Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater (2024)

Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is a Japanese-American co-produced animated series created by Sanrio, produced by DIC Enterprises, animated by Toei Animation, and distributed by MGM/UA Television. Released in 1987, the series involved Hello Kitty and her friends (and often family) doing their own version of popular fairy tales and stories (which would be similarly repeated in Hello Kitty and Friends and Hello Kitty's Animation Theater). Each of the 13 half-hour 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 at the time. Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is also the very first Hello Kitty animated series produced by the company.

The series is available for streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, and YouTube.

Characters[]

• Hello Kitty
  • The cheerful and kind director of the theater who plays many roles as a protagonist or a supportive fairy character.
• My Melody
  • Kitty's timid but honest best friend and supporting actress whose roles are often small and needs assistance to perform perfectly.
• Tuxedo Sam
  • The happy stage helper who also plays roles as a protagonist or Kitty's sidekick/love interest.
• Chip
  • A cheery supporting actor who often plays supporting roles with the protagonists.
• Catnip
  • A diva-like, envious but sociable frenemy of Kitty and actress who often plays the role of an antagonist.
• Grinder
  • A dim-witted but naive and competent actor who often plays the role of a secondary antagonist, a bumbling accomplice to Catnip, or a supporting character at times.
• Grandma
  • Kitty's grandmother who often plays supporting roles in the shows.
• Grandpa
  • Kitty's grandfather who often plays supporting roles in the shows.
• Fangora
  • Catnip's mother who would sometimes fill in the role of a secondary antagonist.
• Mama
  • Kitty's mother who often plays motherly roles in the shows.
• Papa
  • Kitty's father who often plays fatherly roles in the shows.
• Mowzer
  • A trickster who scares Kitty and her friends in the final episode and original owner of the theater who is also skilled at playing the pipe organ.

Format[]

Each episode opens with a big, huge, modern theater located in the big city of London, England, 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 Great Depression or the Middle Ages. Each show is a light-hearted takeoff of a children's story or a popular movie. Catnip and Grinder were usually typecast as the villains.

At the end, the stage returns to normal, and the actors take their bow.

One exception to this format is the episode The Phantom of the Theater, which begins after the actors have finished a show (specifically Robin Penguin); all the action in this story takes place backstage.

Episodes[]

See the Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater Episodes category

Videos[]

Trivia[]

• Contrary to popular belief, this series has never been broadcasted at Japan in any form.
• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater marks the debut where the iconic voice actress Tara Strong (who played Hello Kitty) performed her voice talents for fictional characters, at the age of 13.
• The studio that animated this show, Toei Animation, is famously known for animating the Dragon Ball series and among others.
• For over three decades since its release, there would not be another 2D animation from Sanrio created precisely for the American audience until Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures in 2020.

Cast and Crew[]

Voice Actors[]

• Tara Charendoff as Hello Kitty
• Elizabeth Hanna as Mama and Grandma
• Len Carlson as Papa
• Carl Banas as Grandpa
• Sean Roberge as Tuxedo J. Orville Samuel
• Mairon Bennett as My Melody
• Noam Zylberman as Chip
• Cree Summer Francks as Catnip
• Denise Pidgeon as Fangora
• Greg Morton as Grinder
• Fred Savage as Mowzer
• Brian Cummings as Additional voices (uncredited)

Creators[]

• Sanrio

Developers[]

• Phil Harnage

Directors[]

• Michael Maliani

Theme Music Composer[]

• David Pomeranz

Opening Theme[]

• Main Title Theme Written & Performed By David Pomeranz

Composers[]

• Haim Saban
• Shuki Levy

Executive Producers[]

• Andy Heyward

Producers[]

• Michael Maliani

Writers[]

• Ben Hurst
• Eleanor Burian-Mohr
• Jack Hanrahan
• Jack Olesker
• Jim Lenahan
• Martha Moran
• Matt Uitz
• Pat Allee
• Phil Harnage
• Temple Matthews
• Tony Marino

Television Broadcast[]

North American television debut[]

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

A Spanish dub of Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, also aired on Univision on June 26, 1989

International broadcast[]

In the United Kingdom, the cartoon broadcasted on the music and entertainment channel MTV on September 27, 1987. It was also aired on ABS-CBN in the Philippines in 1990.

Release[]

Region 1[]

On March 24, 1998, MGM Home Entertainment released two VHS videocassettes each containing four 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 and the One Dwarf, Sleeping Kitty, and Peter Penguin)

In 2003-2004, MGM Home Entertainment under their MGM Kids label released 5 DVD'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 MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (and then, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment). 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.

Sources[]

• Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater on Wikipedia.org