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Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera prime time animated television series which ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network on Wednesdays [8:30-9pm Eastern]. Originally co-sponsored by Kellogg's and Bristol-Myers (Bufferin). Re-runs can be seen on Boomerang (a sub-division of Cartoon Network) and also on DVD from Warner Home Video.
[edit] HistoryThe central character, Top Cat — called T.C. by close friends, "providing it's with dignity" as the lyrics of the theme song say — is the leader of a gang of New York City alley cats: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, The Brain, and Choo Choo. Top Cat and his gang were inspired by characters from the popular situation comedy The Phil Silvers Show. It has also been said that the Bowery Boys influenced the show. Maurice Gosfield, who played Private Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show, also provided the voice for Benny the Ball in Top Cat (Benny's rotund appearance was based on Gosfield too). Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice as well. A frequent plot-line revolved around the local NYPD (although it's never mentioned that Dibble is a New York cop) policeman, Officer Charles "Charlie" Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the alley. The only reason that he wanted to be rid of them was that Top Cat and his gang were constantly attempting to earn a quick dollar—usually through an illegal scam. Dibble's appearance was modeled on Allen Jenkins, who did his voice. The name Dibble has passed into the vernacular as slang for police officers. [edit] Characters[edit] Benny the Ball Benny is one of Top Cat's right-hand men. He is short, chubby, naive, and cute, a blue-coloured cat with a white sweater that fastens with a single button at his neck. Benny may appear to be simple-minded, but he manages to ask the most logical questions during the gang's erratic endeavors. He is slow, not stupid. The gang relationship between Benny and Top Cat is based on a devoted friendship between them. An example of the lengths to which Top Cat will go to help Benny is illustrated by the episode "A Visit From Mother" in which Top Cat arranges for Benny to appear to be the mayor of New York City. A number of episodes have focused on Benny, including "The Violin Player", "The Unscratchables" and "The Missing Heir". Benny the Ball is modeled after his voice actor Maurice Gosfield. [edit] Choo-ChooChoo-Choo aka Chooch is another of Top Cat's right-hand men, usually his second in command, and is enthusiastic and devoted to Top Cat even when he’s clueless as to what he’s doing. He is a pink cat with a white long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, is the tallest of the alley gang cats, and often is depicted with the eyes of a Siamese cat. He lives at the fire house as the fire house cat as seen in one episode. He had a couple of love crushes [“Choo-choo's romance”, “Choo-choo goes gaga-gaga”], however unlike Fancy-Fancy or Top Cat, Choo-Choo has no courage talking to girls. When he talks, his voice sounds like Woody Allen. The voice actor for Choo Choo is Marvin Kaplan. [edit] BrainBrain appears to be a common henchman to Top Cat. Brain is the dim-witted member of the alley gang, an orange cat with a purple sweater. Brain is notorious for being unable to keep a secret, and for his stuttering. He also seems to be in charge of the group's money (which they rarely have) and he runs up and down the road. The voice actor is Leo De Lyon. [edit] Fancy-FancyFancy-Fancy appears to be a common henchman to Top Cat. He is laid-back, sweet-talking and is regularly seen chatting up the ladies before leaving them when hearing the 'dustbin lid call', a brown cat with a white scarf. He resembles Spook in appearance, and his voice (John Stephenson) and character were based on Cary Grant. [edit] SpookSpook rarely speaks in the episodes, but when he does, a torrent of "like"'s are used. He is similar to Fancy-Fancy in demeanor and appearance, a sweet talking cat whose vernacular is based on that of a beatnik. He is a pool shark with green fur and a black tie. The voice actor is Leo De Lyon. [edit] Officer DibbleOfficer Dibble is the NYPD policeman whose beat includes the alley. Though he usually resents the gang's presence in the alley, there are times when he respects and loves them, but wants Top Cat to clean up the alley, and to stay off his telephone. [edit] CameosIn one of the episodes Top Cat and his friends are reading comic books. At the right and at the bottom there is a Yogi Bear and a Huckleberry Hound comic. In another episode, the gang is wandering through a museum at night when they come upon a group of statues labeled "Prehistoric Man." Choo-Choo insists that he's seen the figures before, "...maybe on T.V.," but Top Cat waves this off. Of course, the statues are modeled after Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. In "A visit from mother" episode "El Kabong" (Quick Draw McGraw’s alter-ego) is seen singing in the background. [edit] Episode list
[edit] Broadcast historyUSA
Canada
Denmark
United Kingdom
Southeast Asia Australia India Latin America
[edit] DVD releaseIn the USA, a boxset with all 30 episodes was released in December 2004.
