episodes. The series is currently owned and distributed by The Walt Disney Company (Marvel's parent company), which acquired all Fox Kids-related properties from News Corporation and Saban International in 2001. Writing staff Producer John Semper was the primary credited writer on the show, receiving some sort of writing credit (usually a story, co-story or co-writing credit) on 60 of the 65 produced episodes. He wrote 8 episodes solo; many of his story credits were actually adaptations of previously published comic book stories. Mark Hoffmeier was a frequent contributor, receiving credits on 16 episodes, while Stan Berkowitz was credited on 9. Many of the other series writers had previously worked on Batman: The Animated Series, including Brynne Stephens, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir, Len Wein, and Sean Catherine Derek. Semper watched previous Spider-Man adaptations for inspiration, but he was not impressed by most of them. The only previous adaptation that impressed him was the live-action Japanese Spider-Man (1978), which he thought was a "great" show and "goofy fun." Japanese Spider-Man's giant mecha robot influenced the final multi-part parallel universe arc where Spider-Man's wealthy alter-ego has a robot. Animation To reproduce New York City's appearance, background illustrators undertook a large amount of visual research by using photo archives from above New York, particularly rooftops. Maps were consulted for references and buildings were faithfully reproduced. It has been reported that the animation cels depicting Manhattan's Pan Am Building (recently renamed the MetLife Building) were scrapped after being complete because the California-based art staff learned the Midtown landmark had been given a new sign more than a year earlier. The animation staff were directed to populate the city with cars and crowds on the street level. Semper believed that was one of the limitations of earlier Spider-Man animated projects. Originally, Marvel Films planned to make the backgrounds completely CGI while Spider-Man swung around New York, yet due to budget constraints were forced to use traditional cel based animation while occasionally using CGI backgrounds by video game developer Kronos Digital Entertainment. As well, reuse of animation became more common as the series progressed, which also included reuse of animation involving a character speaking (these scenes were sometimes slowed down in order to better match the actor's voice to the animation). Music Marvel outsourced the show's music to distributors Saban Entertainment, who were also responsible for the music in the concurrent