Shirt Tales (Boomerang)

SHIRT TALES looks like a cross between the Superfriends of old and today's Save-ums and is perhaps the first cartoon to be spun off from a line of Hallmark greeting cards. The popular early-'80s cards featured cuddly critters with messages on their shirts offering holiday greetings; the show features cuddly critters whose thoughts appear on their shirts as they fight less-cuddly critters committing crimes. In each episode of Shirt Tales, the gang -- Pammy Panda (voiced by Patricia Parris), Tyg Tiger (Steven Schatzberg), Digger Mole (Bob Ogle), Rick Raccoon (Ronnie Schell), and Bogey Orangutan (Fred Travalena) -- have adventures that are often based on fairy tales, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and a member of the crew learns a lesson like "friends are more important than money."

The show's connection to the Hallmark cards isn't entirely clear, but gee, they're cute! And they're smart too, especially that Pammy. (Remember, there were a lot fewer cartoons to choose from in 1982...) There's peril that's mild enough for even the youngest viewers (although the Shirt Tales stories are less tailored to preschoolers than the shoe-tying dilemmas faced by the Save-ums), a flying vehicle, and plenty of camaraderie to go around.

But the morals of the show are pretty tame and usually underplayed -- this is no VeggieTales (in more ways than one). Shirt Tales often pops up on TV these days as part of Boomerang's "No Undies Mondays" line-up. You can probably guess why, but there's nothing even remotely salacious about Shirt Tales. It's nothing more than a very mild introduction to the typical superhero cartoon.