The Toy That Grew Up

Last updated

The Toy That Grew Up is an American television series produced by WTTW, the Chicago affiliate of the National Educational Television (NET) network that showed complete and uninterrupted silent films. It was an introduction to silent films for many Americans. It lasted from 1962 to 1972.

The theme music used for the program is The Curse of an Aching Heart.

History

Beginning in August 1960 a keen cinephile named Robert C. Seipp (1930-2008) acquired the rights to show over a hundred mostly American made silent films; 90% came from private collections. [1]

Seipp researched each film he presented with a pipe organ score provided by former cinema organist Hal Pearl (1908-2000); [2] the on screen host of the show was Don Ferris. [3] As opposed to the usual American television of the timeshowing silent films that provided narration over clips from various films such as The Funny Manns or Hollywood and the Stars , or series that ridiculed the films through comedy dubbing such as Fractured Flickers , The Toy That Grew Up showed complete original silent films with the original intertitle cards.

The series premiered in August 1962 and was eventually syndicated and shown on over 30 NET and later, Public Broadcasting Service television stations.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel and Hardy</span> British-American comedy duo

Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix the Cat</span> Cartoon character

Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he is often considered one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history. Felix was the first fully realized animal character in the history of American film animation.

<i>Malcolm in the Middle</i> American television sitcom (2000–2006)

Malcolm in the Middle is an American sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes.

M.A.S.K. is a 1985 animated television series produced by DIC and ICC TV Productions, Ltd. The series was based on the M.A.S.K. action figures produced by Kenner Products. It was animated in Japan by Ashi Productions, Studio World and K.K. DiC Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny Singleton</span> American actress (1908–2003)

Penny Singleton was an American actress and labor leader. During her 6 decade career on stage, screen, radio and television, Singleton appeared as the comic-strip heroine Blondie Bumstead in a series of 28 motion pictures from 1938 until 1950 and the popular Blondie radio program from 1939 until 1950. Singleton also provided the voice of Jane Jetson in the animated series The Jetsons from 1962 to 1963.

<i>She-Ra: Princess of Power</i> American animated television series from 1985–1987

She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated series produced in 1985 by Filmation. A spin-off of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to complement He-Man's popularity with young males. Unlike He-Man, which was based on the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel, the creation of She-Ra was a collaboration between Filmation and Mattel. The initial group of characters and premise were created by uncredited writers Larry DiTillio and J. Michael Straczynski for Filmation, while the characters introduced later were designed by Mattel. Mattel provided financial backing for the series, as well as an accompanying toy line. The series premiered in 1985 and was ended in 1987, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes.

<i>227</i> (TV series) American sitcom

227 is an American sitcom television series that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 6, 1990. The series stars Marla Gibbs as Mary Jenkins, a sharp-tongued, city resident gossip and housewife. Other main characters include her husband Lester, their daughter Brenda, landlady Rose Holloway, and neighbors Sandra Clark and Pearl Shay.

<i>Jem</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Jem, also known as Jem and the Holograms, is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer alter-ego Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her band the Holograms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Sparks</span> American actor

Hal Harry Magee Sparks III is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, political commentator, television and radio host and television personality. He made contributions to VH1, hosting E!'s Talk Soup, and played the roles of Michael Novotny on the American television series Queer as Folk, Donald Davenport in Lab Rats and the voice of Tak in Tak and the Power of Juju television series and video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Holbrook</span> American actor (1925–2021)

Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. was an American actor. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called Mark Twain Tonight! while studying at Denison University. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He continued to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on television and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Smith (actor)</span> American actor (1916–1994)

Harold John Smith was an American actor. He is credited in over 300 film and television productions, and was best known for his role as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show and for voicing Owl and Winnie the Pooh in the first four original Winnie the Pooh shorts and later Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore and in the television series, Welcome to Pooh Corner and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He also did a cameo in The Apartment as a drunken Santa Claus.

The Get Along Gang is a group of characters created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, and Mark Spangler for American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland", for a series of greeting cards. The Get Along Gang is a group of 6 pre-adolescent anthropomorphic animal characters in the fictional town of Green Meadow, who form a club that meets in an abandoned caboose and who have various adventures whose upbeat stories were intended to show the importance of teamwork and friendship. The success of the greeting card line led to a Saturday morning television series, which aired on CBS for 13 episodes in the 1984–1985 season, with reruns showing from January to June 1986.

<i>Our Gang</i> American series of comedy short films

Our Gang is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the producer of the Laurel and Hardy films, Our Gang shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. Our Gang is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way; Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children, rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. The series also broke new ground by portraying white and black children interacting as equals during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States.

<i>Fantastic Voyage</i> (TV series) 1968 American submarine science fiction adventure television series

Fantastic Voyage is an American animated science fiction television series based on the famous 1966 film directed by Richard Fleischer. The series consists of 17 half-hour episodes, airing Saturday mornings on ABC-TV from September 14, 1968, through January 4, 1969, then rebroadcast the following fall season. The series was produced by Filmation Associates in association with 20th Century Fox Television. A Fantastic Voyage comic book, based on the series, was published by Gold Key and lasted two issues.

<i>The New Adventures of Gilligan</i> American TV series or program

The New Adventures of Gilligan is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation, which aired on ABC during the 1974–1975 seasons. The show was based on the 1964–1967 sitcom Gilligan's Island. A few years later, Filmation produced a sequel, Gilligan's Planet.

James Scott Levine is an American composer and member of Remote Control Productions. He has won seven BMI awards and seven ASCAP awards. His credits include the films Running with Scissors, Delta Farce, and The Weather Man, and the television shows Nip/Tuck, Glee, The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, and American Horror Story. He has also provided additional music for films such as Madagascar, Pearl Harbor, and Something's Gotta Give.

The Dick Tracy Show is an American animated television series based on Chester Gould's comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by UPA.

Henry Gahagen Saperstein was an American film producer and distributor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Pearl</span> Chicago based pianist and organist

Hal Pearl was a Chicago-based pianist and organist. He had an over 75-year performing career and probably was the last surviving silent movie accompanist. Initially a cinema organist, Hal Pearl was first known as "Chicago's Youngest Organist" and later "The King of the Organ."

References

  1. p. 185 Rubin, Samuel K. Moving Pictures and Classic Images: Memories of Forty Years in the Vintage Film Hobby McFarland, 2004
  2. "Remembering Hal Pearl". www.catoe.org. Archived from the original on 2001-02-21.
  3. Davidson, Jean (8 July 1994). "THE VOICE OF CHANNEL 11". chicagotribune.com.