CBS Children's Film Festival (also known as CBS Children's Hour) is a 1967–1984 television series of live action films from several countries that were made for children (several of them dubbed into English). Originally a sporadic series airing on Saturday mornings, Sunday afternoons, or weekday afternoons beginning in February 1967, it became a regularly scheduled program in 1971 on the CBS Saturday-morning lineup, running one hour with some films apparently edited down to fit the time slot. The program was hosted by 1950s television act Kukla, Fran and Ollie, a.k.a. puppeteer Burr Tillstrom and actress Fran Allison.

Kukla, Fran and Ollie were dropped from the series in 1977 and the program was renamed CBS Saturday Film Festival.CBS Children's Film Festival at TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. In 1978 CBS canceled the show in favor of the youth-targeted magazine 30 Minutes which was modeled after its adult sister show 60 Minutes. CBS canceled 30 Minutes in 1982 and brought back Saturday Film Festival which ran for two seasons until CBS cancelled it for good in 1984.

Perhaps the most famous "episode" of the series was the 1960 British film Hand in Hand, the story of a deep friendship between two elementary school students, one a Roman Catholic boy and the other a Jewish girl.

In addition to many American and British films, the series also featured motion pictures from Russia, France, Bulgaria, Japan, Sweden, Italy, China, Australia, South Africa, and Czechoslovakia, as well as several other countries.

Other films that aired during the series run include the Academy Award-winning French film The Red Balloon; Skinny and Fatty from Japan; Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World from Great Britain; Tillie, the Unhappy Hippopotamus from Czechoslovakia; and Mi-Mi, the Lazy Kitten from China.

Actor Ray Bolger, a star of The Wizard of Oz, served as narrator for some of the episodes during the show's 1980s run.

Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame stated that the characters of Kukla, Fran and Ollie were an early influence on his show.

Films Following is a partial list of films aired on the program:The Kuklapolitan WebsiteThe CBS Children's Film Festival at Tripod.com

Adventure in Golden Bay – Czech, 1956 Adventure in the Hopfields – British, 1954 Angel and Big Joe – American, 1975 Anoop and the Elephant – British, 1972 Bag on Bag – Soviet, 1974 A Bird of Africa – Japanese, 1975 Birds Come Flying To Us – Bulgarian, 1971 Black Mountain – Soviet, 1970 The Blind Bird – Soviet, 1963 The Boy and the Airplane – French, 1965 The Boy Who Owned a Melephant – American, 1959 The Boy Who Wore Spectacles – Soviet, ? The Boy With Glasses – Japanese, 1962 Bunnie – Polish, 1973 The Camerons – Australian, 1974 Captain Korda – Czech, 1970 Captain Mikula, the Kid – Yugoslavian, 1974 Carole, I Love You – French, 1971 Charlie the Rascal – Swedish, 1972 Chimpmates – British, 1976 The Chiffy Kids – British, 1976 Circus Adventure – Dutch, 1972 Circus Angel – French, 1965 Clown – Spanish, 1969 Cold Pizza – Canadian, 1972 Countdown to Danger – British, 1967 Cry Wolf – British, 1968 Danger Point – British, 1971 Death of a Gandy Dancer – Canadian, 1977 Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World – British, 1973 Doggie and Three – Czech, 1955 Egghead's Robot – British, 1970 Elephant River – Ceylon, 1956 Felipa: North of the Border – American, 1971 The Firefighters – British, 1975 Flash the Sheepdog – British, 1966 Fly Away Dove – American, 1982 The Flying Sorcerer – British, 1973 For Boys Only Is For Girls, Also – Czech, 1964 A Friend – Italian, 1967 Friend or Foe – British, 1969 Friends for Life – Soviet, 1971 Funny Stories – Soviet, 1962 Geronimo Jones – American, 1970 Get Used to Me – American, 1976 Ghost of a Chance – British, 1968 The Giant Eel – Czech, 1971 Glamador – French, 1955 The Goalkeeper Also Lives on Our Street – Czech, 1957 The Golden Fish – French, 1959 Gosha the Bear – Soviet, 1971 Hand in Hand – British, 1960 Headline Hunters – British, 1967 Heidi – German/Austrian, 1965 J.T. (1969)CBS Children's Hour: J.T. at UCLA Film and Television Archives. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017 Joey – American, 1978 John and Julie – British, 1954 The Johnstown Monster – British, 1971 Jumping Over Puddles – Czech, 1970 The Legend of John Henry – American, 1974 The Legend of Paul Bunyan – American, 1973 Lionheart – British, 1968 The Little Bearkeepers – Czech, 1957 The Little Ones – British, 1965 Little Pig – Hong Kong, 1976 The Little Wooden Horse – French, 1966 Lone Wolf – Yugoslavian, 1972 Lost in Pajamas – Czech, 1966 Lucy and the Miracles – Czech, 1970 The Magnificent 6-1/2 – British, 1967 Mauro the Gypsy – British, 1972 Me and You, Kangaroo – Australian, 1974 A Member of the Family – British, 1971 Miguel's Navidad – Mexico, 1976 Miguel: Up From Puerto Rico – American, 1970 Mischief – British, 1968 Mr. Horatio Knibbles – British, 1971 My Father, Sun-Sun Johnson – Jamaican, 1976 My Main Man – American, 1975 Nikkolina – Canadian, 1977 Nina and the Street Kids – Swedish, 1974 Nunu and the Zebra – South African, 1973 On Snow White – Czech, 1972 The Orange Watering Cart – Hungarian, ?1973 Paddle to the Sea – Canadian, 1966 Paganini Strikes Again – British, 1974 Pero and His Companions – Yugoslavia, 1970 The Promise – American, 1977 The Ransom of Red Chief – Soviet, 1963 The Red Balloon – French, 1956 Scramble – British, 1969 A Seafaring Dog – Soviet, 1973 The Secret – American, 1977 The Seven Ravens – German, 1937 Shok and Sher – Soviet, ? Shopping Bag Lady – American, 1975 The Show Must Go On – Soviet, ? Six Bears and a Clown – Czech, 1972 Sirius – Czech, 1974 Skinny and Fatty – Japanese, 1959 Soapbox Derby – Canadian, ? Stowaway in the Sky – French, 1959 Strange Holiday – Australian, 1969 That's My Name, Don't Wear It Out – British, 1975 Three Wishes for Cinderella – Czech, 1973 Thunderstorm – French, ? Ticko – Swedish, ? Tiko and the Shark – Italian/French, 1965 Tjorven, Batsman, and Moses – Swedish, 1964 Tony and the Tick-Tock Dragon – Hungarian, ? Turniphead – Italian, 1965 Tymancha's Friend – Soviet, 1970 Up in the Air – British, 1969 The Violin – Canadian, 1974 What Next? – British, 1974 Where's Johnny? – British, 1974 White Mane – French, 1952 Winter of the Witch – British, 1969 The Yellow Slippers – Polish, 1961

References Informational notes

Citations

External links

CBS Children's Film Festival film listings