Episode 13 of The Harveytoons Show

The Harveytoons Show

The Harveytoons Show is a television series presenting theatrical animated cartoons produced from October 1950 until March 1962 and produced by Famous Studios, featuring Harvey Comics characters and series including: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Little Audrey, Tommy Tortoise and Moe Hare, Baby Huey,...

 included a character and short called "Top Cat".

Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 prime time animated television series

Cartoon series

A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...

 which ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 network. Reruns are played on Cartoon Network's classic animation network Boomerang.

History

Originally broadcast on Wednesdays [8:30-9pm Eastern], Top Cat was co-sponsored by Kellogg's and Bristol-Myers (Bufferin). The central character, Top Cat—called T.C. by close friends, "pro-vid-ing it's with dignity" as the lyrics of the theme song say—is the leader of a gang of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 alley cat

Feral cat

A feral cat is a descendant of a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild. It is distinguished from a stray cat, which is a pet cat that has been lost or abandoned, while feral cats are born in the wild; the offspring of a stray cat can be considered feral if born in the wild.In many parts of...

s: 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 You'll Never Get Rich (later called The Phil Silvers Show)

The Phil Silvers Show

The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...

. Maurice Gosfield

Maurice Gosfield

Maurice Lionel Gosfield was an American comic actor, most famous for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the 1950s sitcom You'll Never Get Rich .'Maury' Gosfield was born in New York in 1913, but was raised in Philadelphia and later in Evanston, Illinois...

, 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). Even Arnold Stang

Arnold Stang

Arnold Stang was an American comic actor who played a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.-Career:...

's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...

' voice. Another possible source material was Hokey Wolf

Hokey Wolf

Hokey Wolf is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon about the adventures of a con-artist wolf who is always trying to cheat his way into the simple life...

, a segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show, which also had parallels to The Phil Silvers Show.

A frequent plot-line revolved around the local beat policeman

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

, Charles "Charlie" Dibble, NYPD 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

Allen Jenkins

Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...

, who did his voice. Dibble, previously only an implement for making holes for planting seeds, has acquired a second meaning in the vernacular

Vernacular

A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...

 as slang for police officers.

Top Cat

Top Cat (or TC) is the yellow furred, greedy, somewhat lazy and clever main character. He wears a purple hat and vest. He often rips off and/or tricks his gang and Officer Dibble. He does respect the effort the gang does for him, but he often takes credit for it. That said, he is loyal to the gang and will help one of them if they need it. He also stops Officer Dibble from arresting him by lying to Dibble about how much talent Dibble has. He is voiced by Arnold Stang

Arnold Stang

Arnold Stang was an American comic actor who played a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.-Career:...

.

Benny the Ball

Benny is TC's right-hand man. He is short, innocent, chubby, naive and cute. A blue-coloured cat with a white sweater that fastens with a single button at his neck. His eyes are shown as black dots unlike the other cats who have white sclerae with black pupils. Benny may appear to be simple-minded, but he manages to ask the most logical questions during the gang's erratic endeavors. The gang relationship between Benny and TC is based on a devoted friendship between them. A number of episodes have focused on Benny, including "The Violin Player", "The Unscratchables" and "The Missing Heir". He also made a cameo appearance on Kid vs. Kat

Kid vs. Kat

Kid vs. Kat is a Canadian animated television series developed and produced at Studio B Productions. The show is created and co-directed by Rob Boutilier. The feature revolves around a 10-year-old boy's constant battle with his sister's Sphinx cat which, in reality, is a cybernetic alien. The...

 in "The Kat Whisperer". Benny the Ball is modeled after his voice actor Maurice Gosfield

Maurice Gosfield

Maurice Lionel Gosfield was an American comic actor, most famous for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the 1950s sitcom You'll Never Get Rich .'Maury' Gosfield was born in New York in 1913, but was raised in Philadelphia and later in Evanston, Illinois...

.

Choo-Choo

Choo-Choo, nicknamed Chooch to TC and the gang, is enthusiastic and devoted to TC even when he’s clueless as to what he’s doing. He is a pink cat with a white long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, he 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 "Hawaii Here We Come". He had a couple of love crushes "Choo-Choo's Romance" and "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

Woody Allen

Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...

. He is voiced by Marvin Kaplan

Marvin Kaplan

Marvin Kaplan is an American character actor and voice artist. Kaplan is probably best known for his recurring role on the sitcom Alice where he portrayed a phone company employee named Henry Beesmeyer who frequented Mel's diner. He was a part of the cast from 1977 to the series end in 1985...

.

Brain

Brain appears to be a common henchman to Top Cat. Contrary to his name (which appears to have been given in jest or sarcasm), Brain is the dim-witted member of the alley gang, an orange cat with a violet T-Shirt with a black line. Brain is notorious for being unable to keep a secret and for his stuttering

Stuttering

Stuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...

. He also seems to be in charge of the group's money (which they rarely have) and he runs up and down the road. Despite his apparent stupidity, he can sometimes say something brilliant, which TC instantly rephrases to make it sound like he said it. He is voiced by Leo De Lyon

Leo De Lyon

Leo De Lyon is an American voice actor famous for his role as Spook and Brain in the cartoon Top Cat. In the mid and late 1970s he performed on stage as pianist and vocal entertainer and was musical director for several artists s.a. Sandler and Young...

.

Fancy-Fancy

Fancy-Fancy also 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. His look and voice is based on Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

. He is voiced by John Stephenson

John Stephenson (actor)

John Stephenson is an American actor and voice actor. He has also been credited as John Stevenson...

.

Spook

Spook is one of the most streetwise members of the gang. When he talks, 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

Beatnik

Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...

