Heathcliff (1984 TV series)
Heathcliff (also known as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats) is an animated television series that debuted on September 5, 1984.[1] It was the second series based on the Heathcliff comic strip and was produced by DIC Entertainment. It ran in syndication until 1988 with a total of 86 episodes. The first show based on the comic strip was Heathcliff and Dingbat, which debuted in 1980 and was produced by Ruby-Spears. Mel Blanc provided the voice of Heathcliff in both series.
Premise
The first season ran for 65 episodes and the second season for 21 more. Each episode included a backup segment featuring The Catillac Cats, which is why this show is sometimes referred to as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats (the second segment is referred to in the closing credits as "Cats & Co".). While the series was on the air, a movie, aptly titled Heathcliff: The Movie, was released which was a compilation of segments from this show.[2]
Characters
- Heathcliff: Title character, he is a street-smart cat, who spends most of his time trying to turn a dustbin over onto people's heads. Heathcliff is a real street cat who loves to fight anyone and everyone and will lie, cheat and steal to get himself some food, but beneath it all, he's a good guy. Heathcliff is voiced by Mel Blanc.
- Sonja: Heathcliff's love, a fluffy white Persian cat, who wears a pink collar. Heathcliff is always trying to win Sonja over, although generally she is not usually too impressed with Heathcliff's antics as she is a far classier type of cat. Sonja is voiced by Marilyn Lightstone.
- Knuckles: Dress in a pink hat and a red-and-black striped shirt, Knuckles and his henchman are not really Heathcliff's enemies—more like a group of cats that he constantly annoyed and/or bullied. More often than not they were after him, because he had tried to trick them in some way. Knuckles is voiced by Derek McGrath.
- Spike: Probably the closest thing to a nemesis that Heathcliff had, Spike was no-where near as clever as Heathcliff—all brawn and no brains. Spike is owned by a neighborhood bully called Muggsy. Heathcliff was quite able to handle both of them when necessary. Spike is voiced by Derek McGrath.
- Iggy Nutmeg: Heathcliff's owner who lived with his grandparents. Iggy sometimes takes Heathcliff to strange places and new locations for adventures. Iggy is voiced by Donna Christie.
- Marcy: A small girl who lived in the same neighborhood as Iggy's family. Marcy always saw the best in Heathcliff and thought he was a little angel. Marcy is voiced by Jeannie Elias.
The Catillac Cats
A gang of cats that played alongside Heathcliff. When Riff-Raff is not around, the Catillac Cats are sometimes helping Heathcliff in some adventures or sometimes tease him only to be pounded to the pavement. They drive a very cool Cadillac which could transform into an airplane and a boat and lived in a junkyard.
- Riff-Raff: The boss. Riff-Raff is voiced by Stanley Jones.
- Cleo: Riff-Raff's love interest, most episodes focused around Riff-Raff trying to woo her. She lives in a musical instrument shop with Bush. She had a 1980s-hairstyle and leg warmers. Cleo is voiced by Donna Christie.
- Hector: Second-in-command, sometimes wanted to be leader. Wore a headband and a long neck-tie. Hector is voiced by Danny Mann.
- Wordsworth: Rode on roller-skates, spoke in rhyme and always wore a Walkman. Wordsworth is voiced by Stanley Jones.
- Mungo: Big, clumsy and not the sharpest tool in the box. The name was used to show similarity between him and the character with a similar name from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Mungo is voiced by Ted Zeigler.
- Leroy: Guard dog who lives in the junkyard with the Catillac Cats. Leroy is voiced by Ted Zeigler
- Bush: A loyal sheepdog who lived with Cleo in the music shop. Unfortunately due to his bushy hair-do, most of the time when Riff-Raff would break in to take Cleo out, Bush would end up running into various musical instruments trying to stop him. Bush is voiced by Danny Wells.
Episodes
Season 1
- The Great Pussini / Kitty Kat Kennels
- Chauncey's Great Escape / Carnival Capers
- Mad Dog Catcher / Circus Beserkus
- Rebel Without a Claws / The Farming Life Ain't Me
- Heathcliff's Middle Name / Wishful Thinking
- King of the Beasts / Cat Can Do
- Smoke Gets in my Eyes / Much Ado about Bedding
- City Slicker Cat / House of the Future
- Spike's Cousin / For the Birds
- Heathcliff's Pet / Swamp Fever
- Teed Off / Monstro vs. the Wolfhound
- Say Cheese / Cat's Angels
- Meow Meow Island / Iron Cats
- Family Tree / Who's Got the Chocolate?
