The Catillac Cats

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The Catillac Cats

The Catillac Cats (also called "Cats & Company") was the name of an animated series made in 1984 by DiC. Each episode featured an 11-minute Heathcliff episode, and an 11-minute Catillac Cats episode.

The segment starred a group of cats who lived in a junkyard. The group was headed by Riff Raff, a short, tough, streetwise alley cat. The other cats in the group were Hector, Wordsworth, and Mungo. Hector, a brown Himalayan cat, disliked Riff Raff and felt that he should be the head of the group, and did on some occasions, such as the episode "Hector's Takeover". Riff Raff and Hector's conflicts formed the plots of a number of episodes. Wordsworth, named after poet William Wordsworth, was a white cat who wore roller skates and mostly spoke in rhyme. Mungo was a big, dim-witted and strong purple cat. Other episodes revolved around Riff Raff's "get rich quick" schemes or searches for food.

Riff Raff had a tall girlfriend named Cleo who did not live in the junkyard, but in a music store. The music store was constantly guarded by a sheepdog named Bush who had long hair and could not see where he was going. A running gag involved Riff Raff entering the store, then Bush attempting to chase Riff Raff out and breaking a musical instrument in the process (although in some cases, Riff Raff causes the damage). In a flashback episode, it was revealed that prior to the series, Cleo was also a stray cat living with the others, is in fact one of the Catillac Cats herself, and is also Wordsworth's cousin and not simply a household pet that happens to be Riff Raff's girlfriend. It was after this point that she was taken in by the music store owner.

Another dog character was Leroy who also lived in the junkyard. He and the Catillac Cats have a "frienemy" (friend/enemy) relationship. Leroy always tried to chase them out, to no avail, but sometimes he was an ally to them, helping them chase out other outsiders.

The group named itself the Catillac Cats after the red and white Cadillac that featured prominently in their adventures. Hector, Mungo, and Wordsworth were shown to live in the car in the junkyard, while Riff Raff had a more palatial home made out of a portion of a passenger jumbo jet. The Cadillac itself had the ability to transform into an airboat and a camper (by pulling on the radio's station preset buttons). How it gained these abilities is never explained, and it was not seen to transform in the flashback episode in which the Cats acquired it. In one episode, it was also modified into a submarine, indicating that the transformation ablility was something that the cats had somehow been able to work up. Despite having no wheels, the Cadillac was also shown to be very fast (perhaps being the fastest car in the city). Its hood ornament was a silver trophy cup. Like all of the characters, the Cadillac was also featured in the credits (shifting from camper to car to boat).

Although both Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats were set in the city of Westfinster, only Hector, Wordsworth, and Mungo, appeared in both segments. Riff Raff and Cleo never appeared in a Heathcliff episode, and neither Heathcliff nor any other characters from the Heathcliff series ever appeared in a Catillac Cats episode. The reason is unclear, but some suspect that the McNaught company who own Heathcliff did not want any outside characters appearing on Heathcliff. Riff Raff and Cleo were primarily invented by Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi, while Hector, Wordsworth, and Mungo were created specifically so they could appear in either series. The only time in which Heathcliff and Riff Raff appear on-screen together is in the end credits.

[edit] Alternate Title

In the end credits and on home videos, the Catillac Cats series is commonly referred to as "Cats & Company", or Cats & Co. DiC did want the title to be The Catillac Cats, however the company was unsure if the Cadillac car company would have a problem, so throughout most of the first season, the gang name The Catillac Cats was not used until "Hector's Takeover". In the second season, the gang name was used more, suggesting that DiC were no longer afraid of action by the Cadillac car company, a deal had been worked out, or the car company just didn't care.