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Shirt Tales

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Shirt Tales
Season one title card
Genre
Created byJanet Elizabeth Manco (original characters)
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composerHoyt Curtin
Opening theme"Shirt Tales"
Ending theme"Shirt Tales" (Instrumental)
ComposerHoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes23 (46 segments)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
EditorGil Iverson
Running time22 minutes (11 minutes per segment)
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 18, 1982 (1982-09-18) –
November 19, 1983 (1983-11-19)

Shirt Tales are characters that were created in 1980 by greeting card designer Janet Elizabeth Manco and were featured on Hallmark Cards greeting cards. The characters were adapted into a 1982-1985 animated series for television, by Hanna-Barbera Productions, which aired on NBC.[1]

Cards

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Hallmark Cards released the homonymous line of greeting cards with animal characters wearing T-shirts upon which was a message. Those cards were among Hallmark's best sellers at that time, which led the company to team with Hanna-Barbera Productions to adapt the Shirt Tales into a Saturday morning cartoon, which premiered on NBC on September 18, 1982.[2] The card line remained, but it faded shortly after the show left broadcast television in 1985.[3]

TV series

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The animated Shirt Tales cartoon featured Tyg Tiger (in orange), Pammy Panda (in pink), Digger Mole (in light blue), Rick Raccoon (in red), and Bogey Orangutan (in green) (so-called because he spoke using a Humphrey Bogart-style voice). They lived in Oak Tree Park and wore shirts that flashed various brightly lit messages which reflected the characters' thoughts. They spent their time teasing the park custodian, Mr. Dinkel, and battling crime in and out of their hometown of Mid City. They zipped around the world in a vehicle known as the STSST (Shirt Tales' SuperSonic Transport) which could operate as a car, jet, boat, submarine, and other forms of transportation. Though most law enforcement agencies like the unnamed Commissioner knew of the Shirt Tales as crime fighters by reputation, few people seemed aware that they were talking animals—including Mr. Dinkel, whom the group often had to trick to keep their secret safe.

Each episode was divided into two 11–minute segments. After the success of the thirteen episodes in Season 1, ten episodes were created for Season 2. However, the show was semi-rebooted and Kip Kangaroo (in light yellow) was added to the cast of characters without context for her joining the Shirt Tales. There is also a difference in leadership among the Shirt Tales, in which for the first season Rick appeared to be the de facto leader, but in the second season is instead Tyg. Several stories in Season 2 either omit Rick altogether or give him a minor role in the story. The second season also added some superhero elements to the dynamic of the group as well, most notably the color of all their T-shirts changing to a bright red color when "Shirt Tale Time" is called for.

Buck Beaver (in whitish-blue) helped the Shirt Tales use a tree as a bridge in "The Big Foot Incident" and helped them build an ark in "Dinkel's Ark". In "Moving Time", four cousins from out west were introduced for this episode only: Prairie Dog Pete (in red, with a black vest), Filmore Coyote (in light green), Violette Skunk (in yellow) and Hoozit Owl (in lavender). In "Back to Nature", Cubby Bear (in red) helped the Shirt Tales when a wild bear had Mr. Dinkel chased up a tree.

Following the initial run on NBC, Shirt Tales aired on CBS during the 1984–1985 Saturday morning season, replacing The Biskitts in their time slot. CBS aired selected episodes from its two-season NBC run until March 23, 1985, when The Biskitts were returned to the time slot for the rest of the 1984–1985 season.

On March 23, 1985, Shirt Tales was pulled from broadcast television for good, and the Hallmark franchise faded not long after as well. The show continued for a number of years as part of USA Network's Cartoon Express block and on Cartoon Network, but also continues to be broadcast in selected countries around the world on various networks, including Boomerang.