In the UK, the complete series boxset has been released as a HMV exclusive on 8 October 2007. Alternatively, 5 single DVD volumes, each containing 6 episodes, were released. The covers were originally from the US edition, but was later re-released with a new design. Each volume shows a group picture of Top Cat using Dibble's phone with his gang beside him ,but the colour-coding is: Volume 1: Purple (Episodes 1-6) - Top cat Volume 2: Green (Episodes 7-12) - Choo-Choo Volume 3: Red (Episodes 13-18) - Fancy Fancy Volume 4: Blue (Episodes 19-24) - Benny Volume 5: Orange (Episodes 25-30) - Spook [edit] Other appearances
[edit] Comic BooksThe gang's adventures continued off-screen in comic books as Dell (which became Gold Key) published 31 issues from 1961 to 1970. Charlton Comics published 20 more issues from 1970 to 1973.[1] In Mexico, La Coleccion Primavera featured Don Gato in 1968. [edit] BooksLittle Golden Books and Durabooks have both produced hardcover children's books starring Top Cat. [edit] View-MasterT.C. and friends appeared on three View-Master reels in 1962. These were titled "Medal for Meddling," "Zoo-Operation," and "No Cat Fishing." [edit] MusicThe Original TV Soundtrack was released by Colpix Records in 1962, consisting of slightly edited versions of "The Unscratchables" and "Top Cat Falls In Love". In 1965, Hanna-Barbera Records released an LP titled "Robin Hood Starring Top Cat." T.C. and the gang were pictured as merry men on the cover. Songs included Top Cat, M-O-N-E-Y, Dibble, Robin Hood, and Buddies. It was re-released in 1977 on Columbia Records' Special Products label. A jazzy arrangement of the Top Cat theme can be heard most weeks over the end credits of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. The theme for Top Cat is also used in the 2009-2010 ABRSM Grade three exam pieces. It is C:2 [edit] International broadcasters[edit] CanadaTop Cat was among the first programs aired on CTV. The country's first private television network commenced broadcasts in October 1961. [edit] Mexico and Latin AmericaIn spite of the modest success of the show in the United States, the show was a massive hit in Mexico and Argentina, where it is recognized as one of the most famous Hanna Barbera characters ever, being as popular as the Flinstones. In Mexico the show was aired under the name Don Gato y su pandilla (literally Mr. Cat and his gang, but stands for Mr. Top Cat or just Top Cat like in the United States) and the main characters adopted different accents. Besides Top Cat, all the other characters from the show were very famous: Benny was renamed Benito B. Bodoque y B. and given a more child-like voice than was the case in the original dubbing, Choo Choo was renamed Cucho and spoke with mexican-yucatan accent, Fancy-Fancy was Panza (belly), Spook renamed as the word's rough translation Espanto, The Brain was called Demóstenes (honouring the Greek statesman Demosthenes, with whom he shares a speech impediment) and Officer Dibble renamed as Oficial Carlitos Matute. This name, "matute" was used in Argentina as a slag reference for policemen. Top Cat is still rerun every few years. The main voice actor were Jorge Arvizu , Víctor Alcocer, David Reynoso among others. [edit] United KingdomIn the United Kingdom, the show was first aired on BBC television (now called BBC One) but renamed Boss Cat shortly after it premiered in 1962 because Top Cat was also the name of a brand of cat food. The dialogue and theme tune still referred to the character by his original name but a small cut was made in the opening credits (resulting in a slight 'jump' in the film) and a title card added before the episode proper. The new name was last used for a repeat run in 1989; by the time the series was next aired in 1999 the 'Top Cat' food brand had long since disappeared, allowing the original title to be used. This continues to be the case in the showings on Boomerang and BBC Two. [edit] IndiaTop Cat was one of the early favorites on Cartoon Network. It was aired in India in the 1990s. [edit] Name in different languages
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Categories: Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios series and characters | American animated television series | 1960s American animated television series | 1961 television series debuts | 1962 television series endings | American Broadcasting Company network shows | Television series by Warner Bros. Television | Charlton Comics titles | Dell Comics titles | Fictional cats | Fictional characters from New York City | Fictional con artists | Gold Key Comics titles | Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters | Saturday morning programming on NBC | Television shows set in New York City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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