Total Television

Total Television
Company type	Private
Industry	Animation
Founded	1959; 65 years ago
Founder	Treadwell D. Covington; W. Watts Biggers; Chester "Chet" Stover; Joe Harris
Defunct	1969; 55 years ago
Successor	Library:; DreamWorks Classics
Headquarters	New York, New York, USA
Products	Television shows; Television commercials
Owner	Dancer Fitzgerald Sample

Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,^[1] Joe Harris,^[2]^[3] and Treadwell D. Covington.^[3] They were executives in the advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample who had the account for the General Mills food corporation. Total was formed to create cartoon characters encouraging children to buy General Mills breakfast cereals and other products. The company mostly created cartoons for television networks such as NBC. Underdog, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales were among the most popular series made by the studio.

Production and Shows

Animation for Total Television was originally sourced from TV Spots, but would switch to being produced by Gamma Productions as King Leonardo and His Short Subjects entered its second season (around 1961).^[4]

Notable works under the Total Television banner include:

Cocoa Puffs commercials (1960-1969)
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (1960–1963)
- The King & Odie (1960-1964)
- The Hunter (1960–1964)
- Twinkles the Elephant (1960–1961)
- Tooter Turtle (1960–1961)
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966)
- The Sing A Long Family (1960's)
Underdog (1964–1967)
- Commander McBragg (1964–1966)
- Go Go Gophers (1964-1966)
The Beagles (1966–1967)
Klondike Kat (1966–1967)
Gene Hattree (1964) (pilot)
Cauliflower Cabby (1964)
The Colossal Show (1960's) (pilot)

Much of Total Television's library for post-network syndication was handled by The Program Exchange, until the company shut down in 2016. The rights are currently owned by DreamWorks Classics/DreamWorks Animation (via Universal Pictures and NBCUniversal).

^ p.478 Erickson,Hal Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003 McFarland & Co., 2005
^ Noto, Anthony (2017-04-05). "Joe Harris, illustrator who created the Trix rabbit and Underdog, dies". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
^ ^a ^b Slotnik, Daniel E. (2017-04-04). "Joe Harris, Illustrator Behind Underdog and Trix Rabbit, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
^ Arnold, Mark (11 June 2009). Created and Produced by Total Television Productions (1st ed.). BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593933456. Retrieved 28 May 2023.