''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 Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

greeting cards. The characters were adapted into a 1982–1983

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

for television, by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. ''Shirt Tales'' are also featured on T-shirts, stuffed toys, and other merchandise in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

since 1980.

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

to adapt the ''Shirt Tales'' into a

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

, 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 ...

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 actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected 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. 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 (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

's '' Cartoon Express'' block and on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

, 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 airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

. In Japan, ''Shirt Tales'' was premiered and aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Nancy Cartwright Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress, best known as the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on ''The Simpsons'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award f ...

– 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 – Commissioner (Season 1 only)

Additional Voices

* Richard Balin (Season 1) *

Joe Besser Joe Besser (born Jessel Besser, August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor and comedian 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 subject ...

(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. Biography In 1974, after graduating from Henry Ford High School in Detroit, Camen ...

(Season 2) - Sparky the Dragon (in "Kip's Dragon") * Victoria Carroll (Season 2) * Brian Cummings *

Walker Edmiston Walker Robert Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American actor and puppeteer. Early years Walker Edmiston was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 6, 1926, to William Sherman Edmiston (1894–1976) and Anna Edmiston ( ...

(Season 1) *

Marshall Efron Marshall Efron (February 3, 1938 – September 30, 2019) was an American actor and humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television sho ...

(Season 1) * Bernard Erhard (Season 2) * Ernest Harada (Season 2) * Bob Holt (Season 2) *

Buster Jones Edward Lorenzo "Buster" Jones (December 12, 1943 – September 16, 2014) was an American voice actor and television host. He is known for 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 Sherry Lynn is an American voice actress who has played roles in anime, animated television series and video games. She portrayed Sasami Jurai in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. In January 2010, in terms of total film gross, she was the Highest ...

(Season 1) *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

(Season 1) - Violette Skunk (in "Moving Time") * Patty Maloney (Season 1) - Nancy (in "Moving Time") * Sparky Marcus - Cubby Bear (in "Back to Nature") * Kenneth Mars (Season 1) * Joseph Medalis (Season 1) *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

(Season 1) - Buck Beaver * Howard Morris (Season 2) – Shutter McBugg (in "Double Exposure") * Henry Polic II (Season 1) *

Tony Pope Anthony J. Pope (March 22, 1947 – February 11, 2004) was an American voice actor. He appeared in over 100 titles during his three-decade career, including as the voice of Goofy from 1977 to 1988 before Bill Farmer took over the role in 1987. ...

* Robert Ridgely (Season 1) * Michael Rye (Season 1) *

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, ...

- T.J. Tiger (in "T.J.'s Visit") * Rick Segall (Season 1) * Michael Sheehan (Season 1) - Fillmore Fox (in "Moving Time") * Hal Smith - Prairie Dog Pete (in "Moving Time") * 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 Andre Stojka is an American voice actor. He is best known for his role as the voice of Owl in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchises starting with ''Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin'' inheriting the role from Hal Smith after h ...

(Season 1) * Jimmy Weldon (Season 2) * Frank Welker (Season 1) – Figby the Cat (in "Figby, the Spoiled Brat Cat") * Ted Zeigler (Season 1)

Japanese Voice cast

Minami Takayama is a Japanese voice actress, narrator and singer who is currently affiliated with 81 Produce. She is also the main vocalist of Two-Mix and ES CONNEXION when it was active. Her uncle is a former New Japan Pro-Wrestling managing director Hisash ...

– Rick Raccoon * Mayumi Tanaka – Tyg Tiger * Kae Araki – Pammy Panda * Masako Nozawa – Bogey Orangutan * Junko Hori – Digger Mole *

Toshiko Fujita was a Japanese actress, singer and narrator. She was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Biography At the age of eight, Fujita worked in radio and television as an actress, singer and comedian. She also sang theme son ...

– Kip Kangaroo * Unshō Ishizuka – Mr. Dinkel * Tōru Ōhira – Commissioner (Season 1 only) * Chika Sakamoto – T.J. Tiger (in "T.J.'s Visit")

Episodes

Season 1 (1982)

Season 2 (1983)

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 int ...

released ''Shirt Tales: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection.

References

External links

* {{Hanna-Barbera 1982 American animated television series debuts 1984 American television series endings 1980s American animated comedy television series 1980s American children's comedy television series American English-language television shows 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 Hallmark Cards American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series NBC animated television series Children's television series about talking animals