| Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater | |
|---|---|
Title card. |
|
| Genre | Saturday morning cartoon |
| Developed by | DIC Entertainment |
| Directed by | Michael Maliani |
| Voices of | (English Dubbing) Carl Banas Mairon Bennett Len Carlson Elizabeth Hanna Kyōko Hikami Denise Pidgeon Tara Charandoff Cree Summer Francks Noam Zylberman |
| Country of origin | Japan United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (half-hour episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Andy Heyward |
| Producer(s) | Michael Maliani |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 19, 1987 – December 12, 1987 |
Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is an Japanese-American co-produced animated series based on the popular Japanese character, Hello Kitty. The series involved her and her friends doing their own version of popular fairy tales and stories. Each of the 13 half-hour 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.
Contents |
Each cartoon opens with the theater filling up with patrons, and usually a look at some comical goings-on backstage. The play then begins (with Hello Kitty saying “Once upon a meow”) and the stage transforms into whatever setting the story calls for (outer space, the American Old West, et cetera). Each show is a lighthearted takeoff of a children’s story or a popular movie; subjects include Frankenstein, Crocodile Dundee, “Goldilocks,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” At the end, the stage returns to normal, and the actors take their bow.
One exception to this format is the cartoon “The Phantom of the Theater,” which begins after the actors have finished a show; all the action in this story takes place backstage.
| Ep. | Cartoon | Spoof of: |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wizard of Paws | The Wizard of Oz |
| Pinocchio Penguin | Pinocchio | |
| 2 | Cinderkitty | Cinderella |
| The Pawed Piper | The Pied Piper of Hamelin | |
| 3 | KT — The Kitty Terrestrial | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| Peter Penguin | Peter Pan | |
| 4 | Kittylocks and the Three Bears | Goldilocks and the Three Bears |
| Paws — The Great White Dog Shark | Jaws | |
| 5 | Cat Wars | Star Wars |
| Tar-Sam of the Jungle | Tarzan of the Apes | |
| 6 | Sleeping Kitty | Sleeping Beauty |
| Kitty and the Kong | King Kong | |
| 7 | Kitty and the Beast | Beauty and the Beast |
| Little Red Bunny Hood | Little Red Riding Hood | |
| 8 | Snow White Kitty and the One Dwarf | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
| Frankencat | Frankenstein | |
| 9 | Catula | Dracula |
| Paws of the Round Table | The Sword in the Stone | |
| 10 | Rumpeldogskin | Rumpelstiltskin |
| Robin Penguin | Robin Hood | |
| 11 | Hello Mother Goose | Various nursery rhymes |
| Crocodile Penguin | Crocodile Dundee | |
| 12 | Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp | Aladdin |
| The Ugly Quackling | The Ugly Duckling | |
| 13 | How Scrinchip Stole Christmas | How the Grinch Stole Christmas! |
| The Phantom of the Theater | The Phantom of the Opera |
Two VHS videocassettes were released, each containing four cartoon shorts, as well as the opening and closing sequences.
In 2003, five DVDs were released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, each containing five cartoon shorts; the only one of the 26 not to be included was “How Scrinchip Stole Christmas.” The opening and closing sequences are not included.
In 2008, all thirteen episodes were made available to download on iTunes for $1.99 an episode or $21.99 for the entire series. To promote the series, iTunes offered the episodes "Wizard of Paws and Pinocchio Penguin" as a free download for a limited time.
In 2010, all thirteen episodes were made available to watch on hulu.