Matty's Funday Funnies
Matty's Funday Funnies is a 1959-1961 American animated cartoon compilation television series.[1]
The original Matty's Funday Funnies was broadcast from 1959 to 1961 by the American Broadcasting Company, scheduled during Sunday afternoons (with a 1960-1961 prime-time edition during Friday evenings, rescheduled for early Saturday nights for the autumn of 1961).
The show originally featured 1950s Famous Studios theatrical cartoons with characters including Casper the Friendly Ghost, Herman and Katnip, Baby Huey, Little Audrey, Buzzy the Crow and other Noveltoons, whose beginning titles were refilmed as Harveytoons because Harvey Publishing Company had bought all the rights to the films and characters from Paramount company-- and had already used Casper and others as comic book characters.[2]
"Matty" referred to Matty Mattel, the animated boy mascot character for Mattel Toy Company, the show's original sponsor. Matty Mattel and Sister Belle would introduce the cartoons and show commercials for Mattel products. The series premiered on October 11, 1959, was later renamed Matty's Funnies, and was broadcast by the network until December 30, 1961. During the autumn of 1962, the show began local syndication (with new titles omitting Mattel's original sponsorship, along with "Matty" and "Sister Belle") as Casper and Company.
On January 6, 1962, the program was replaced with a new Matty's series titled Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil, featuring Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil.[3] A redesigned Matty Mattel and Sister Belle would appear as directors of the cartoons and in many intermissions along with Clampett's characters of Beany Boy, Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, Captain Huffenpuff, Dishonest John, Go Man Van Gogh, et al. There were only 26 half-hour shows made with this format, with the last first-broadcast episode broadcast on June 30, 1962. The series then continued being broadcast during its regular early Saturday evening time as reruns until December 29, 1962. From 1963–1965, the series was repeated on the network's Sunday morning schedule (and then broadcast in syndication) as Beany and Cecil.
References
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 179–180. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 381. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 124–127. ISBN 978-1476665993.