J Troplong Jay Ward, U.S. Television Cartoon Pioneer (1920-1989) Jay basically just wanted to have fun, and to laugh his way through life, and to go to the Lakers games
Skip Craig,
longtime employee of Jay Ward
Jay Ward was born in San Francisco, California with only the letter J for a first name this was supposed to allow him to pick whatever name he liked (at least, whichever one he liked that started with J, one supposes). He picked Jay. Thus began the life of a great eccentric genius whose charisma, perseverance and creativity would bring some of the greatest cartoons of all time to television.
Super Friends, and
Spider-Man dominated American television sets from the hours of 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, providing children fond memories they’ve cherished far into adulthood.
But as much as we loved these shows, they weren’t created just to entertain kids; the programs were made to generate revenue for TV networks and toy companies. The enthusiasm for squeezing profits out of this captive audience of children accelerated the creation of many fondly remembered shows. Ironically, it also hastened the downfall of this Saturday morning tradition. Today, the networks’ Saturday morning shows don’t have a cartoon in sight. What happened?
What Animation Does Comcast Own?
A continuing series in which we map out what major corporations own in terms of characters, studios, and distribution platforms.
This week’s company is Comcast Corporation, the telecom titan that also has a major presence in media and entertainment, thanks to its ownership of NBCUniversal and Sky. The company owns Hollywood icon Universal Pictures, major animation studios Dreamworks and Illumination, a portfolio of streamers and broadcasters, a library of famous animation characters, and more.
What follows is a list of animation-related companies/divisions and content Comcast owns or co-owns, compiled to the best of our knowledge. This, and future entries in the series, will be updated as new information becomes available. In earlier entries in the series, we explored the animation holdings of Fox Corporation and Sony Group Corporation.