Catscratch
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| Catscratch | |
|---|---|
 From top to bottom: Waffle, Gordon, Mr. Blik |
|
| Genre | Children's television series |
| Creator(s) | Doug TenNapel |
| Starring | Wayne Knight Kevin McDonald Maurice LaMarche Liliana Mumy Rob Paulsen John DiMaggio |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 20 (as of February 10, 2007) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:22 Minutes (two 11 Minute shorts) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon |
| Original run | July 9, 2005 – Present |
Catscratch is an American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel (the creator of Earthworm Jim) airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and it also shown on Nickelodeon UK on May 29, 2006 after a sneak peek preview on May 1, 2006 and then on Nicktoons UK on July 31, 2006. It is a light-hearted adaptation of TenNapel's graphic novel, Gear. The series features music composed by longtime TenNapel collaborator, Terry Scott Taylor. Catscratch's first DVD appearance was on Nick Picks which came out February 7, 2006 (though the DVD featured "Bringin' Down the Mouse"). Doug TenNapel has confirmed that there will be new episodes this year. The show will soon be premering on Nicktoons Network.
Contents |
[edit] Description
Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle were raised in a mega-mansion by Mrs. Edna Crandilly who left the three her house and every penny of her fortune when she died. But Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle aren't her grandsons, they're cats. The brothers live a life of freedom, adventure, and usually total mayhem. Whether they're taking on ferocious bears, mythical sea creatures, zombies, giant robots, or aliens, these wealthy felines just can't keep out of trouble, but somehow everything goes back to normal at the end.
[edit] Characters
[edit] The Cats
- Gordon Quid Gordon is a brave warrior of the Highland Quid clan. He is full of heart, and is a real softy. He has a soft spot for Human Kimberly. He is really the only sane person in the house. Voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Mr. Blik is the self-appointed leader of the group. He's bossy and brash, but when it comes to brawn, he's a big wuss who's happy to let other people (or felines) fight his battles. Mr. Blik is proud of his newly inherited riches and spends his money on anything and everything that spells respect and power: a bathtub full of root beer, a huge ice sculpture of himself, ear massages, and solid gold sunglasses, to name a few. Is that too much to ask for? Mr. Blik doesn't think so! Voiced by Wayne Knight.
- Waffle is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He is extremely enthusiastic, goofy, cute, giddy and can speak Newtegeese (a newt language he supposedly made up all by himself) as if he were a newt himself. Waffle is a free spirit who is overly optimistic. He gets super-excited about all things silly. Waffle has been wowed by revolving doors,fingers,bubble wrap and newts. He also wishes roller coasters were public transportation,would eat donuts straight from "donut trees", loves zero gravity basketball and smelling the pictures of flowers on shirts. Oh, and he really loves his pet newts,a lot, maybe too much. But who doesn't? Voiced by Kevin McDonald.
- Katilda - (voiced by ChalkZone's and Teen Titans' Hynden Walch) - The cats' new neighbor who loves adventures. It has been confirmed by Doug TenNapel that she will have more appearances in the future (the first of these occurs in the episode Blik Mail). Mr. Blik has a huge crush on her, Katilda knows this and teases him for it. Katilda also has an active imagination.
[edit] The Humans
- Human Kimberly is an 8-year-old with a lot of heart and an obsession with unicorns. She is one of the few human friends the cats have. She doesn't think they are greedy, and just accepts her feline neighbors for who they are and sees the good in their fur-covered hearts. She is also completely unaware of the giant crush Gordon has on her.
- Hovis was Mrs. Crandilly's butler and he's stayed on to see after the cats and collect his measly paychecks (which Mr. Blik signs). He's not exactly thrilled about his new situation, but he hails from a long line of butlers who have served in the house and he honestly believes he's got nowhere else to go. So Hovis puts up with the fact that the former pets have become his masters. Blik barks out orders constantly, Gordon treats him as an equal and Waffle hasn't quite figured out he's not a pet anymore (he still asks Hovis to be let out and scratched behind his ears).
- Mrs. Edna Cramdilly was the owner of the cats and Hovis until she died. She left her fortune and Hovis to the cats.
- The Chumpy Chumps neighbors and rivals of the cats.
