''Shirt Tales'' are characters that were created in 1980 by greeting card designer Janet Elizabeth Manco and were featured on

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

greeting cards. The characters were adapted into a 1982-1985

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

for television, by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Cards

released the homonymous line of

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays ...

s 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

to adapt the ''Shirt Tales'' into a

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

, which premiered on

on September 18, 1982. The card line remained, but it faded shortly after the show left

broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized b ...

in 1985.

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 Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

-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

, ''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 USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

's '' Cartoon Express'' block and on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

, but also continues to be broadcast in selected countries around the world on various networks, including

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

Voice cast

Main

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Perform ...

– Kip Kangaroo (Season 2 only) * Robert Allen Ogle – Digger Mole * Patricia Parris – Pammy Panda * Steve Schatzberg – Tyg Tiger, Rick Raccoon (Episode 4 only) * Ronnie Schell – Rick Raccoon * Fred Travalena – Bogey Orangutan * Herb Vigran – Mr. Dinkel *

William Woodson William T. Woodson (July 16, 1917 – February 22, 2017) was an American film, stage, radio and voice actor, best known for his narration of the radio series '' This is Your FBI'', the animated series '' Super Friends'' and all its spin-offs, and ...

– Commissioner (Season 1 only)

Additional Voices

* Richard Balin (Season 1) *

Joe Besser Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and musician, known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957� ...

(Season 1) – Elmo the Elephant (in "Elephant on the Loose") *

Joey Camen Joey Camen (born January 16, 1957) is an American voice actor, comedian and writer who has performed voice over work in various movies, TV shows and video games. Early life Camen is of Russian and Romanian Jewish ancestry. His father, Hyman C ...

(Season 2) *

Victoria Carroll Victoria Carroll (or Victoria Carrol-Bell; born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941) is an American actress and artist. Best known as Marie Massey in ''Alice'' (1978-1984). Early life Born Mary Carol Lee Ford on January 21, 1941 in Los Angele ...

(Season 2) *

Brian Cummings Brian Douglas Cummings (born March 4, 1948) is an American voice actor, known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on '' The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' from 1984 to ...

Walker Edmiston Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American radio, television and voice actor. Early years Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years. He later stu ...

(Season 1) * Marshall Efron (Season 1) *

Bernard Erhard Bernard Erhard (February 6, 1934 – November 1, 2000) was an American actor. Career Early in his career, Erhard worked as a music teacher at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL), and directed numerous theater productions there. ...

(Season 2) * Ernest Harada (Season 2) * Bob Holt (Season 2) *

Buster Jones Edward L. Jones (December 12, 1943 – September 16, 2014) was an American voice actor and television host. He is probably best known from his roles as Black Vulcan in '' Super Friends'', Blaster in '' The Transformers'', Doc in '' G.I. Joe: A ...

(Season 2) * Stanley Jones (Season 1) * Sherry Lynn (Season 1) *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

(Season 1) * Kenneth Mars (Season 1) * Joseph Medalis (Season 1) * Howard Morris (Season 2) – Shutter McBugg (in "Double Exposure") *

Henry Polic II Henry Albert Polic II (February 20, 1945 – August 11, 2013) was an American stage, screen, and voice actor, best known as Jerry Silver on '' Webster''. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University and later served in ...

(Season 1) *

Tony Pope Anthony J. Pope (March 22, 1947 – February 11, 2004), also known as "Anthony Mozdy", was an American voice actor. He is best remembered for voicing Goofy for eleven years. He also worked on the first two DVDs of LeapFrog, voicing Mr. Websley ...

Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely (December 24, 1931 – February 8, 1997) was an American actor, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work. Biography Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ridgely worked as a cabaret entertainer.Staff"Robert Ridgely, 6 ...

(Season 1) * Michael Rye (Season 1) * Marilyn Schreffler *

Rick Segall Richard Robert Segal III (born March 10, 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the singer "Ricky Stevens" in the American sitcom television series ''The Partridge Family''. Life and career Segal ...

(Season 1) * Michael Sheehan (Season 1) * Hal Smith * John Stephenson (Season 1) – Game Master (in "The Game Masters"), Museum Tour Guide (in "The Humboldt Ghost"), The Humboldt Ghost (in "The Humboldt Ghost"), Ebenezer Creepling (in "The Humboldt Ghost") * Andre Stojka (Season 1) *

Jimmy Weldon Jimmy Weldon (born Ivy Laverne Shinn, September 23, 1923) is an American retired voice actor, ventriloquist, and former television host. He is best known as the voice of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yakky Doodle and the host and ventriloq ...

(Season 2) *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

(Season 1) – Figby the Cat (in "Figby, the Spoiled Brat Cat") *

Ted Zeigler Theodore Lee Zeigler (June 3, 1926 - December 12, 1999) was an American actor, voice actor and comedian. Early life Born in Chicago, the last of 11 children, Zeigler was the son of a union organizer who was killed by the mafia in the 1930s. Hi ...

(Season 1)

Episodes

Season 1 (1982–83)

Season 2 (1983–84)

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 The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...

released ''Shirt Tales: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1 as part of their

Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ...

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s 1982 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Hanna-Barbera Animated television series about apes Television series about kangaroos and wallabies Television series about pandas Television series about raccoons Television series about tigers CBS original programming Hallmark Cards American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series