Cattanooga Cats
Encyclopedia
Cattanooga Cats is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera
for ABC
. It aired from September 6, 1969 until September 4, 1971.
show The Banana Splits, except that it contained no live-action segments. During the 1969–1970
season, Cattanooga Cats ran one hour and contained four segments. During the 1970–1971 season, the segments It's the Wolf! and Motormouse and Autocat were spun off into a half-hour show. Around the World in 79 Days remained a part of Cattanoga Cats, which was reduced to a half-hour. Motormouse and Autocat ran concurrently with Cattanooga Cats until both met their demise at the end of the 1970–1971 season.
and The Banana Splits populated by anthropomorphic hillbilly cats:
A fifth member, a mouse keyboardist named "Cheesie", was storyboarded but cut out of the series. The group travelled around in a van, was chased by a female cat groupie named Jessie the "Autograph Hound" (also voiced by Julie Bennett) and Kitty Jo owned a big blue dog named "Teeny Tim". The singing vocals for The Cattanooga Cats were performed by Michael Lloyd and Peggy Clinger. Producer Mike Curb
was the musical director for the series and co-wrote all the songs performed by the Cattanooga Cats. Ted Nichols
composed the background music. An LP, The Cattanooga Cats (Forward ST-F-1018), featuring some of the songs used in the series was released in 1969.
The Cats also appeared in various "bumpers" between the other cartoons, but were best remembered for their animated musical segments. These cartoons showed a strong psychedelic and op-art influence and the Cattanooga Cats remain a cult favorite to this day.
, this was an adventure segment involving balloonist "Phinny Fogg" (conceived as the son of the main character Phileas Fogg
in the novel and voiced by Bruce Watson) and reporter teenagers Jenny (voiced by Janet Waldo
) and Hoppy (voiced by Don Messick
), who set out on a globetrotting adventure to sail around the world in 79 days and beat the original record set by Phinny's father. The trio are in competition for both the record and a US$1,000,000 prize against the sinister Crumden (voiced by Daws Butler
), who supposedly was the butler of the original Phineas, aided by Phineas' chauffeur, the idiotic Bumbler (voiced by Allan Melvin
), and Crumden's pet monkey, Smirky (voiced by Don Messick
). Unlike the other segments, Around the World in 79 Days was a serial with a continuing story, however, as with many shows made during this period, it has no specific ending.
(voiced by an uncredited yet easily recognizable Paul Lynde
), who aspires to catch and eat a sure-footed little lamb named Lambsy (voiced by Daws Butler
), but is always thwarted in this plan by the dog Bristle Hound (voiced by Allan Melvin
). Bristle would apprehend Mildew (usually after hearing Lambsy's cries of, "It's the wool-uff!"), pound him, and toss him sailing into the air, with Mildew screaming a phrase such as "Spoil Sport!" as he flies into the horizon and lands with a thud. Showing modest responsibility, Lambsy never fails to recognize Mildew.
, this segment involved the antics of a race car-driving cat and a motorcycle-driving mouse. Much of the segment's appeal lay in the bizarre cars that Autocat (voiced by Marty Ingels
) devised in his attempts to catch Motormouse (voiced by Dick Curtis), and in the pleasing, and unusual character voices and dialect. For example, Motormouse would often over enunciate words, saying things like "Chi-co-ry", and greeting Autocat with a friendly "Hey there, Au-to-cat". Motormouse resembled Pixie & Dixie in character design.
, on Laff-a-Lympics
, this time voiced by John Stephenson
. Lambsy appeared in the TV film Yogi's Ark Lark
. Sky one in the U.K occasionally broadcast "Cattanooga Cats" shorts in 1990. the segments were shown in complete isolation, broadcast neither as part of the original show or a new compilation.
Reruns of Cattanooga Cats were not seen until the program began airing as part of the Boomerang
programming block on the Cartoon Network
, which later became a spin-off network of its own. For several months the UK
Boomerang channel ran the musical interludes from the show, all of which ran to exactly 1 minute 45 seconds, as short (and unidentified) fillers before closing down at midnight. When the channel expanded to 24 hours, these interludes were dropped. The complete show has not been seen in the UK in recent years.
to release a complete series DVD set of the entire show for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection
at the present time.
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. It aired from September 6, 1969 until September 4, 1971.
Segments
The show was a package program similar to the Hanna-Barbera/NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
show The Banana Splits, except that it contained no live-action segments. During the 1969–1970
1970 in television
The year 1970 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1970.For the American TV schedule, see: 1970-71 American network television schedule.-Events:...
season, Cattanooga Cats ran one hour and contained four segments. During the 1970–1971 season, the segments It's the Wolf! and Motormouse and Autocat were spun off into a half-hour show. Around the World in 79 Days remained a part of Cattanoga Cats, which was reduced to a half-hour. Motormouse and Autocat ran concurrently with Cattanooga Cats until both met their demise at the end of the 1970–1971 season.