Voice cast

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Main

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Additional Voices

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Episodes

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Season 1 (1982–83)

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No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleWritten byOriginal air date
11"The Case of the Golden Armor"Bob OgleSeptember 18, 1982 (1982-09-18)
"Crumbling's Circus Caper"Tom Dagenais
22"The Game Masters"Jim RyanSeptember 25, 1982 (1982-09-25)
"Shirt Napped"Tom Dagenais
33"The Big Foot Incident"Bob OgleOctober 2, 1982 (1982-10-02)
"Elephant on the Loose"Tom Dagenais
44"Horsin' Around"Bob OgleOctober 9, 1982 (1982-10-09)
"Mission Mutt"Jim Ryan
55"Vacation for Dinkel"Jim RyanOctober 16, 1982 (1982-10-16)
"Wingman"Tedd Anasti
66"The Humboldt Ghost"Bob OgleOctober 23, 1982 (1982-10-23)
"Figby, the Spoiled Brat Cat"Hank Saroyan
77"Digger Runs Away"Tedd AnastiOctober 30, 1982 (1982-10-30)
"The Commissioner Is Missing"Misty Stewart
88"Raiders of the Lost Shark"Jim RyanNovember 6, 1982 (1982-11-06)
"The Terrible Termites"Tedd Anasti
99"Moving Time"Tom RueggerNovember 13, 1982 (1982-11-13)
"Back to Nature"Gary Stamm
1010"Save the Park"Tom DagenaisNovember 20, 1982 (1982-11-20)
"Pam-dora's Box"William Hasley
1111"Hapless Hound"John GrahamNovember 27, 1982 (1982-11-27)
"The Very Buried Treasure"Janis Diamond, Allan Heldfond
1212"Nearsighted Bear"Janis Diamond, Allan HeldfondDecember 4, 1982 (1982-12-04)
"The Magical Musical Caper"Jim Ryan
1313"Dinkel's Ark"Tom DagenaisDecember 11, 1982 (1982-12-11)
"The Duke of Dinkel"Tom Ruegger

Season 2 (1983–84)

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No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleWritten byOriginal air date
141"Bogey Goes Ape"Glenn LeopoldSeptember 17, 1983 (1983-09-17)
"The Rain, the Park and the Robot"Glenn Leopold, Cliff Roberts
152"Digger's Three Wishes"Bob OgleSeptember 24, 1983 (1983-09-24)
"Digger's Double"
163"Kip's Dragon"David DetiegeOctober 1, 1983 (1983-10-01)
"Double Exposure"Jim Ryan
174"Taj Mahal Tyg"Glenn Leopold, Cliff RobertsOctober 8, 1983 (1983-10-08)
"Brass Bogey"Bob Ogle
185"The Outer Space Connection"Janis DiamondOctober 15, 1983 (1983-10-15)
"The Forbidden Island"John Bates
196"Saturday Night Shirt Tales"Cynthia Friedlob, John SemperOctober 22, 1983 (1983-10-22)
"Dinkel's Buddy"Alan Burnett, Jeff Segal
207"Pleasure Valley"Dan DiStefanoOctober 29, 1983 (1983-10-29)
"The Ghost Out West"David Detiege
218"T.J.'s Visit"David DetiegeNovember 5, 1983 (1983-11-05)
"The Big Set-up"Jim Ryan
229"Kip's Toy Caper"Cynthia Friedlob, Glenn Leopold, Cliff Roberts, John SemperNovember 12, 1983 (1983-11-12)
"Dinkel's Gift"Alan Burnett, Jeff Segal
2310"Mayhem on the Orient Express"Cynthia Friedlob, John SemperNovember 19, 1983 (1983-11-19)
"The Cuckoo Count Caper"

Other media

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There were also two musical book-and-record sets released by K-tel International under the "Castle Rock" imprint: A Song Saves the Park, and Sunrise Surprise. However, both sets use sound-alikes for the voices, and are presented differently from typical read-alongs.

Home media

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In 1986, a VHS release of the series was issued by Worldvision Home Video and Kids Klassics, it contained the first full-length episode from Season 2 and the first segment of another episode from that season.

On September 16, 2014, Warner Archive released Shirt Tales: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 549. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 737–738. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  4. ^ "The Shirt Tales - 'The Complete Series' of the '80s Cartoon is Now on DVD!". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-17.
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