Cinema Carousel

dallasmovietheaters on August 7, 2025 at 5:00 am

Cartoon Carousel of America, Inc. opened the first of what was supposed to have been a franchised operation of multiple Cartoon Carousels - automated, supervised kids-centric theaters where parties could be had and kids could be dropped off. It was located behind the highly-popular Sharpstown Mall.

Cartoon Carousel’s long delayed opening happened on April 2, 1977. Their motto to potential franchisees was, “As long as there are kids, you can be making money!” Apparently, kids must have not been in or near Sharpstown or South Houston as this Carousel stopped suddenly, just shy of the venue’s second month party on June 26, 1977.

Dismay occurred for the neighborhood when the venue transitioned under new operators from kid-friendly to the porno chic Cinema Carousel on October 30, 1977. Its policy was double-feature X-rated fare where you could drop off adults beginning with Linda Wong in “Easy Alice” and Sandy Dempsey in “Shot on Location.”

The venue’s programming continued its trajectory on June 15, 1984 when - under a new operator - began showing unrated XXX double features in the home video era. It appears to have closed May 18, 1987 presumably at the opt-out point, half way through a 20-year leasing agreement. It was converted for other retail purposes.