Cattanooga Cats
Cattanooga Cats depicted the adventures of a fictitious rock band similar to The ArchiesThe Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
and The Banana Splits populated by anthropomorphic hillbilly cats:
- Lead singer/guitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Country (voiced by Bill Callaway) - Singer/dancer Kitty Jo (voiced by Julie Bennett)
- BassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Scoots (voiced by Jim Begg) - DrummerDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Groove (voiced by Casey KasemCasey KasemKemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
)
A fifth member, a mouse keyboardist named "Cheesie", was storyboarded but cut out of the series. The group travelled around in a van, was chased by a female cat groupie named Jessie the "Autograph Hound" (also voiced by Julie Bennett) and Kitty Jo owned a big blue dog named "Teeny Tim". The singing vocals for The Cattanooga Cats were performed by Michael Lloyd and Peggy Clinger. Producer Mike Curb
Mike Curb
Michael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
was the musical director for the series and co-wrote all the songs performed by the Cattanooga Cats. Ted Nichols
Ted Nichols
Theodore "Ted" Nichols is a composer, arranger, director and music producer. As a musician Nichols primarily played saxophone, violin and clarinet...
composed the background music. An LP, The Cattanooga Cats (Forward ST-F-1018), featuring some of the songs used in the series was released in 1969.
The Cats also appeared in various "bumpers" between the other cartoons, but were best remembered for their animated musical segments. These cartoons showed a strong psychedelic and op-art influence and the Cattanooga Cats remain a cult favorite to this day.
Episodes
Only nine cartoon story segments featuring the characters were produced:- Witch Whacky
- Geronihoho
- The Big Boo-Boo
- The Wee Greenie Goofie
- Mummy's Day
- Zoo's Who
- Autograph Hounded
- The Caribbean Kook
- Ghosting A-Go-Go
Around the World in 79 Days
Loosely based upon the novel, Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules VerneJules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, this was an adventure segment involving balloonist "Phinny Fogg" (conceived as the son of the main character Phileas Fogg
Phileas Fogg
Phileas Fogg is the main fictional character in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days.Fogg attempts to circumnavigate the late Victorian world in eighty days, or less, for a wager of £20,000 with members of London's Reform Club. He takes the wager and leaves with Passepartout,...
in the novel and voiced by Bruce Watson) and reporter teenagers Jenny (voiced by Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo is an American actress and voice artist with a career encompassing radio, television, animation and live-action films. She is best known in animation for voicing Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop and Josie McCoy in Josie and the Pussycats...
) and Hoppy (voiced by Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
), who set out on a globetrotting adventure to sail around the world in 79 days and beat the original record set by Phinny's father. The trio are in competition for both the record and a US$1,000,000 prize against the sinister Crumden (voiced by Daws Butler
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...
), who supposedly was the butler of the original Phineas, aided by Phineas' chauffeur, the idiotic Bumbler (voiced by Allan Melvin
Allan Melvin
Allan Melvin was an American character actor who appeared in several television shows, including the roles of Corporal Henshaw on The Phil Silvers Show; Alice's boyfriend Sam the Butcher on The Brady Bunch; and Archie Bunker's friend Barney Hefner on All in the Family and Archie Bunker's...
), and Crumden's pet monkey, Smirky (voiced by Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
). Unlike the other segments, Around the World in 79 Days was a serial with a continuing story, however, as with many shows made during this period, it has no specific ending.
Episodes
- The Race is On
- Swiss Mis-Adventure
- Arabian Daze
- Madrid or Busted
- Mr. Bom Bom
- India or Bust
- Snow Slappy
- Finney Finney Fun Fun
- The Argentiny Meany
- The Tree Man
- Saucy Aussie
- Crumden's Last Stand
- Egyptian Jinx
- Border Disorder
- Troubles in Dutch
- The Fiji Weegees
- Hawaiian Hangup
It's the Wolf!
It's the Wolf! followed the comic exploits of a wolf named MildewMildew Wolf
Mildew Wolf is a fictional anthropomorphic wolf, main antagonist, and titular character of the Cattanooga Cats segment It's the Wolf!. He is the most popular character of the series, and he was voiced by an uncredited Paul Lynde. Mildew's main goal in the segments was to catch a little sheep named...
