From The Archives: Based On The TV Program - 1950s Round Two

A popular post on this blog was the 1950s post from 2016. This is a long over due 2nd edition of 1950s items related to TV shows.

Schroeder, Doris. 1960. Walt Disney's Annette: Sierra summer. Racine, WI: Whitman.

This book, and others from Whitman Publishing, were published in the 1960s. The series "Annette" aired in the 1950s on the original Mickey Mouse Club.

Winky Dink and You (1953 - 1957) was one of the first commercially successful attempts at interactive television.

Every Baby Boomer could probably belt out this song.

Linkletter, Art, and Walt Disney. 1959. Kids say the darndest things!

If you find the videos funny, you should read the book! It is interesting to hear how Linkletter worked with the children, and how 1950s popular culture impacted kids responses to his questions.

Marshall, E. G., Leora Dana, Berverly Washburn, and Washington Irving. 1989. Rip Van Winkle. Los Angeles, CA: Distributed by Wood Knapp Video.

Episodes of the Shirley Temple Show (the second season that aired in color on ABC) were released on DVD by Legends Films in 2006. Episodes of the Shirley Temple Storybook (the first season on NBC, some color, most in black & white) remain out-of-print on VHS tapes only.

"Kim's Kartoon Kapers" More Information?

Colorful image of Kim Christie from pg. 126 of the RCA Broadcast News Vol. 136, October 1967. Image is from AmericanRadioHistory.com

More information is wanted about a mid to late 1960s weekday afternoon program called Kim's Kartoon Kapers, that was hosted by a 12 year old girl named Kim Christie on WKTR-TV (now WPTD, the local PBS affliate) in the Dayton, Ohio area and licensed to Kettering, Ohio. It is always interesting to learn about local children's shows, but even more so when they were hosted by a child. According to an article on WKTR in RCA Broadcast News, Volume 136, October 1967, young Kim did the program ad-lib, with at least one puppet character. One viewer recollection claims that she hosted Batfink cartoons, which would have been a good fit for a local series on the air in 1967.

If you remember this series or have more information please leave a comment or email archivebuilder@gmail.com with "Kim's Kartoon Kapers" as the subject line.

From the Archives: 1970s Based on TV Books

Here is a random assortment of children's books based on TV programs and specials of the 1970s. All citations are in Chicago style.

Dinneen, Betty, Marlin Perkins, and James Seward. 1976. Wild kingdom a trip to a game park with Marlin Perkins. Racine, Wis: Western Pub. Co.

The original Wild Kingdom, also known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that featured wildlife and nature scenes. A new version airs on Animal Planet, but the first and most famous version ran from 1963 until 1988, with Marlin Perkins as host during the first 22 years.

      Schulz, Charles M. 1975. It's a mystery, Charlie Brown. New York: Scholastic Book Services.

In my opinion, this is one of the funniest of the Peanuts TV specials. I loved it after seeing it during "You're On Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown" around the late 1990s. It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown was the 11th prime-time TV special based upon the enduring comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on February 1, 1974, on the CBS TV network.

Muller, Romeo, Fred Wolf, and Chuck Swenson. 1979. Puff the magic dragon. New York: Avon/Camelot.

Puff The Magic Dragon was a half-hour animated TV special based on the popular song by Peter, Paul and Mary. This special was produced by Fred Wolf Films and written by Romeo Mulller, more famous for his many stories for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials. Burgess Meredith played the title role with additional voices by Frank Nelson, Regis Cordic, Robert Ridgely and Charles Woolf. The special premiered October 30, 1978 on CBS. The book version was published in at least 3 different editions. 

Elias, Horace J. 1974. The Flintstones: Fred Flintstone and the very peculiar tree. New York: Modern Promotions.

By the time this book was published, the original "Flintstones" had an extended life with three successive Saturday Morning series: The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971–72), The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972–73), and The Flintstone Comedy Show (1973–74).