Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater

Last updated
Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater
Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater title card.png
Title card
Genre Animation
Children’s animation
Comedy
Family
Adventure
Fantasy
Animated series
Developed by Phil Harnage
Directed byMichael Maliani
Voices of Carl Banas
Tara Strong
Cree Summer
Sean Roberge
Mairon Bennett
Noam Zylberman
Len Carlson
Elizabeth Hanna
Greg Morton
Denise Pidgeon
Fred Savage
Theme music composer David Pomeranz
Composers Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Country of originUnited States
Japan
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producer Andy Heyward
ProducerMichael Maliani
Animator Toei Animation
Running timeapprox. 22–23 min.
Production companies DIC Enterprises
MGM/UA Television Productions
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseSeptember 19 (1987-09-19) 
December 12, 1987 (1987-12-12)

Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is an animated series based on the Japanese character Hello Kitty, [1] co-produced by DIC Enterprises and MGM/UA Television Productions and animated by Toei Animation. The series involves Hello Kitty and her friends (and occasionally family) doing their own version of popular fairy tales and stories. [2] Each of the 13 episodes consisted of two 11-minute cartoons, for a total of 26 "shows"; each show was a spoof of a well-known fairy tale or movie. [3] The series is notable for featuring Tara Strong in her first major role as a voice actress.

Contents

Characters

Format

Each episode opens with a theater filling up with patrons and usually a look at some comical goings-on backstage. The play then begins (with Hello Kitty or Tuxedo Sam saying "Once upon a meow") and the stage transforms into whatever setting the story calls for, like outer space, the American Old West, the Great Depression or the Middle Ages. Each show is a light-hearted takeoff of a children's story or a popular movie. Catnip and Grinder were usually typecast as the villains. [4]

At the end of each episode, the stage returns to normal, and the actors take their bow. The only exception to this format was the final episode "The Phantom of the Theater", which takes place entirely on the theater's backstage.

Episodes

Ep.CartoonSpoof of:Written byRelease Date
1The Wizard of Paws The Wizard of Oz Phil Harnage September 19, 1987
Pinocchio Penguin Pinocchio Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-Mohr
2Cinderkitty Cinderella Phil HarnageSeptember 26, 1987
The Pawed Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin Jim Lenahan & Martha Moran
3K.T. the Kitty Terrestrial E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Phil HarnageOctober 3, 1987
Peter Penguin Peter Pan Tony Marino
4Kittylocks and the Three Bears Goldilocks and the Three Bears Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-MohrOctober 10, 1987
Paws the Great White Dog Shark Jaws Phil Harnage
5Cat Wars Star Wars Tony MarinoOctober 17, 1987
Tar-Sam of the Jungle Tarzan , George of the Jungle Pat Allee & Ben Hurst
6Sleeping Kitty Sleeping Beauty Martha MoranOctober 24, 1987
Kitty and the Kong King Kong Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-Mohr
7Kitty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast Temple MathewsOctober 31, 1987
Little Red Bunny Hood Little Red Riding Hood Phil Harnage
8Snow White Kitty and the One Dwarf Snow White Phil HarnageNovember 7, 1987
Frankencat Frankenstein Phil Harnage
9Catula Dracula Matt UitzNovember 14, 1987
Paws of the Round Table Knights of the Round Table , The Sword in the Stone Tony Marino
10Rumpeldogskin Rumpelstiltskin Jack Hanrahan
Eleanor Burian-Mohr
November 21, 1987
Robin Penguin Robin Hood Jack Olesker
11Hello Mother Goose Mother Goose Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-MohrNovember 28, 1987
Crocodile Penguin Crocodile Dundee Phil Harnage & Martha Moran
12The Ugly Quackling The Ugly Duckling Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-MohrDecember 5, 1987
Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp Aladdin , One Thousand and One Nights Phil Harnage & Martha Moran
13The Year Scroogenip Swiped Christmas A Christmas Carol , How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , The Night Before Christmas Phil HarnageDecember 12, 1987
The Phantom of the Theater The Phantom of the Opera Phil Harnage

Television broadcast

North American television debut

In the USA, Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater aired on September 19, 1987 on CBS.

International broadcast

Contrary to popular belief, the series does not verifiably have a Japanese dub, nor was it released in Japan in any other form. In the UK, it was broadcast on the music and entertainment channel MTV from September 27, 1987. [5] It was also aired on ABS-CBN in the Philippines in 1990.

Release

Region 1

On March 24, 1998, MGM Home Entertainment released two VHS videocassettes each containing three cartoon shorts, as well as the opening and closing sequences.

In 2003-2004, MGM Home Entertainment under their MGM Kids label released 5 DVD's each containing five cartoon shorts; the only one of the 26 not to be included was "The Year Scroogenip Swiped Christmas". The opening and closing sequences are not included.

Region 2

The same DVDs that were released in the United States were released in Region 2 by MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Becomes a Princess, Goes to the Movies and Saves the Day were all released in September 2004, using the same prints as the US versions without the opening and closing sequences.

Plays Pretend and Tells Fairy Tales were not released in the United Kingdom until October 2012. These prints are not the same as the US versions, and do include the opening and closing sequences. Another DVD titled Hello Kitty Has Fun at Halloween was also released in the same year, featuring 3 episodes from Plays Pretend and an episode from Goes to the Movies. A boxset was also released, featuring all 5 of the original DVDs.

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References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 274. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 402–403. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  3. CHARLES SOLOMON (1987-10-09). "Kidvid Reviews: Cartoon Debuts Are All Drawn Out - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  4. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 210–211. ISBN   978-0823083152.
  5. TV program for 27-09-1987