December 10, 1955

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This upcoming Monday, Dec. 10, marks the 52nd anniversary of the television debut of Mighty Mouse Playhouse, network television's very first all-cartoon Saturday morning show. It aired on the CBS network.


It was 1955 when Paul Terry, who regulated budgets at his Terrytoons studio with an iron first, sold the studio to CBS and retired. CBS would package the theatrical cartoons for TV, not having to pop for producing new cartoons. Mighty Mouse Playhouse was their biggest success, running for eleven years. The show consisted of three Mighty Mouse cartoons (running first, second and fourth) and a Terrytoons short featuring some of the studio's other characters. Television watchdog groups and the PTA called it "corny." That it was, what with the studio's reputation as the worst of the theatrical era, but Mighty Mouse was a hit with kids.

Some may see this as an anachronism, but Mighty Mouse did receive an Academy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Short Subject. 1945's Gypsy Life was the nominee.