Top Cat
From Freepedia
Top Cat (also known for a while as Boss Cat in the United Kingdom) was a Hanna-Barbera prime-time animated series which premiered in 1961 and ran for 30 episodes and which remains one of the studio's most enduring creations.
Its central character, Top Cat—his friends call him TC—is the leader of a gang of Manhattan alley cats: Fancy Fancy, Spook, Benny, Brain, and Choo Choo. There are distinct resemblances to the popular US situation comedy The Phil Silvers Show (on which the cartoon is said to have been loosely based) in the relationships between the characters. Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice as well.
A frequent plotline revolved around the local policeman, Officer Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the city.
In the United Kingdom, the show was renamed Boss Cat shortly after it premiered in 1962 (by means of a crudely substituted title card) when it was first aired on BBC television (now called BBC1) because Top Cat was the name of a brand of cat food. Of course, the dialogue and theme tune still referred to the character by his original name. By the 1980s the original title was used in repeats and this continues on Cartoon Network UK.
In 1985 Top Cat appeared on Yogi's Treasure Hunt with all the other Hanna-Barbera characters and then in 1991 he became a teenage cat (but he still lived in a trash can) on NBC's Yo Yogi.
But when he returned in 1996 there was a new closing logo with the Hanna-Barbera All-Stars featuring the comedy characters.
Contents |
The Theme Tune
Top Cat!
The most effectual Top Cat
Whose intellectual
Close friends get to call him T.C.
Providing it's with dignity
Top Cat
The indisputable leader of the gang
He's the boss
He's the pip
He's the championship
He's the most tip top
Top Cat
Yes, he's a chief
He's a king
But above everything
He's the most tip top
Top Cat (Top Cat!)
Voice artists
- Top Cat: Arnold Stang
- Benny the Ball: Maurice Gosfield
- Choo Choo: Marvin Kaplan
- Fancy Fancy: John Stephenson
- Spook: Leo De Lyon
- Brain: Leo De Lyon
- Officer Dibble: Allen Jenkins (John Stephenson in the TV movie "Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats")
DVD Release
In December 2004, Warner Brothers released the complete series (30 Episodes) on DVD for a retail price of $39.99. The set features several extras, including interviews, commentary, a "Making of" featurette, original TV commercials and more.
External link
Top Cat in other languages
- Brazilian Portuguese: Manda-Chuva
- Spanish: Don Gato y su pandilla
- German: Superkater
- French: Le Pacha
- Japanese: ドラ猫大将 (Doraneko Taishou)
- Polish: Tip-Top , later Kocia Ferajna
Categories: Fictional cats | Animated television series | Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios series and characters
