Cartoon Teletales
Introduction


***Cartoon TeleTales*** is a [television series](/wiki/Television_series "Television series") on [ABC](/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company "American Broadcasting Company") from 1948–1950\. The show was the first children's series on ABC.[Cartoon Teletales](http://www.tvtango.com/series/cartoon_teletales) It began in May 1948 as a local program in [Philadelphia](/wiki/Philadelphia "Philadelphia"), before moving to [New York](/wiki/New_York_City "New York City") as a late\-afternoon program in June, and expanding to the national network in November.

The show consisted of an original tale told by Jack Luchsinger, illustrated by 10–12 drawings that his brother Chuck Luchsinger did as the story unfolded. Episodes were filmed with a small in\-studio audience of children who listened and made suggestions. Musical accompaniment was provided by organist [Rosa Rio](/wiki/Rosa_Rio "Rosa Rio").[Cartoon Teletales (children)](http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/cartoonTeletales.html) Viewers were encouraged to do their own drawings of the story and send them in to compete for prizes and be shown. At the conclusion of each episode, Chuck gave a drawing lesson. Contests drew as many as 5,600 entries a month during 1949\.

The story characters included Maurice the Mouse, Melody the Humming Bird, Leon the Lightning Bug, Usta the Rooster, Bamboozle the Ostrich, Mimi the Mole, Bumsniff the Bloodhound, Bigstuff the Elephant, Roscoe the Raccoon, Bungle the Beaver, Dipsy the Dolphin, Pinto the Pony, Cletus the Caterpillar, Alice the Alligator, and a human boy named Hezekiah.

Besides Rio several others involved with the show went on to have notable careers in entertainment.[Telling the 'TeleTale' of Network TV's first "Cartoon"](http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/telling-the-teletale-of-network-tvs-first-cartoon-series/)

These include:

* Babette Henry, who was the director, shortly thereafter directed the [Buck Rogers TV series](/wiki/Buck_Rogers%231950%E2%80%931951_ABC_television_series "Buck Rogers#1950–1951 ABC television series")
* Ed Nofziger, who was a substitute for Chuck on occasion, went on to be an animator at [UPA](/wiki/UPA_%28animation_studio%29 "UPA (animation studio)") and [Hanna\-Barbera](/wiki/Hanna-Barbera "Hanna-Barbera") plus did magazine gag cartoons and comic book scripts for the [Disney Studio program](/wiki/Disney_comics%23Disney_Studio_Program "Disney comics#Disney Studio Program")[Ed Nofziger](https://www.lambiek.net/artists/n/nofziger_ed.htm)
* Lee Orgel, who was the producer, went on to develop and produce [Gay Purr\-ee](/wiki/Gay_Purr-ee "Gay Purr-ee"), [Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol](/wiki/Mister_Magoo%27s_Christmas_Carol "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol"), [The New Three Stooges](/wiki/The_New_Three_Stooges "The New Three Stooges") and [Defenders of the Earth](/wiki/Defenders_of_the_Earth "Defenders of the Earth")[Who was Lee Orgel?](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/tv/lee-orgel-49586.html)

The Luchsinger family own copies of 1 or 2 episodes, and some are held by the [UCLA Film and Television Archive](/wiki/UCLA_Film_and_Television_Archive "UCLA Film and Television Archive").

Two similar shows, *[Tele\-Comics](/wiki/Telecomics "Telecomics")* and *[NBC Comics](/wiki/Telecomics "Telecomics")* aired from 1949 to 1951, showing still images of cartoon panels with accompanying voiceover.


How did the show's use of live-action audience members influence its storytelling style?