CBS Storybreak

CBS Storybreak is a Saturday-morning animated literary anthology series. It was a co-production between America's Hanna-Barbera Australia and Australia's Southern Star Entertainment for CBS Entertainment. It ran for three seasons, premiering on CBS 30 March 1985 and concluding 28 January 1989. It was often pre-empted for weekend sports in many time slots.
== Overview ==
Each half-hour episode was based on a different children's book, such as How to Eat Fried Worms, Dragon's Blood, and Ratha's Creature, essentially making them one-shots, and the variety format of episodes featured an inconsistent, revolving cast of characters, with the exception of Raggedy Ann and Andy and The Camel with The Wrinkled Knees, as it was spun-off into The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy, airing on the same channel. The episodes would be shown between the live-action wraparounds, in which the original host, Bob Keeshan (a.k.a. Captain Kangaroo), appeared at the beginning to introduce the books and episodes of the same titles. Afterward, he would reappear to close out the show and recommend other books by the U.S. Library of Congress, and/or the preview of the next episode was shown.
When the series returned to air for repeats during the mid- to late 1990s, Malcolm-Jamal Warner replaced Keeshan as the host. The program was similar to the ABC Weekend Special, but also different in its own right in that all the episodes were animated only, whereas the ABC Weekend Special featured both live-action and animated episodes. Furthermore, some of the specials were split into two or three parts, making them mini-series, which was never the case with any of the episodes of this. Another thing of note is that a few of the specials had sequels, unlike this series. Although those focused mainly on adaptations of books, there were exceptions. Like the ABC Weekend Special, the purpose of CBS Storybreak was to encourage children to get interested in literacy. 
Unusual for an American TV series, CBS Storybreak featured open captions by the Caption Center for the Hearing Impaired. Not only was this beneficial to the hearing impaired, but the captions also allowed those who could hear to read along with the stories.
== Episodes ==
# The Great Ringtail Garbage Caper
# Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China
# Robbut: A Tale of Tails
# How to Eat Fried Worms
# Zucchini
# Hank the Cowdog
# The Double Disappearance of Walter Fozbek
# Chocolate Fever
# Dragon's Blood
# Arnold of the Ducks 
# C.L.U.T.Z.
# Witch-Cat
# The Pig Plantagenet
# Harry, the Fat Bear Spy
# Hugh Pine
# The Roquefort Gang
# Mama Don't Allow
# The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
# What Happened in Hamelin
# The Monster's Ring
# Max and Me and the Time Machine
# The Gammage Cup
# Jeffrey's Ghost
# Grinny
# Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees
# Ratha's Creature
== Trivia ==
* CBS Storybreak was the first animated series produced in-house by CBS since the original Terrytoons.
* It was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program during the 1985/86 season.
* Crew member Sander Schwarz would be a future president of Warner Bros. Animation in 2002.
* The Raggedy Ann and Andy episode is the only one that was spun-off into its own, separate series, The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy, which also aired on CBS.
== Availability ==
In 1992, "Arnold of the Ducks", "C.L.U.T.Z.", "Chocolate Fever", and "How to Eat Fried Worms" were released on VHS. In 1998, "Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story" and "Robbut: A Tale of Tails" were released on VHS.
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== Hosts ==
* Bob Keeshan (1985–1987)
* Malcolm-Jamal Warner (1993–1998)
== Voice Cast ==
* Hakeem Abdul-Samad - Rodney
* Mason Adams - Narrator
* Hussain Ahmed - Bradley
* Jeff Altman -
* Bever-Leigh Banfield - Ms. Farber
* Michael Bell - Thakur
* Vivian Bonnell - Ms. Snergle
* Hamilton Camp - C.L.U.T.Z., Dr. Crabneckel
* Roger C. Carmel -
* Darleen Carr -
* Leah Carter - Erika
* Michael Paul Chan
* Betty Chasse -
* Omri Ibrahiem Clarke - Joe Guire
* Brian Cummings
* Diana Daves -
* Vicki Davis - Ratha
* Michael Dees -
* Dena Dietrich -
* Paul Eiding -
* Al Fann -
* June Foray - Aunt Alice, Miss Rodan
* Pat Fraley -
* Linda Gary
* Joan Gerber -
* Patrick Gorman -
* Sean G. Griffin -
* Ernest Harada
* Noah Hathaway -
* Rosie Lee Hooks -
* Dennis Howard -
* Joshua Jackson -
* Laura Jacoby - Mindy
* Zale Kessler - Dr. Hennenglass
* Emily Kuroda -
* Maurice LaMarche - Sid
* Christina Lange -
* Brian Lee -
* Peter Leeds -
* Amy Licon -
* Keland Love - Michael
* Dave Madden - Arnold's Dad
* Kenneth Mars -
* Mona Marshall - Fessran, Nicole, Rupert, Mom
* Anna Mathias -
* David McKnight
* Devin McLaughlin - Joey
* David Mendenhall - Henry Green
* Haunani Minn -
* Howard Morris -
* Janice Motoike -
* Emily Moultrie - Joan
* Frank Nelson -
* Issac Nizamudin - Plug
* Alan Oppenheimer -
* Anna Maria Poon -
* Corey Rand -
* Zelda Rubinstein -
* Peter Renaday -
* Neilson Ross - Dr. Fargo
* Will Ryan -
* Steven Schatzberg -
* Chad Sheets - Walter
* Wayne Scherzer -
* Jeremy Schoenberg -
* Marilyn Schreffler -
* Ted Schwartz -
* Richard Shoff -
* Hal Smith - George the Stegosaur
* Stephen Spears -
* John Stephenson - Major Tybo
* Carl Steven - Ralph
* George Takei - Guard
* Russi Taylor - Rex's Owner
* Brian Tochi -
* Marcelo Tubert
* Jackie Wang -
* Lennie Weinrib - Giovanni, Mouse Seller
* Frank Welker - Mondir, Sid Bevis' Horse, Prison Guard, Cat
* Mel Welles
* Claudette Wells -
* Stephen Winter - Billy Forrester
== External Links ==
* CBS Storybreak at the Internet Movie Database
* at the Retroist
* Storybreak at the Big Cartoon Database
* Storybreak at Toonarific
* Storybreak at Skool Days
 
Category:CBS shows
Category:Hanna-Barbera shows
Category:The Funtastic Index