Famous Classic Tales

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.

Famous Classic Tales
GenreAnthology
Television special
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes33
Production
Producer(s)Neil Balnaves
Walter J. Hucker
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time30–60 minutes
Production company(s)Hanna-Barbera Australia
Air Programs International
Release
Original networkCBS
Original release1970 (1970) –
1984 (1984)
Chronology
Related showsFamily Classic Tales
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

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, toy manufacturer 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. In 1983, the show was billed as Kenner Family Classics.

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]

A similar series, Festival of Family Classics, was produced by Rankin/Bass and aired in syndication in 1972-1973.[2]

Episode list
Nº Title Airdate Director(s) Production
1Tales of Washington Irving [3]November 1, 1970Zoran JanjicAir Programs International
2A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court [4]November 26, 1970Zoran JanjicAir Programs International
3A Christmas Carol [5]December 13, 1970Zoran JanjicAir Programs International
4The Legend of Robin Hood [6]November 14, 1971Zoran JanjicAir Programs International
5Treasure Island [7]November 28, 1971Zoran JanjicAir Programs International
6Travels of Marco Polo [8]January 1, 1972Leif GramAir Programs International
7Robinson Crusoe [9]November 23, 1972Leif GramAir Programs International
8The Prince and the Pauper [10]November 26, 1972Chris CuddingtonAir Programs International
9The Count of Monte Cristo [11]September 23, 1973William Hanna, Joseph BarberaHanna-Barbera Australia
10Kidnapped [12]October 22, 1973Leif GramAir Programs International
11The Swiss Family Robinson [13]October 28, 1973Leif GramAir Programs International
12Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea [14]November 22, 1973William Hanna, Joseph BarberaHanna-Barbera Australia
13The Three Musketeers [15]November 23, 1973William Hanna, Joseph BarberaHanna-Barbera Australia
14The Black Arrow [16]December 2, 1973Leif GramAir Programs International
15The Gentlemen of TitipuJanuary 15, 1974Leif GramAir Programs International
16Moby-Dick [17]January 1, 1975Richard SlapczynskiAir Programs International
17The Mysterious Island [18]November 15, 1975Leif GramAir Programs International
18The Last of the Mohicans [19]November 27, 1975Charles A. NicholsHanna-Barbera Australia
19Ivanhoe [20]November 27, 1975Leif GramAir Programs International
20From the Earth to the Moon [21]January 1, 1976Richard SlapczynskiAir Programs International
21Off on a Comet [22]January 1, 1976Richard SlapczynskiAir Programs International
22Master of the World [23]October 23, 1976Leif GramAir Programs International
23Davy Crockett on the Mississippi [24]November 20, 1976Charles A. NicholsHanna-Barbera Australia
24A Journey to the Center of the Earth [25]November 13, 1977Richard SlapczynskiAir Programs International
25Five Weeks in a Balloon [26]November 24, 1977Chris CuddingtonHanna-Barbera Australia
26Black Beauty [27]October 28, 1978Chris CuddingtonHanna-Barbera Australia
27Puss in Boots [28]January 19, 1979Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules BassRankin/Bass Productions
28Gulliver's Travels [29]November 18, 1979Chris CuddingtonHanna-Barbera Australia
29The Adventures of Sinbad [30]November 23, 1979Richard SlapczynskiAir Programs International
30Daniel Boone [31]November 27, 1981Geoff CollinsHanna-Barbera Australia
31The Legend of Hiawatha [32]November 24, 1983Sebastian GrunstraAtkinson Film Arts
32Beauty and the Beast [33]November 25, 1983Rudy LarrivaRuby-Spears Enterprises
33The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [34]November 23, 1984Paul McAdamAir 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.

References
  1. Famous Classic Tales.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 204. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 408–409. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 95–97. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  5. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  6. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  7. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 422–423. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  8. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 263–264. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  9. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 342–343. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  10. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 314–315. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  11. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  12. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 231. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  13. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 404. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 431–433. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  15. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 416–417. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  16. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  17. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 276. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  18. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 283–284. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  19. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 240–241. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  20. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 232–233. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  21. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 163–164. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  22. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 293. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  23. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 264. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  24. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 106–108. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  25. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 230. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  26. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  27. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  28. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 322–323. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  29. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 180–181. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  30. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  31. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 105–106. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  32. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  33. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  34. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
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