Robert D. Buchanan Explained

Robert D. Buchanan (born August 17, 1931) was a creator of several animated features in the 1950s and 1960s. He joined Soundac following the departure of Bobby Nicholson, who formed the company in 1951.[1] Buchanan relocated Soundac from its original location of Buffalo, New York, to Miami, Florida in 1955;[2] he maintained a sales and distribution agent, Richard H. Ullman, in Buffalo through the late 1950s.[3]

He is most notable for co-creating the animated series Colonel Bleep, the first color cartoon produced for television, with Jack Schleh. Colonel Bleep was syndicated in 1957.

In 1965, Buchanan co-produced another animated series, Mighty Mr. Titan, which taught viewers how to exercise.[4] [5] Soundac also produced Weather Man, a series of short animated clips for stations that relied on Weather Bureau forecasts to relay the weather.[6]

Buchanan and Soundac ceased operations in the early 1970s. Master tapes of his productions were stolen during the closedown process, and as a result, only a portion of the company's productions remain: roughly a third of Colonel Bleep episodes (some in their original color and others in sepia tone prints), and one black-and-white kinescope reel of Weather Man clips (Mighty Mr. Titan is believed to be mostly intact).

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kempner. Marvin. 1998. Can't Wait Till Monday Morning. Rivercross Publishing Inc.. 56-57. 0944957730.
  2. https://americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-Television-Magazine-IDX/IDX/50s/1958/Television-1958-Dec-OCR-Page-0031.pdf
  3. Web site: Jerry. Beck. The Colonel Bleep Show. September 12, 2018. January 9, 2020.
  4. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 549.
  5. Book: Kempner, Marvin. Can't Wait Till Monday Morning. 1998. Rivercross Publishing Inc.. 0944957730.
  6. Web site: Weather Man. 15 June 2007.