Shirt Tales

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]

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
DistributorWorldvision Enterprises
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 18, 1982 (1982-09-18) –
November 19, 1983 (1983-11-19)

Cards

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 faded shortly after the show left broadcast television in 1985.[3]

TV series

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 reflecting 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, including Boomerang.

Voice cast

Main

Additional Voices

Episodes

Season 1 (1982–83)
No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Story by Original air date
11"The Case of the Golden Armor / Crumbling's Circus Caper"The Case of the Golden Armor: Bob Ogle
Crumbling's Circus Caper: Tom Dagenais		September 18, 1982 (1982-09-18)
22"The Game Masters / Shirt Napped"Shirt Napped: Jim Ryan
The Game Masters: Tom Dagenais		September 25, 1982 (1982-09-25)
33"The Big Foot Incident / Elephant on the Loose"Elephant on the Loose: Bob Ogle
The Big Foot Incident: Tom Dagenais		October 2, 1982 (1982-10-02)
44"Horsin' Around / Mission Mutt"Horsin' Around: Bob Ogle
Mission Mutt: Jim Ryan		October 9, 1982 (1982-10-09)
55"Vacation for Dinkel / Wingman"Wingman: Jim Ryan
Vacation for Dinkel: Tedd Anasti		October 16, 1982 (1982-10-16)
66"The Humboldt Ghost / Figby, the Spoiled Brat Cat"The Humboldt Ghost: Bob Ogle
Figby, the Spoiled Brat Cat: Hank Saroyan		October 23, 1982 (1982-10-23)
77"Digger Runs Away / The Commissioner Is Missing"Digger Runs Away: Tedd Anasti
The Commissioner Is Missing: Misty Stewart		October 30, 1982 (1982-10-30)
88"Raiders of the Lost Shark / The Terrible Termites"The Terrible Termites: Jim Ryan
Raiders of the Lost Shark: Tedd Anasti		November 6, 1982 (1982-11-06)
99"Moving Time / Back to Nature"Moving Time: Tom Ruegger
Back to Nature: Gary Stamm		November 13, 1982 (1982-11-13)
1010"Save the Park / Pam-dora's Box"Save the Park: Tom Dagenais
Pam-dora's Box: William Hasley		November 20, 1982 (1982-11-20)
When the Shirt Tales learn local developer Ebenezer Grunge intends to destroy the park and build a skyscraper, they show him the past, present, and future to get him to change his mind.
Note: Loosely based on "A Christmas Carol".
Pammy sets out to meet a male panda at the zoo, but he's a robot spy who's just stolen top secret documents.
1111"Hapless Hound / The Very Buried Treasure"Hapless Hound: John Graham
The Very Buried Treasure: Janis Diamond, Allan Heldfond		November 27, 1982 (1982-11-27)
1212"Nearsighted Bear / The Magical Musical Caper"The Magical Musical Caper: Janis Diamond, Allan Heldfond
Nearsighted Bear: Jim Ryan		December 4, 1982 (1982-12-04)
1313"Dinkel's Ark / The Duke of Dinkel"Dinkel's Ark: Tom Dagenais
The Duke of Dinkel: Tom Ruegger		December 11, 1982 (1982-12-11)

Season 2 (1983–84)
No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Story by Original air date
141"Bogey Goes Ape / The Rain, the Park and the Robot"Bogey Goes Ape: Glenn Leopold
The Rain, the Park and the Robot: Glenn Leopold, Cliff Roberts		September 17, 1983 (1983-09-17)
152"Digger's Three Wishes / Digger's Double"Bob OgleSeptember 24, 1983 (1983-09-24)
163"Kip's Dragon / Double Exposure"Kip's Dragon: David Detiege
Double Exposure: Jim Ryan		October 1, 1983 (1983-10-01)
174"Taj Mahal Tyg / Brass Bogey"Taj Mahal Tyg: Glenn Leopold, Cliff Roberts
Brass Bogey: Bob Ogle		October 8, 1983 (1983-10-08)
185"The Outer Space Connection / The Forbidden Island"The Outer Space Connection: Janis Diamond
The Forbidden Island: John Bates		October 15, 1983 (1983-10-15)
196"Saturday Night Shirt Tales / Dinkel's Buddy"Saturday Night Shirt Tales: Cynthia Friedlob, John Semper
Dinkel's Buddy: Alan Burnett, Jeff Segal		October 22, 1983 (1983-10-22)
207"Pleasure Valley / The Ghost Out West"Pleasure Valley: Dan DiStefano
The Ghost Out West: David Detiege		October 29, 1983 (1983-10-29)
218"T.J.'s Visit / The Big Set-up"T.J.'s Visit: David Detiege
The Big Set-up: Jim Ryan		November 5, 1983 (1983-11-05)
229"Kip's Toy Caper / Dinkel's Gift"Kip's Toy Caper: Cynthia Friedlob, Glenn Leopold, Cliff Roberts, John Semper
Dinkel's Gift: Alan Burnett, Jeff Segal		November 12, 1983 (1983-11-12)
2310"Mayhem on the Orient Express / The Cuckoo Count Caper"Cynthia Friedlob, John SemperNovember 19, 1983 (1983-11-19)

Other media

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

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
  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!
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