Cartoon Alley Explained

Runtime:30 minutes
Starring:Ben Mankiewicz
Country:United States
Network:Turner Classic Movies
Num Episodes:47

Cartoon Alley is an American animated children's animated anthology series which aired on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday mornings from 2004 to 2007. It featured classic animated shorts.

Originally broadcast at 11:30 AM ET, it was hosted by Ben Mankiewicz and usually featured three classic animated shorts from the 1930–1950s per episode. Most shorts were from The Golden Age of American animation. Each of the three shorts focused on a common theme. Most shorts came from Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount (the latter studio provided the Popeye cartoons; these were in Turner's hands by this point), but during the show's first season Cartoon Alley featured shorts from the Gaumont Film Company. Many recognizable characters were featured in at least one episode such as Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Porky Pig, Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, Barney Bear, Spike, George and Junior, and others not so famous such as Goopy Geer and The Captain and the Kids, and also include animated feature films. The shorts often appeared uncut and uncensored (a few cartoons utilized cuts for content), and the more controversial cartoons (such as Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt and Half-Pint Pygmy) were often introduced with a brief warning by Mankiewicz about the ethnic stereotypes being portrayed. The network's logo was only featured for a brief time, usually during the last short featured.

From November 2004 to September 2005, the series was featured just once a month but after popular demand the series became a weekly feature. Cartoon Alley usually did not air in February because of TCM's 31 Days of Oscar programming. the series was cancelled in Autumn of 2007.

Episode list

Season 1: 2004-2005

Episode TitleShorts FeaturedOriginal Air Date
1Clark Gable 11/5/2004
2Christmas 12/4/2004
3Oscar Nominated Shorts 1/1/2005
4Tom & Jerry 3/5/2005
5Tex Avery 4/2/2005
6The Early Days of Warner Brothers Cartoons 5/7/2005
7The Captain and the Kids
  • Cleaning House
  • Petunia National Park
  • Mama's New Hat
6/4/2005
8Popeye
  • Adventures of Popeye
  • The Anvil Chorus Girl
  • Abusement Park
7/2/2005
9Animaland Series (1)
  • The Platypus
  • The Cuckoo
  • The Lion
9/3/2005
10Animaland Series (2)
  • The Ostrich
  • It's A Lovely Day
  • The House Cat
9/10/2005
11Animaland Series (3)
  • Ginger Nutt's Bee Bother
  • Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus
  • Ginger Nutt's Forest Dragon
9/17/2005
12Barney Bear 9/24/2005
13Sniffles 10/1/2005
14Droopy 10/8/2005
15Tweety Bird 10/15/2005
16Cinemascope Cartoons
  • Millionaire Droopy
  • The Egg and Jerry
  • Tops with Pops
10/22/2005
17Peter Lorre Caricatures 10/29/2005

Season 2: 2005-2006

18Happy Harmonies
  • The Discontented Canary
  • The Old Pioneer
  • Tale of Vienna Woods
11/5/2005
19Elmer Fudd 11/12/2005
20Benny Burro
  • Little Gravel Voice
  • The Prospecting Bear
  • Half-Pint Palomino
11/19/2005
21WB Cartoon Character Debuts 11/26/2005
22Popeye II
  • Baby Wants a Bottleship
  • A Balmy Swami
  • Beaus Will Be Beaus
12/3/2005
23Two Curious Puppies
  • Dog Gone Modern
  • The Curious Puppy
  • Snowtime For Comedy
12/10/2005
24Christmas II 12/17/2005
25Nursery Rhymes and Bedtime Stories
  • Little Red Walking Hood
  • The Bear's Tale
  • The Trial of Mr. Wolf
12/31/2005
26Homer the Flea
  • The Homeless Flea
  • What Price Fleadom
  • The Cat That Hated People
9/2/2006
27Black and White Warner Brothers
  • I've Got to Sing a Torch Song
  • Pettin' in the Park
  • Gold Diggers of '49
9/9/2006
28Tex Avery's Screwball Classics 9/16/2006
29Hubie & Bertie
  • Aristo-Cat
  • Roughly Squeaking
  • House Hunting Mice
9/23/2006
30Popeye III
  • Can You Take It
  • Child Psykolojiky
  • Car-azy Drivers
9/23/2006
31Warner Brothers
  • Egghead Rides Again
  • The Bashful Buzzard
  • Boulevardier of the Bronx
10/7/2006
32CinemaScope Tom & Jerry
  • Mucho Mouse
  • Tom's Photo Finish
  • Royal Cat Nap
10/14/2006
33CinemaScope Droopy 10/21/2006
34Conrad Cat
  • The Bird Came C.O.D
  • Porky's Café
  • Conrad the Sailor
10/28/2006

Season 3: 2006-2007

35George and Junior
  • Henpecked Hoboes
  • Hound Hunters
  • Half-Pint Pygmy
11/4/2006
36Early Bugs Bunny 11/11/2006
37Spike
  • The Counterfeit Cat
  • Ventriloquist Cat
  • Garden Gopher
11/18/2006
38Bugs And Cecil
  • Tortoise Beats Hare
  • Tortoise Wins By a Hare
  • Rabbit Transit
11/25/2006
39Happy Harmonies II 12/2/2006
40Porky Pig
  • Porky's Picnic
  • Porky's Baseball Broadcast
  • Porky's Snooze Reel
12/9/2006
41Bing Crosby Spoofs
  • Let It Be Me
  • Bingo Crosbyana
  • Woods Are Full of Cuckoos
12/16/2006
42Christmas III
  • Toyland Broadcast
  • Alias St. Nick
  • Captain's Christmas
12/23/2006
43Goopy Geer
  • Goopy Geer
  • Moonlight for Two
  • The Queen Was in the Parlor
12/30/2006
44The Bear Family
  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears
  • A Rainy Day
  • Papa Gets the Bird
1/6/2007
45Beans
  • Fire Alarm, The
  • Phantom Ship, The
  • Boom Boom
1/13/2007
46Adolph Hitler WB Caricatures
  • Daffy - the Commando
  • Russian Rhapsody
  • Herr Meets Hare
1/20/2007
47Screwy Squirrel
  • Screwball Squirrel
  • Screwy Truant, The
  • Lonesome Lenny
1/27/2007
[1] [2] [3]

Featured directors

These people directed original shorts featured in the series.

[4] [5]

See also

References

  1. http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=3267 TCM Strolls Down Cartoon Alley-Animation Magazine
  2. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,832519,00.html TCM Gets Animated-TimeWarner.com
  3. Web site: Classic Cartoon TV Highlights - Dec. 2006-Golden Age Cartoons.com . 2007-01-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070902170256/http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/showthread.php?t=8086 . 2007-09-02 . dead .
  4. http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=111969 Cartoon Alley December 2005-TCM.com
  5. http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=143805&mainArticleId=143804 Cartoon Alley September 2006-TCM.com