- Be Prepared / Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
- Heathcliff Gets Canned / Whackoed Out
- Brain Sprain / Cat Balloon
- May the Best Cat Win / Comedy Cats
- Revenge of the Kitty / Jungle Vacation
- Hospital Heathcliff / Hector's Takeover
- Going Shopping / Cat in the Fat
- Wild Cat Heathcliff / Kitten Around
- Muppet Burger Babies / Lucky's Unlucky Day
- The Blizzard Bandit / Harem Cat
- Kitten Smitten / Young Cat with a Horn
- The Gang's All Here / The Meowsic Goes Round & Round
- Snow Job / Condo Fever
- Heathcliff Pumps Iron / Mungo's Dilemma
- Heathcliff's Double / Big Foot
- Terrible Tammy / The Games of Love
- Big Top Bungling / Space Cats
- Lard Times / The Merry Pranksters
- Spike's Slave / Scaredy Cats
- Gopher Broke / A Camping We Will Go
- Where There's an Ill, There's a Way / Yes Sewer That's my Baby
- Soap Box Derby / A Better Mousetrap
- Bamboo Island / Superhero Mungo
- Butter Up! / Mungo Gets No Respect
- Sonya's Nephew / Dr. Mousetus
- Cat Food for Thought / Going South
- Phantom of the Garbage / Junkyard Flood
- Trombone Terror / The Other Woman
- Pop on Parole / The Babysitters
- The Siamese Twins / The Mungo Mash
- Copa-ca-Heathcliff / Leroy's in Love
- Used Pets / Search for a Star
- An Officer and an Alley-Cat / Hector Spector
- Service with a Smile / Junk Food
- Boom Boom Pussini / Beach Blanket Mungo
- Sealand Mania / Riff Raff the Gourmet
- The Super M.A.C. Menace / Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Heathcliff Reforms / Prehysteric Riff Raff
- A Piece of the Rock / Divide and Clobber
- Flying High / Debutante Ball
- Heathcliff's Surprise / The Big Break In
- The Catfather / The Big Swipe
- Tally-Ho Heathcliff / Cleo Moves In
- Granpda vs. Grandpa / The Big Game Hunter
- The Great Tuna Caper / Peco's Treasure
- The Baby Buggy Bad Guys / Riff Raff's Mom
- Momma's Back in Town / Trash Dance
- Claws / Hector the Detector
- Raiders of the Lost Cat / Mungo Lays an Egg
- The Home Wrecker / In Search of Catlantis
- Star or Tomeow-meow / Soccer Anyone?
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Season 2
- The Whitecliff of Dover / Life Saver
- Nightmare in Beverly Hills / The Iron Mask Cat
- The Shrink / Brushing Up
- Dr. Heathcliff and Mr. Spike / Time Warped
- Spike's New Home / Mungo's Big Romance
- The Cat and the Pauper / Mungo of the Jungle
- In the Beginning / Catlympic Cats
- Rear Cat Window / Cat Days, Ninja Nights
- Something Fishy / Christmas Memories
- Heathcliff's Mom / Hockey Pucks
- Cat Day Afternoon / Hector the Protector
- Feline Good / Off-Road Racer
- Spike's Coach / The Trojan Catillac
- Heathcliff Gets Framed / Repo Cat
- Missing in Action / Bag Cat Sings the Blues
- It's a Terrible Life / Leroy Gets Canned
- Hair of the Cat / Tenting Tonight
- The Fortune Teller / Cottentails, Chickens, and Colored Eggs
- Break an Egg / A Letter to Granny
- The New York City Sewer System / High Goon
- North Pole Cat / He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
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Theme song
Two versions of the Heathcliff (DiC series) theme song were made. In its original broadcast run, the theme song began with the lines, "Cats and company have fun / Playing pranks on everyone," and returned to the "Cats and company" phrase often throughout the song. Perhaps in order to clarify any possible confusion about the name of the show, it was later replaced with a version that removed all references to "Cats and company." The second version began, "Heathcliff, Heathcliff, no one should / Terrify the neighborhood." The phrase "Heathcliff just won't be undone, playing pranks on everyone" replaces the original phrase. The original theme song is featured in VHS releases, as well as in cable reruns. The UK broadcast, despite including the name "Cats & Co." in the title, used the "No one should" version of the theme song.
The lyrics that can be seen in the Closed Captioning,offer three different versions of one line about the "Cadillac Cats". Version 1 is "They'll make "some" history". Version 2 says,"They'll make (garbage)dump history". the third version is "They'll make "junk" history. The correct version is "some" history.
Movie
Heathcliff: The Movie was released to theaters on January 17, 1986, and subsequently on VHS in 1988 by Paramount Video. It includes seven segments from the original show:
- Cat Food for Thought
- Heathcliff's Double
- The Siamese Twins
- An Officer and an Alley Cat
- The Catfather
- Boom Boom Pussini
- Pop on Parole
Broadcast History
In the United States, the series was aired in national first-run syndication from September 5, 1984 until 1988, and reruns of the series were then aired on Nickelodeon from 1989 until 1993. Then it premiered on Family Channel from 1993-1999. From September 27, 2010 until September 23, 2011, rerun of the series have been airing in the United States on the This Is for Kids block on This TV.[1][3] It is also airing on Boomerang every morning at 8:00am in place of Wacky Races. In the U.K. the series aired on CBBC during the late 1980s and early 1990s, then in the early 2000s it was aired on Toon Disney U.K. in 2000, and was usually billed under the title Heathcliff Cats & Co.[4] The series was also aired in Japan. The Reruns of the show will be airing on NBC Kids in November 2012.
DVD releases
On February 24, 2004, UAV Entertainment released two best-of collections with each set featuring nine select episodes from the series.
On September 20, 2005, Shout! Factory released Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats in a 4-disc boxset featuring the first 24 episodes of the series. Shout! Factory has since lost the rights to the series.[5]
Since 2007, NCircle Entertainment has released seven Heathcliff DVDs.[6]
In France, two more 4-disc sets were released under the French title of the series, Les Entrechats.
| DVD Name |
Ep # |
Release Date |
Additional Information |
| Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats |
24 |
September 20, 2005 |
- Original promos
- A click-thru gallery of panels from the syndicated newspaper cartoon "Heathcliff" from its 1973 inception to present day
- An interview with current "Heathcliff" comic panel illustrator Peter Gallagher
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References
External links