Fred Ladd (born Fred Laderman in 1927), is an American television and film writer and producer. He is notable as one of the first to introduce Japanese animated cartoons to North America.Ladd, a Toledo, Ohio native, graduated from Scott High School in 1945 and from Ohio State University in 1949 with degrees in radio and speech. Upon moving to the New York City area, Ladd got a year-long job at an FM radio station and then was employed at Cayton, Inc., an advertising agency that dabbled in film production. The agency acquired several nature documentaries, and Ladd was given the job of repackaging them into a feature film. Rather than an outright sale, the film was offered in trade to European distributors (cash exports being limited in post-war Europe), in exchange for marketable local film product. The deal resulted in the acquisition of animated cartoons, and Ladd was given the job of repackaging and dubbing the films for the American market.Ladd became the house specialist in the "Westernizing" of overseas animated programming. A 1937 German short film on the future of space travel Weltraumschiff 1 startet was acquired, and the special effects sequences were excised by Ladd. His re-edited footage was augmented by new animated sequences and became part of a series entitled The Space Explorers which was syndicated to local TV stations from the late 1950s through the early 1960s.Producer Norm Prescott employed Ladd to help reformat a 1965 Belgian animated feature Pinocchio dans le space, which was released theatrically by Universal in late 1965 as Pinocchio in Outer Space. Prescott later brought Ladd in as co-writer and co-producer on his home-grown 1974 Filmation feature, Journey Back to Oz.But it was an earlier involvement with NBC-TV that helped open a new and enduring market to North America. In 1963, the network's distribution division, NBC Enterprises, had acquired the rights to a Japanese animated series entitled Tetsuwan Atomu, and consulted with Ladd on how to market it. Ladd took the footage and created a pilot episode, eventually leading to the long-running series Astro Boy-- the inaugural appearance of anime on Western shores.Ladd continued his involvement in early anime imports with Gigantor for Trans-Lux and Kimba the White Lion for NBC Enterprises. Later, Ladd was creative consultant on the popular 1995-2000 series Sailor Moon for DiC Entertainment.Ladd currently resides in Los Angeles.
Ladd supervised the first colorization of B&W Looney Tunes and Betty Boop cartoons in the late 1960's. He also supervised the colorization of the B&W Popeye cartoons and B&W Merrie Melodies for Turner Entertainment in 1987. These colorizations utilized a process of tracing film frames that have been blown-up to cel-size proportions. His colorizations should not be confused with the computer colorized cartoons of the 1990's.
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Sailor Moon
TV Series creative consultant - 64 episodes, 1995 production creative consultant - 1 episode, 1995
G-Force: Guardians of Space
1987
TV Series voice director
The Wizard of Oz
1982
creative consultant
Nagagutsu o haita neko
1969
u.s. version supervisor
Kimba the White Lion
1965
TV Series coordinator: english language version - 1966
Gigantor
1964
TV Series voice director: English version
Astroboy
1963
TV Series voice director: English version
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ghostbusters
TV Series story - 1 episode, 1986 writer - 1 episode, 1986