[edit] The Giant Shape-shifting Monster Truck
- Gear is the cats' Monster Truck. A simple and solid perk of wealth, this massive machine is adored by the brothers for all its audacious guy-ness. Their pride in blasting down the street aboard their beloved Gear is an equal mix of devil-may-care attitude and obliviousness. According to promos for this show, Gear can shapeshift into any given vehicle, from a boat to a spaceship.
Gear's "personalised" licence plate is also written in exactly the same style and font as the logo for the comic Gear which loosely inspired the Catscratch series.
[edit] Minor characters
- Mayor/Judge (Appears in To The Moon)
- Randall (the bear) (Appears in The Unicorn Club , King of All Root Beer (as Root Bear) , The Ghost of Mrs. Cramdilly)
- Squeakus (Appears in Bringin' Down The Mouse)
- Sassyfrass (Appears in King of All Root Beer)
- Kraken (Appears in Tale of the Tail, Hi Ho Kraken)
- Kaitlin (Appears in Tale of the Tail, Slumber Party )
- Katlyn (Appears in Tale of the Tail, Slumber Party )
- Charlotte (Appears in Slumber Party)
- Barkmeat (Appears in Off The Leash)
- The Vet (Appears in Requiem for a Cat)
- Judge from "Go, Gomez, Go!"
- Waffle's Newts;Waffle's adored pet newts,especially his lucky newt Gomez.
- Quebafarb & Zinkogorb (Appears in Scaredy Cat)
- The Hobos (This trio first appear in Mr Pickles, and make a brief cameo in the later Mall Adjusted)
- The Slugpeople (Appear in Spindango Fundulation}
- The Duck (Appears in Duck And Cover)
[edit] Comics
Confirmed by an e-mail from Doug Tennapel, there are a few two-page Catscratch comics in the works for Nick Magazine. The first one appeared in the December/January 2005 issue. The second appeared in the March 2006 issue. The third-and-newest one was in the February 2007 Issue.
[edit] Guest Stars
- Phil LaMarr
- Maurice LaMarche
- Rob Paulsen
- Wayne Knight
- John DiMaggio
- Tress MacNeille
- Tom Kenny
- Clancy Brown
- Frank Welker
- Candi Milo
- Jim Ward
- Kevin McDonald
- Tia Carrere
- Jeff Bennett
- Daveigh Chase
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Jess Harnell
- Jennifer Elise Cox
- Jim Cummings
- Pearce Bunting
- Christie Mellor
- Hynden Walch
- Peter Hastings
[edit] Episode Trivia
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Bringin' Down the Mouse
- This episode's title is a pun on "Bringin' Down the House."
Go Gomez! Go!
- A lot of the racing scenes are deliberately reminiscent of Speed Racer, which once aired on Nickeledeon.
- The race was called "The Bakersfield 500", suggesting the show could take place in Bakersfield, California.
Lovesick
- "Paging Doctor Girard. Paging Doctor Girard." This is said over the loud speaker in the hospital in this episode. This is a reference to Michael Girard, the director of the show.
- The two Ambulance medics have the appearance of Don Knotts
King of all Root Beer
- The hangar the cats run into to inflate themselves is Hangar 18. It is a reference to a supposed secret Government research bunker, as well as the film of the same name. It is a location much-loved by conspiracy theorists.
- Catscratch could be set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since the tower Randall goes to the top is similar to the One Liberty Place building. Also, the city bears a resemblance to Philadelphia.
- The music playing during the end fight scene is an adaptation of themes appearing in various Godzilla movies. Also, Godzilla's roar is used several times.
Off the Leash
- At the close of the episode, Barkmeat says to Waffle, "The struggle is not over. It shall continue until only one of us remains." Bearing in mind that Barkmeat is voiced by Clancy Brown, this seems highly likely to be a reference to his role as the Kurgan in the film Highlander.
