''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' is an animated series based on the Japanese character Hello Kitty, co-produced by DIC Enterprises and MGM/UA Television Productions and animated by

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

. The series involves Hello Kitty and her friends (and occasionally family) doing their own version of popular

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

s and stories. Each of the 13 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. The series is notable for featuring

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

in her first major role as a voice actress.

Characters

* Hello Kitty (voiced by

) (credited as Tara Charendoff) - the cheerful and kind kitten director of the theater. In many tales she is the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

or a supportive fairy. * Mama Kitty (voiced by

Elizabeth Hanna Elizabeth Hanna is a Canadian film and television actress and speech language pathologist, most notable for her voice acting work in animated films. She is best known as the voice of Hen in '' Little Bear''. History Early history Elizabeth H ...

) – Kitty's mom, who plays motherly roles in the tales. * Papa Kitty (voiced by

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 - January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s to the 2000s, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman during ...

) - Kitty's dad, who plays fatherly roles in the tales. * Grandma Kitty (voiced by

) - Kitty's grandmother. She's cast as supporting roles in the tales. * Grandpa Kitty (voiced by Carl Banas) - Kitty's grandfather. He casts as supporting roles in the tales. * Tuxedo Sam (voiced by Sean Roberge) - a happy penguin stage helper of the theater. In many tales he is the

or Kitty's sidekick or love interest. * My Melody (voiced by Mairon Bennett) - a very timid supporting bunny actress who is Kitty's best friend. Her roles are often smaller and she needs assistance to perform perfectly. * Chip (voiced by

Noam Zylberman Noam Zylberman (; born June 30, 1973) is an Israeli-born Canadian voice actor. Early life Zylberman was born in Haifa, Israel to Jewish parents. His family relocated to Canada when he was two years old. He attended Arlington Middle School and ...

) - a cheery supporting white seal pup actor. He has supporting roles with the protagonists. * Catnip (voiced by

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...

) (credited as Cree Summer Francks) - a green Siamese Cat, who is the diva-like frenemy of Hello Kitty but is sociable, and does have a friendly side. She often takes the role of the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

, Captain Hook,

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, his redemption by visits from the ghost of Jacob Marley, the G ...

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

etc.). * Fangora (voiced by Denise Pidgeon) - a purple Siamese Cat and Catnip's mother. She sometimes fills in for the role of a secondary

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Fred Savage) - a trickster mouse who scares and plays tricks on Hello Kitty and her friends in the last episode, and is the original owner of the theater who makes a deal at the end with Kitty to all be the owners. He is very skilled at playing the pipe organ.

Format

Each episode opens with a theater filling up with patrons and usually a look at some comical goings-on backstage. The play then begins (with Hello Kitty or Tuxedo Sam saying "Once upon a meow") and the stage transforms into whatever setting the story calls for, like outer space, the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

, the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

or the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Each show is a light-hearted takeoff of a children's story or a popular movie. Catnip, Grinder, and Fangora were usually typecast as the villains. At the end of each episode, the stage returns to normal, and the actors take their bow. The only exception to this format was the final episode "The Phantom of the Theater", which takes place entirely on the theater's backstage with the cast out of their roles.

Episodes

Television broadcast

North American television debut

In the USA, ''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' aired on September 19, 1987 on CBS.

International broadcast

Contrary to popular belief, the series does not verifiably have a Japanese dub, nor was it released in Japan in any other form. In the UK, it was broadcast on the music and entertainment channel

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

from September 27, 1987.TV program for 27-09-1987
/ref> It was also aired on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

in the Philippines in 1990.

Release

Region 1

On March 24, 1998,

MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of the American med ...

released two VHS videocassettes each containing three cartoon shorts, as well as the opening and closing sequences. * ''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") In 2003-2004, MGM Home Entertainment under their MGM Kids label released 5

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

's each containing five cartoon shorts; the only one of the 26 not to be included was "The Year Scroogenip Swiped Christmas". The opening and closing sequences are not included. * ''Hello Kitty Becomes a Princess'' (February 4, 2003: "Cinderkitty", "Kittylocks and the Three Bears", "Sleeping Kitty", "Kitty and the Beast", "Snow White Kitty and the One Dwarf") * ''Hello Kitty Goes to the Movies'' (February 4, 2003: "K.T. The Kitty Terrestrial", "The Wizard of Paws", "Kitty and the Kong", "Cat Wars", "Paws: The Great White Dog Shark") * ''Hello Kitty Saves the Day'' (February 4, 2003: "Peter Penguin", "Tar-Sam of the Jungle", "Paws of the Round Table", "Crocodile Penguin", "Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp") * ''Hello Kitty Plays Pretend'' (February 17, 2004: "The Phantom of the Theater", "Frankencat", "Catula", "The Pawed Piper", "Rumpeldogskin") * ''Hello Kitty Tells Fairy Tales'' (February 17, 2004: "Robin Penguin", "Hello Mother Goose", "The Ugly Quackling", "Pinocchio Penguin", "Little Red Bunny Hood")

Region 2

The same DVDs that were released in the United States were released in Region 2 by

and

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

. ''Becomes a Princess'', ''Goes to the Movies'' and ''Saves the Day'' were all released in September 2004, using the same prints as the US versions without the opening and closing sequences. ''Plays Pretend'' and ''Tells Fairy Tales'' were not released in the United Kingdom until October 2012. These prints are not the same as the US versions, and do include the opening and closing sequences. Another DVD titled ''Hello Kitty Has Fun at Halloween'' was also released in the same year, featuring 3 episodes from ''Plays Pretend'' and an episode from ''Goes to the Movies''. A boxset was also released, featuring all 5 of the original DVDs.

References

External links

*
''Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater'' episode guide
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...