Famous Classic Tales
| Famous Classic Tales | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
Anthology Television special |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Neil Balnaves Walter J. Hucker William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 30–60 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Hanna-Barbera Australia Air Programs International |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | 1970 – 1984 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Family Classic Tales ABC Afterschool Special The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie |
Famous Classic Tales is an American anthology series on CBS which aired animated television specials based on classic children's stories from 1970 to 1984. The series was produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera and Air Programs International (API), also from Australia.
Overview
Famous Classic Tales was broadcast on CBS and distributed by Kids Klassics Home Video and Storybook World. It had cartoons from API's Family Classic Tales. Featured cartoons included adaptions of classic literature such as Gulliver's Travels, Treasure Island, Black Beauty, Moby-Dick, and many others.
The creation of a series of animated features based on classic children's stories was conceived by Jack Thinnes, Media Director at Sive Advertising in Cincinnati, Ohio. The series was created for a Sive client, Kenner Products, and each program was fully sponsored by Kenner on CBS Television Network on Sunday, late afternoon or early evening, during the prime toy selling season before Christmas. The idea to use classic children's books sprang from Thinnes' viewing of a two-minute demo of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which was produced by Walter Hucker's studio, Air Programs International (API), of Sydney, Australia. API was purchased later by Hanna-Barbera Studios after Thinnes introduced the owners of the studios to one another. After the series ran on CBS for nearly ten years, it was moved into local syndication by Sive's syndication department. However, their adaptation of A Christmas Carol was such a favorite that it continued to run on the network for fifteen years.[1]
The series is very similar to ABC Afterschool Special, ABC Weekend Special and The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.
Episode list
| Nº | Title | Airdate | Director(s) | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tales of Washington Irving | November 1, 1970 | Zoran Janjic | Air Programs International |
| 2 | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | November 26, 1970 | Zoran Janjic | Air Programs International |
| 3 | A Christmas Carol | December 13, 1970 | Zoran Janjic | Air Programs International |
| 4 | The Legend of Robin Hood | November 14, 1971 | Zoran Janjic | Air Programs International |
| 5 | Treasure Island | November 28, 1971 | Zoran Janjic | Air Programs International |
| 6 | Travels of Marco Polo | January 1, 1972 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 7 | Robinson Crusoe | November 23, 1972 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 8 | The Prince and the Pauper | November 26, 1972 | Chris Cuddington | Air Programs International |
| 9 | The Count of Monte Cristo | September 23, 1973 | William Hanna, Joseph Barbera | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 10 | Kidnapped | October 22, 1973 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 11 | The Swiss Family Robinson | October 28, 1973 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 12 | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | November 22, 1973 | William Hanna, Joseph Barbera | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 13 | The Three Musketeers | November 23, 1973 | William Hanna, Joseph Barbera | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 14 | The Black Arrow | December 2, 1973 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 15 | The Gentlemen of Titipu | January 15, 1974 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 16 | Moby-Dick | January 1, 1975 | Richard Slapczynski | Air Programs International |
| 17 | The Mysterious Island | November 15, 1975 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 18 | The Last of the Mohicans | November 27, 1975 | Charles A. Nichols | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 19 | Ivanhoe | November 27, 1975 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 20 | From the Earth to the Moon | January 1, 1976 | Richard Slapczynski | Air Programs International |
| 21 | Off on a Comet | January 1, 1976 | Richard Slapczynski | Air Programs International |
| 22 | Master of the World | October 23, 1976 | Leif Gram | Air Programs International |
| 23 | Davy Crockett on the Mississippi | November 20, 1976 | Charles A. Nichols | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 24 | A Journey to the Center of the Earth | November 13, 1977 | Richard Slapczynski | Air Programs International |
| 25 | Five Weeks in a Balloon | November 24, 1977 | Chris Cuddington | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 26 | Black Beauty | October 28, 1978 | Chris Cuddington | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 27 | Puss in Boots | January 19, 1979 | Chris Cuddington | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 28 | Gulliver's Travels | November 18, 1979 | Chris Cuddington | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 29 | The Adventures of Sinbad | November 23, 1979 | Richard Slapczynski | Air Programs International |
| 30 | Daniel Boone | November 27, 1981 | Geoff Collins | Hanna-Barbera Australia |
| 31 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | November 23, 1984 | Paul McAdam | Air Programs International |
Home video release
Several of the Famous Classic Tales specials were released on VHS by GoodTimes Entertainment, Fox-Lorber and Kids Klassics. Several other stories made it to DVD afterwards, including a 2007 release from Southern Star by Koch Vision titled Hanna-Barbera Storybook Favorites which featured The Last of the Mohicans, Black Beauty and Gulliver's Travels. All of these are now out of print.