Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater

Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater
Genre	Saturday morning cartoon
Developed by	DIC Entertainment Madhouse
Directed by	Michael Maliani
Voices of	Carl Banas Mairon Bennett Len Carlson Elizabeth Hanna Kyōko Hikami Denise Pidgeon Tara Strong Cree Summer Noam Zylberman
Country of origin	United States  Japan
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 – December 12, 1987

Hello Kitty's Furry Theater is an American-Japanese 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.

Characters and voices

• Hello Kitty (Tara Strong in the American version, Kyōko Hikami in the Japanese version) is the star of the show; also in the cast are family members Grandma Kitty, Mama Kitty (both voiced by Elizabeth Hanna), Grandpa Kitty (Carl Banas), and Papa Kitty (Len Carlson).
• Tuxedo Sam (Sean Roberge), a large penguin in a bow tie, is usually cast in a heroic role, and often as Hello Kitty’s love interest.
• My Melody (Mairon Bennett), a small white bunny, was usually cast as a helpless little girl who needed protecting or rescuing; a major exception was in the cartoon “Kittylocks and the Three Bears,” when My Melody was one of the bears Kittylocks was running away from.
• Chip (Noam Zylberman), a small white seal, is often cast as the protagonist’s sidekick.
• Catnip (Cree Summer) is a tall blue Siamese cat who wishes that she was the star instead of Hello Kitty; she’s usually cast as a villain.
• Fangora (Denise Pidgeon), Catnip’s mother, is a big fat cat in sunglasses who doesn’t appear in every episode; whenever she does, she’s cast as the villain.
• Grinder (Greg Morton) is a huge, strong bulldog who’s not very smart; he’s usually cast as either the villain’s henchman or a misunderstood monster.
• Mowzer (Fred Savage-Special Guest Star) is a little mouse who likes playing tricks. He only appeared on the final episode, "Phantom of the Theater".

Format

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.

Cartoon list

Availability

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.

VHS videos

• Hello Kitty: Kitty and the Beast (also includes “Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp,” “Hello Mother Goose,” and “Little Red Bunny Hood”)
• Hello Kitty: Wizard of Paws (also includes “Snow White Kitty,” “Sleeping Kitty,” and “Peter Penguin”)

On October 31, 1989, Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater", contained in "Hello Kitty and Friends Get Along was released as part of The Video Collection.

DVD list

• Hello Kitty Becomes a Princess
• Hello Kitty Goes to the Movies
• Hello Kitty Plays Pretend
• Hello Kitty Saves the Day
• Hello Kitty Tells Fairy Tales

iTunes

In 2008, all thirteen episodes where 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 episode "Wizard of Paws/Pinocchio Penguin" as a free download for a limited time.

External links

• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater at the Internet Movie Database
• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater at TV.com
• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater at Toonarific.com
• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater at Film.com
• The opening sequence on YouTube

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