Total Television
Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,[1] Joe Harris,[2][3] and Treadwell D. Covington.[3] They were executives in the advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who had the account for the General Mills 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, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales were among the most popular series made by the studio.
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Founder | Treadwell D. Covington W. Watts Biggers Chester "Chet" Stover Joe Harris |
| Defunct | 1969 |
| Successor | Library: DreamWorks Classics |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, USA |
| Products | Television shows Television commercials |
| Owner | Dancer Fitzgerald Sample |
Production and Shows
The studio produced animated series from 1959 to 1969 at Gamma Productions, a primitive start-up company, which was contracted to produce the animation for Jay Ward Productions' output. Ward was never satisfied with the work performed at Gamma.
Gamma Productions is the animation studio who is notable for their work on Underdog (1964), Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963), Commander McBragg (1963) and Go Go Gophers (1964).
- Cocoa Puffs commercials (1960-1969)
- King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (1960–1963)
- The Hunter (1960–1963)
- Commander McBragg (1963–1965)
- Go Go Gophers (1964-1966)
- Klondike Kat (1963–1965)
- Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966)
- The Beagles (1966–1967)
- The Sing A Long Family (1962)
- Tooter Turtle (1960–1962)
- Twinkles the Elephant (1960–1967)
- Underdog (1964–1967)
- Gene Hattree (1964)
- Cauliflower Cabby (1964)
- The Colossal Show (1964)
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 (via Universal Pictures and NBCUniversal).
Notes
- p.478 Erickson,Hal Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003 McFarland & Co., 2005
- Noto, Anthony (2017-04-05). "Joe Harris, illustrator who created the Trix rabbit and Underdog, dies". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
- Slotnik, Daniel E. (2017-04-04). "Joe Harris, Illustrator Behind Underdog and Trix Rabbit, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
External links
Further reading
- Mark Arnold (historian); Arnold, Mark (2009). Created and Produced by Total TeleVision productions: The Story of Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo and the Rest. BearManor Media. ISBN 9781593933456.
