Total Television
American television production company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Total Television Productions (stylized as Total TeleVision productions) 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.
W. Watts Biggers
Chester "Chet" Stover
Joe Harris
 | |
| Company 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
Animation for Total Television was originally out sourced to TV Spots, but would switch to Gamma Productions as King Leonardo and His Short Subjects entered its third season (around 1961).[4]
TV series
- King Leonardo and His Short Subjects
- The King & Odie (1960–1964)
- The Hunter (1960–1964)
- Twinkles the Elephant (1960–1961)
- Tooter Turtle (1960–1961)
- Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966)
- Commander McBragg (1964–1966)
- Underdog (1964–1967)
- Go Go Gophers (1964–1966)
- Klondike Kat (1966, first 14 episodes)
- The Beagles (1966–1967)
- The Sing-A-Long Family (1960s)
- Klondike Kat (1966–1967, last 12 episodes)
TV pilots and specials
- Gene Hattree (1960s) (pilot)
- Cauliflower Cabby (1960s)
- The Colossal Show (1960s) (pilot)
Commercials
- Cocoa Puffs commercials (1960–1969)
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).