Requiem For a Cat
- When Waffle says Blik is a killing Machine from the Future, it could be a reference to the Terminator movies. This is made all the more likely in light of the sight gag which occurs shortly before wherein Blik drags himself up and across the chassis of Gear in a manner clearly reminiscent of Robert Patrick's T-1000 from the film Terminator 2
Lifesavers
- Klaus and Rhonda the lobsters are not a parody of Cosmo and Wanda from their fellow Nicktoon The Fairly Oddparents. There is no resemblance between the two pairs, other than the Oddparents' occasional appearances as crabs. It seems more likely that Klaus is a pun on "claws", and that Rhonda is a reference to the Beach Boys' well-known surf music song, Help Me Rhonda.
Mecha Kitties
- The giant robot that Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle use to fight the three robots looks just like the robot from the comic "Gear".
Mall-Adjusted
- The music that plays while Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle are employees at the ice cream shop is reminiscent of the music from the computer game "The Neverhood", also created by Doug TenNapel.
Love Cats
- The episode title is presumably a reference to The Cure's song of the same name.
Gordon's Lucky Claw
- Mistaking Japanese culture for Chinese culture (such as sumo wrestling, Mount Fuji, and Cherry Trees) was the episode's run-on gag.
- When Waffle makes a reference to French Fries coming from Canada early in the episode, it's probably a sly joke at the expense of the jingoism that saw various American sources renaming them to Freedom Fries following France's neutral stance during the second Gulf War.
A Line in the Litterbox
- The music that plays while Waffle is playing Hide-And-Seek is reminiscent of the music from the computer game "The Neverhood", also created by Doug TenNapel.
Katilda
- When Katilda calls the car a monster, it is a possible reference to Warriors, which calls cars monsters. This can be further supported by the fact they are cats.
The Secret Door
- The Dragon Rider Hovis disguises himself as could be a reference to the book Dragon Rider,Dragon Booster, Eragon, or even Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. In all fairness, this could be a reference to any one of a good many sources.
- At King Waffle's castle, the clouds are more like Tetris pieces. It should also be noted that both the initial establishing shots and incidental music of King Waffle's realm are heavily indebted to the portrayal of Pepperland from the famous animated feature film, Yellow Submarine.
Major Pepperidge
- The song played at the beginning is a variation of the theme song.
- Major Pepperidge himself owes a lot to many "two-headed monster" films. However, insofar as he is meant to be another aspect of Blik's personality, and in that his first appearance is very similar to the source about to be named, it appears that the Major was primarily inspired by the alter ego of Denis Bagley in the film How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
The Magic Staff
- The "Thunderswork" very specifically seems to be a corollary to the version of Mjolnir carried by Marvel Comics' The Mighty Thor - the super-powers that it bestows being super-strength (along with a suitably muscular physique), the power of unassisted flight, and (to Waffle's delight) "flowing blond hair" - very much the exact super-powers that Don Blake assumed upon his transformations into Thor.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Happy Meal
A McDonald's Happy Meal Toy promotion for Catscratch began on January 26, 2007 and ended on February 23, 2007
[edit] Other trivia
- Gordon Quidd is a playable character in Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island if you enable a cheat and enter Zim's house (This is unconfirmed)
- The creator of Catscratch, Doug TenNapel, is credited for being the creator of Earthworm Jim.
- All three of the cats names (Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle) are the names of Doug TenNapel's cats. This was confirmed in an interview with Nickelodeon magazine.
- Occasionally, Gordon's eyes change between green and blue, depending on the light.
- Comic strips will be available on the Sunday Times, created by Zechariah Patterson.
[edit] External links
- Catscratch on YTV, Sundays at 9:30am ET
- Official site
- TV.com
- Catscratch Microsite from nick.co.uk
- Microsite from nickelodeon.com.au
| Catscratch | |
|---|---|
| Episodes: | List of Catscratch episodes |
| Cast and Crew: | Doug TenNapel (Creator) | Michael Girard (Supervising Producer) | Wayne Knight (Mr. Blik) | Rob Paulsen (Gordon) | Kevin McDonald (Waffle) | Maurice LaMarche (Hovis And Krakin) | Liliana Mumy (Human Kimberly) | John DiMaggio (The Chumpy Chumps) | Terry Scott Taylor |
| Characters: | Gordon | Mr. Blik | Waffle | Hovis | Human Kimberly | Kraken | Katilda | The Chumpy Chumps |
| Other: | Creator | Earthworm Jim |
