Festival of Family Classics is a Rankin/Bass animated anthology series that originally aired between 1972 and 1973.[1] The show originally aired in syndication.[2] It was re-aired 1 November 2005 on the Boomerang channel and on 16 June 2011 via the Teletoon Retro network.
| Festival of Family Classics | |
|---|---|
 Official logo | |
| Directed by | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Composer | Maury Laws |
| Country of origin | United States Canada Japan |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Production companies | Rankin/Bass Productions Mushi Production Topcraft (eps. 4-5, 19) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication |
| Release | September 10, 1972 – March 4, 1973 |
Festival of Family Classics is a series of television versions of famous folk tales and classic literature. 16 of the 18 episodes were 20 minutes long. The two 40 minutes-long episodes ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Around the World in 80 Days") were split into two-parters, making 20 episodes in total. The episodes were animated by two Japanese animation studios: Mushi Production and Topcraft.
Videos have been distributed by several companies, including Prism Entertainment, Starmaker Video, EBM Group, and Classic Media. 12 episodes (including the two-parters as single episodes) have been released on DVD.
A similar series, Famous Classic Tales, aired on CBS from 1970 to 1984.
List of episodes
| No. | Title | Adapted by | Air date[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yankee Doodle[4] | Fred Halliday | September 10, 1972 |
| 2 | Cinderella[5] | William J. Keenan | September 17, 1972 |
| 3 | The Song of Hiawatha[3] | September 24, 1972 | |
| 4 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Part 1[6] | Richard Neubert | October 1, 1972 |
| 5 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Part 2[6] | October 8, 1972 | |
| 6 | Jack O'Lantern[7] | William J. Keenan | October 29, 1972 |
| 7 | Johnny Appleseed[8] | Bob Littell | November 5, 1972 |
| 8 | Around the World in 80 Days - Part 1[9] | Leonard Starr | November 12, 1972 |
| 9 | Around the World in 80 Days - Part 2[9] | November 19, 1972 | |
| 10 | Robin Hood[10] | William Overgard | November 26, 1972 |
| 11 | Puss in Boots[11] | Sandy Glass | December 9, 1972 |
| 12 | A Christmas Tree[12] | Ken Donnelly | December 17, 1972 |
| 13 | The American Legend: Paul Bunyan[13] | William J. Keenan | January 7, 1973 |
| 14 | Swiss Family Robinson[14] | William Overgard | January 13, 1973 |
| 15 | The Sleeping Beauty[15] | Ken Donnelly | January 21, 1973 |
| 16 | The Arabian Nights[16] | Fred Halliday | February 4, 1973 |
| 17 | Alice in Wonderland[17] | Sandy Glass | February 11, 1973 |
| 18 | Robinson Crusoe[18] | William Overgard | February 18, 1973 |
| 19 | Tom Sawyer[19] | Bob Littell | February 25, 1973 |
| 20 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs[20] | Stu Hample | March 4, 1973 |
Voices
- Carl Banas[21]
- Len Birman
- Bernard Cowan
- Peg Dixon
- Keith Hampshire
- Peggi Loder
- Donna Miller
- Frank Perry
- Henry Raymer
- Billie Mae Richards
- Alfie Scopp
- Paul Soles
Home media
On VHS:
- Alice in Wonderland (Starmaker Entertainment (1989, US),[22] Futurevision Ltd. (1986, UK), Prism Entertainment (1986, US))
- Sleeping Beauty (Starmaker Entertainment (1989, US)
- Snövit och De Sju Dvärgarna (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) (SWE-Ayamonte AB)
- Tom Sawyer (SWE-Ayamonte AB - 1995)
Classic Media released 10 episodes on 4 DVDs in between 2006–2007.
- The Princess Collection (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland)
- Classic Adventures Volume 1 (Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
- Classic Adventures Volume 2 (The Arabian Nights, Robin Hood)
- Classic Adventures Volume 3 (Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe)
The 2002 DVD release of Here Comes Peter Cottontail features the "Puss in Boots" episode, and the Mad Mad Mad Monsters DVD includes the "Jack O' Lantern" episode.
