lots of animated shows based on movies or TV series redesign the characters so they don't have to get likeness permission from the actors, which is probably a money issue. This is why the Ghostbusters looked so different in the animated series than in the movies (though that was also to make them more visually distinct from one another). And it's why Harry Mudd in DC's Trek comics only looks vaguely similar to Roger C. Carmel.

 

[Redfern]

That's why they have "armies" of lawyers. All sorts of contracts are signed and many times the conditions conflict with one another. Adhere to contract "A" and aspects of contract "B" may be violated. Stick with contract "B" and contracts "C" and "D" may be in conflict. In many cases, it boils down to how hard a person wants to persue an issue. And from the observations presented, one get the impression Ms. Louise REALLY DISLIKES any association with "Gilligan's Island" and has legally fought to maintain that position. Other actors don't care as much.

Anyway, thanks, Therin for ADF's contact information. I found his site as you were composing your reply, but I still appreciate the convenience of having the data right here.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Redfern]

And once again Christopher has beat me to the punch and no doubt conveyed more accurate information. As he is a pro writer and has to deal with some of these very issues, he knows far more about this stuff than I do. I'm just talking outa' my a$$...which would make for a very "interesting" stage performance!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

If anyone remembers the cartoon version of "I Dream of Jeannie"... total identity shift. Jeannie is given red hair and does magic by whipping her ponytail instead of by blinking, and instead of Tony Nelson her master is a motorbike-riding teenager (played by Mark Hamill). Oh yeah, and Joe Besser plays an annoying magical sidekick.

 

[Christopher]

Tina Louise is the one Gilligan cast member who's consistently refused to have anything to do with the series after it ended, apparently feeling it was an embarrassment that damaged her career (although she did participate in a few talk-show cast-reunion episodes and the Gilligan-focused Roseanne episode). In the three revival movies, Ginger was recast as Judith Baldwin in the first two and Constance Forslund in the third -- which was kind of ridiculous, since both actresses were in their early 30s at the time after supposedly having been stranded on the island for over 15 years!

I don't think she's had to "legally fight" to maintain her distance, though. It's pretty much a given, as I said, that an animated series needs an actor's permission to use their likeness. All she had to do was say no. Lou Scheimer's been quoted as saying that they avoided her likeness because she could have sued them if they had, but that doesn't mean there actually was a legal fight. It just means she didn't give permission so they had to redesign the character. Which wasn't that big a deal, not something there would've been a huge legal battle over, since animated shows based on live-action films or TV series frequently redesign the characters. Either they get permission or they don't. It's just part of the business.

 

[Darkwing]

Hmm, Alan Dean Foster... I wonder if he can be more readily reached? After all, he novelized the episodes. In theory, one can at least ask him if he made up her family members or if he worked from information already written within a "series bible".

I think I'll see if he has a site e-mail like David Gerrold does.

Sincerely,

Bill

He did back in 2004, when I wrote him. His reply was kind and he answered directly and personally - no form letter! - even though he didn't have the answer to my question.

 

[Kail]

Several years ago I wrote to Mr. Foster about turning one of his TAS adaptions into a comic. He replied he wouldn't mind, but permission was not his to give. Nice guy, very gracious.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I thought that the reason M'Ress was drawn wrong is that Power Records didn't have photo reference for the character and just had to make something up.

How difficult would it be to get some publicity art of TAS into Adams' hands? Heck, even Gold Key managed to ship publicity stills of TOS to Italy-based artist Alberto Giolitti for the occasionally familair illustrations of character and ships for their Star Trek comic. ...and that was in the 60s.

Moreover, Power Records lifted AMT's model box photo of their Enterprise kit, turned it into line art, it and slapped it on the cover of a few of their TOS Book & Records and LP releases, yet they could not call Filmation and/or Paramount?

Even Power Records' Planet of the Apes Book & Records sets captured (arguably) more difficult styles of the Apes and costumes, even when actor likeness was not approved.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

If anyone remembers the cartoon version of "I Dream of Jeannie"... total identity shift. Jeannie is given red hair and does magic by whipping her ponytail instead of by blinking, and instead of Tony Nelson her master is a motorbike-riding teenager (played by Mark Hamill).

Ugh. Similar to Filmation's My Favorite Martians spin-off, where Tim O'Hara bore no resemblance to Bill Bixby, while Uncle Martin was redesigned to look like the man who voiced him--Dr. Zachary Smith himself, Jonathan Harris.

Oh yeah, and Joe Besser plays an annoying magical sidekick.

Ahh yes...Babu, with the most annoying catchphrase of all time, "yapple dapple."

Not an ounce of the Screen Gems series in that hackwork.

 

[Christopher]

^Right -- in My Favorite Martians, Tim was voiced by Howard Morris, as I recall. Morris was a Filmation stalwart around then, starting with the role of Jughead in The Archies. He also played the title character in The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, about a live-action cat who had cartoon daydreams about being various adventure heroes, including Catman, Catzan, Robin Cat, the Lone Kitty... and Captain Hurk of the starship Secondprize. (I'm often surprised that Waldo Kitty isn't better-known within Trek fandom.)

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^^ It does make you wonder what else he has three of.

Aw, nuts...

--Sran

 

[Redfern]

...The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, about a live-action cat who had cartoon daydreams about being various adventure heroes, including Catman, Catzan, Robin Cat, the Lone Kitty... and Captain Hurk of the starship Secondprize. (I'm often surprised that Waldo Kitty isn't better-known within Trek fandom.)

One will notice that all those characters are parodies from properties Filmation adapted over the years. One of the two Captain Hurk adventures had some noticeable elements of Flash Gordon in it even though that project was still a few years done the road. (Maybe Filmation had already secured the rights.) Kinda' tricky to depict a "Vulcan" when all of your crew already possess pointed ears. The "bowl cut" hairstyle drove home the point yeah enough. My fading memories may be playing tricks on me, but I seem to recall the science officer sounded more like Henry Kissinger than Leonard Nimoy.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Christopher]

...The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, about a live-action cat who had cartoon daydreams about being various adventure heroes, including Catman, Catzan, Robin Cat, the Lone Kitty... and Captain Hurk of the starship Secondprize. (I'm often surprised that Waldo Kitty isn't better-known within Trek fandom.)

One will notice that all those characters are parodies from properties Filmation adapted over the years.

With one exception: Filmation never did a Robin Hood series. And Filmation's Tarzan and Lone Ranger series both came after Waldo Kitty, though only a year after for Tarzan. So at the time the show was made, only Batman and Star Trek were properties they'd adapted "straight" beforehand.

One of the two Captain Hurk adventures had some noticeable elements of Flash Gordon in it even though that project was still a few years done the road. (Maybe Filmation had already secured the rights.)

Well, with parody you don't need the rights.

 

[Redfern]

Reading the Wiki' entry about this series (Yes, I'm aware Wikipedia should not be considered an "authoritative" source of reference), the legal issue this show had was not with the properties it parodied, but rather with the estate of James Thurber. Supposedly, Filmation had not secured the rights to use a "framing" structure and title character name "inspired" by Thurber's famous short story. When the series was repackaged with another Filmation show a bit later, the live-action "framing" structure was dropped which contained all references to the name "Waldo Kitty". Thus all that remained was the animated footage.

I found the "Cat Trek" episode on YouTube, but it's dubbed in French. There are several French dubbed episodes there, but none in English (that I could readily find).

Sincerely,

Bill