Total TeleVision productions was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by
Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,
Joe Harris,
and Treadwell D. Covington.
[ They were executives in the advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who had the account for the ]General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...
food corporation. Total was formed to create cartoon characters encouraging children to buy General Mills breakfast cereals and other products. The company mostly created cartoons for television networks such as NBC. ''Underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
'', '' King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'', and '' Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' were among the most popular series made by the studio.
Production and Shows
Animation for Total Television was originally sourced from TV Spots, but would switch to being produced by Gamma Productions as '' King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' entered its second season (around 1961).Underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
'' (1964–1967)
**'' Commander McBragg'' (1964–1966)
**'' Go Go Gophers'' (1964–1966)
*'' The Beagles'' (1966–1967)
*'' Klondike Kat'' (1966–1967)
*'' Gene Hattree'' (1964) (pilot)
*'' Cauliflower Cabby'' (1964)
*'' The Colossal Show'' (1960's) (pilot)
Much of Total Television's library for post-network syndication was handled by The Program Exchange, until the company shut down in 2016. The rights are currently owned by DreamWorks Classics/DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
(via Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
and NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
).
See also
* Animation in the United States in the television era
Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that gradually started in the late 1950s with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and popularization of television animation, reached its ...
Notes
External links
"Whatever Happened to Total TeleVision productions?," ''Hogan's Alley'' #15, 2009
Further reading
*
*
American animation studios
Television production companies of the United States
Defunct mass media companies of the United States
Entertainment companies based in New York City
Entertainment companies established in 1959
Mass media companies established in 1959
Mass media companies disestablished in 1969
1959 establishments in New York (state)
1969 disestablishments in New York (state)
DreamWorks Classics
General Mills
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