(voiced by an uncredited yet easily recognizable Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
), who aspires to catch and eat a sure-footed little lamb named Lambsy (voiced by Daws Butler
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...
), but is always thwarted in this plan by the dog Bristle Hound (voiced by Allan Melvin
Allan Melvin
Allan Melvin was an American character actor who appeared in several television shows, including the roles of Corporal Henshaw on The Phil Silvers Show; Alice's boyfriend Sam the Butcher on The Brady Bunch; and Archie Bunker's friend Barney Hefner on All in the Family and Archie Bunker's...
). Bristle would apprehend Mildew (usually after hearing Lambsy's cries of, "It's the wool-uff!"), pound him, and toss him sailing into the air, with Mildew screaming a phrase such as "Spoil Sport!" as he flies into the horizon and lands with a thud. Showing modest responsibility, Lambsy never fails to recognize Mildew.
Episodes
- High Hopes
- When My Sheep Comes In
- A Sheep in the Deep
- Lambsy Divey in Winter Blunder Land
- Merry Go Round Up
- Super Scientific Sheep Sitting Service
- Any Sport in a Storm
- Magic Wanderer
- Runaway Home
- Smart Dummy
- Channel Chasers
- Mask Me No Questions
- Freeway Frenzy
- Slumber Jacks
- Pow Wow Wolf
- Ghost of a Chance
- Lambscout Cookout or Mildew
- Wolf in a Sheeps Clothing
- To Beach His Own
- Sheep Scene Stealer
- How to Cook a Lamb
- Train Tripped
- I never met a lamb I didn't like
- Cat caper
Motormouse and Autocat
Essentially a motor-racing version of Tom and JerryTom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
, this segment involved the antics of a race car-driving cat and a motorcycle-driving mouse. Much of the segment's appeal lay in the bizarre cars that Autocat (voiced by Marty Ingels
Marty Ingels
Marty Ingels is an actor, comedian, theatrical agent, and, by many, best known as the voice of many cartoon characters and commercials. Born Martin Ingerman in Brooklyn, New York, he is the son of Jacob and Minnie Ingerman.His voice-overs and commercials include those for Paul Masson wines, with...
) devised in his attempts to catch Motormouse (voiced by Dick Curtis), and in the pleasing, and unusual character voices and dialect. For example, Motormouse would often over enunciate words, saying things like "Chi-co-ry", and greeting Autocat with a friendly "Hey there, Au-to-cat". Motormouse resembled Pixie & Dixie in character design.
Episodes
| # | Title | Air Date |
|---|
Cattanooga Cats in other languages
- Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
: Turma da Gatolândia - ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: I gatti di Cattanooga - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Los Gatedráticos del Ritmo
Epilogue
Hanna-Barbera had high hopes for Cattanooga Cats to be a hit program, like The Banana Splits, but the show failed to attract a large audience during its original run. Mildew Wolf, the most popular character on the program, resurfaced six years after the cancellation of Cattanooga Cats as co-host, with SnagglepussSnagglepuss
Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character created in 1959, a pink anthropomorphic mountain lion voiced by Daws Butler. He is best known for his famous catchphrase, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!", along with phrases such as "Exit, stage left!" Snagglepuss was originally known as "Snaggletooth"...
, on Laff-a-Lympics
Laff-A-Lympics
Laff-A-Lympics was the co-headlining segment, with Scooby-Doo, of the package Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show was a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC television series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one...
, this time voiced by John Stephenson
John Stephenson (actor)
John Stephenson is an American actor and voice actor. He has also been credited as John Stevenson...
. Lambsy appeared in the TV film Yogi's Ark Lark
Yogi's Ark Lark
Yogi’s Ark Lark is an animated Hanna-Barbera television movie, intended to raise ecological awareness. Broadcast in 1972, it was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie and served as the pilot for Yogi's Gang.-Plot:...
. Sky one in the U.K occasionally broadcast "Cattanooga Cats" shorts in 1990. the segments were shown in complete isolation, broadcast neither as part of the original show or a new compilation.
Reruns of Cattanooga Cats were not seen until the program began airing as part of the Boomerang
Boomerang (TV channel)
Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
programming block on the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, which later became a spin-off network of its own. For several months the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Boomerang channel ran the musical interludes from the show, all of which ran to exactly 1 minute 45 seconds, as short (and unidentified) fillers before closing down at midnight. When the channel expanded to 24 hours, these interludes were dropped. The complete show has not been seen in the UK in recent years.
DVD release
There are no plans from Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
to release a complete series DVD set of the entire show for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection
Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection
The Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection is a series of two-to-four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Bros.' home video unit Warner Home Video, usually containing seasons and complete series of various classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon shows...
at the present time.