Festival of Family Classics

This vintage anthology series from over 50 years ago contains animated adaptations of favorite folktales and classic literature produced by Rankin-Bass, the company known for their classic holiday TV specials like Rudolph, Frosty, and such others. But let's compare this show with other anthology shows which would air in the following decades. For example, there's My Favorite Fairy Tales and Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics. Both shows are from the 1980s. Those shows from Japan have more modern adaptations of classic fairy tales. Who would've thought anime would in one form or another could outdo Rankin-Bass, at least in my opinion.

So what I'm trying to say about Festival of Family Classics is this. Some of their adaptations of stories from authors like Jules Verne and Mark Twain aren't quite as good as seen on shows in the years to follow. There would be anime TV series adaptations of books like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Swiss Family Robinson in the '80s, and they are much better than Rankin-Bass' versions. As for the fairy tales, their versions were pretty good. I even like some of the stories about American folk like Johnny Appleseed.. When it comes to Festival of Family Classics, it's a bit on the old school side of storytelling. There would be better anthologies in the decades to follow, Shelley Duvall's Fairy Tale Theater annd Tall Tales included. But what do I know.

Not to be confused with "Family Classics Theatre" (which featured adaptations by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Air Programs International - the closest Australian equivalent of H-B - and which British viewers may remember as "Animated Classics"), this was a good attempt in that field from Rankin/Bass - pause for '70s children to shudder at the memory of that creepy logo (which still has the power to chill even today, long after I got over my fear of the Air Programs one... or have I? But anyway...).

The 30-minute stories in this series ranged from versions of full-length books (like a two-part version of "Around the World in Eighty Days") via adaptations of fairy tales (such as a light-hearted take on "Cinderella") to stories about mythological characters ("Johnny Appleseed"). Lush animation was not the name of the game, and famous voices were also nowhere to be found (as opposed to Hanna-Barbera having Jose Ferrer play Cyrano again in their animated version), but that's never been a drawback to cartoons. If it was a choice between Rankin/Bass of the 1970s and Rankin/Bass of the 1980s ("SilverHawks"? Oh, please), I'll take the 1970s any day.

But that logo? What were they THINKING?!?