Olimar The Wondercat

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Olimar the Wondercat was a short-lived children's television programme made by the BBC in the 1970s. It featured a cat called Olimar with magical powers. Six programmes were made.

[edit] Episodes: series 1

1. Meet Olimar
2. Bye mum!
3. A long train journey
4. Olimar goes to London
5. Scary Aunt Emma
6. Olimar loves Edward

In the early 1980s the rights to Olimar the Wondercat were bought by LWT and his name was shortened to Oli the Wondercat. The cartoon was redesigned giving Oli a costume and enhanced special powers. In true ITV style Oli had a nemesis Evil Derek the Dark Dalmatian (more spot than dog) who plagued Oli throughout the series.

[edit] Episodes: series 2

1. Oli meets Derek over the waterbowl
2. Derek eats Oli's food
3. Sit! Derek!
4. Oli and Edward run away (from Derek)
5. Derek digs for glory
6. Oli meets his daddy

[edit] Foreign language versions

LWT sought to maximise their newly acquired rights to Oli the Wondercat and sold the rights on the the French television channel TF1 in the early 1980s. The original video was kept intact, but the audio was not only dubbed into French, but the storylines were significantly altered to suit European tastes. Despite Derek being voiced by Serge Gainsbourg, the French version was a flop and was dropped after only four episodes.