. When the gang need some help with a situation, he usually steps up to the plate. He is a pool shark

Hustling

Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling with the hustler, as a form of confidence trick...

 with green fur and a torn black tie. He too is voiced by Leo De Lyon

Leo De Lyon

Leo De Lyon is an American voice actor famous for his role as Spook and Brain in the cartoon Top Cat. In the mid and late 1970s he performed on stage as pianist and vocal entertainer and was musical director for several artists s.a. Sandler and Young...

.

Officer Dibble

Officer Dibble is an NYPD Policeman whose beat includes the alley. His full name is discovered in the episode "Dibble Breaks The Record" which is Officer Charlie Dibble. Though he usually resents the gang's presence in the alley, there are times when he respects and loves them. He wants TC to clean up the alley and to stay off his telephone. Dibble's superior is Sergeant Murphy. Is sometimes called variations of his name by TC such of Dabble, Drubble, Dripple and so on. In reference to this character, 'Dibble' has been adopted as an English derogatory slang term for Police Officers. He is voiced by Allen Jenkins

Allen Jenkins

Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...

.

Cameos

Other Hanna-Barbera characters make cameo appearances during the series. In one of the episodes, Top Cat and his friends are reading comic books. Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...

 and Huckleberry Hound

Huckleberry Hound

The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from Hanna-Barbera following The Ruff & Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo; and a third...

 comics can be seen in the bottom right corner of the scene.

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 TC waves this off. The statues are modeled after Fred Flintstone

Fred Flintstone

Frederick Joseph “Fred” Flintstone, also known as Fred W. Flintstone or Frederick J. Flintstone, is the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960-66. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles...

 and Barney Rubble

Barney Rubble

Bernard "Barney" Rubble is the deuteragonist of the television animated series The Flintstones. He is the diminutive blonde-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble...

.

In "A Visit from Mother" episode, "El Kabong" graffiti (Quick Draw McGraw

Quick Draw McGraw

The Quick Draw McGraw Show is the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera starring an anthropomorphic cartoon horse named Quick Draw McGraw following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The show debuted in syndication in the fall of 1959,...

's alter-ego) is seen on the wall in the background.

In one of the episodes of another Hanna-Barbera production, The Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...

, Top Cat can be briefly seen in the background before the end shot.

In the show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...

, Gomer Pyle is seen in a restaurant reading a Top Cat comic book.

Top Cat also made a cameo appearence in one of What-a-Cartoon shorts named "Buy One, Get One Free" in a party scene.

Episode list

№	Title	Air date

DVD release

In the USA, a boxset with all 30 episodes was released in .

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Top Cat - The Complete Series	30		Commentary on various episodes Back to Hoagy's Alley: The Making of Top Cat (retrospective featurette) Interviews: Cool Cats in Interview Alley Top Cat sing-along Production Sketches: Top Cat Collection (art, stills, sketches, backgrounds) Storyboards: Storyboard Showcase TV Spot: Top Cat Kellogg's commercials (US release only)

In the UK, the complete series boxset has been released as a HMV

HMV

His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...

 exclusive on October 8, 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

The DVDs have since been made available to buy in other retailers across the UK.

Hanna-Barbera related shows

• Top Cat's theme is featured in The Flintstones
  The Flintstones
  The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
  
   episode "Surfin Fred" when Barney and Betty discover that Jimmy Darrock is in fact not a lifeguard.

• Officer Dibble makes a cameo appearance in The Flintstones episode "Time Machine", as a policeman in the future. Thus returning the favor done in episode "The Rafeefleas" when T.C and the gang found two statues of cave man (Fred and Barney) in an art museum, while searching for the jewelry display case.

• Top Cat and his gang appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark
  Yogi's Ark Lark
  Yogi’s Ark Lark is an animated Hanna-Barbera television movie, intended to raise ecological awareness. Broadcast in 1972, it was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie and served as the pilot for Yogi's Gang.-Plot:...
  
  . While the others don't have dialogue, Top Cat was voiced by Daws Butler
  Daws Butler
  Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...
  
   while Benny the Ball was voice by John Stephenson
  John Stephenson (actor)
  John Stephenson is an American actor and voice actor. He has also been credited as John Stevenson...
  
  . It was presumed that Arnold Stang wasn't available at the time while Maurice Gosfield was already dead in 1964.

• In 1985, Top Cat appeared on Yogi's Treasure Hunt
  Yogi's Treasure Hunt
  Yogi's Treasure Hunt is a segment that kicked-off in 1985 as the first of the programming block, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It also ran as a regular series in syndication from 1985 to 1988.-Plot:...
  
   with Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera toon stars; he was the one who assigned the treasure hunts. Officer Dibble made an appearance in the end of the show's episode, "Yogi's Beanstalk" voiced by John Stephenson since Allen Jenkins was already in 1974.

• In 1987, Hanna-Barbera produced a feature-length television film based on the show titled Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
  Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
  Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats is a 1987 animated movie for television and it is part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series. The TV film's plot is essentially an extended remake of the original show's episode, "The Missing Heir".- Plot :...
  
   (part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10
  Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10
  Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 is an anthology series of ten animated films for television produced by Hanna-Barbera for syndication and ran from 1987 to 1988 featuring Hanna-Barbera's popular animated characters in feature-length adventures. Originally, the televised movies were distributed through...
  
   film series), in which the gang helps a young girl claim her inheritance. During that time, John Stephenson reprised Officer Dibble while Benny the Ball was voiced by Avery Schreiber
  Avery Schreiber
  Avery Lawrence Schreiber was an American comedian and actor. He was a veteran of stage, TV, and film.-Biography:...
  
  .

• In the Fender Bender 500 segment of Wake, Rattle, and Roll
  Wake, Rattle, and Roll
  Wake, Rattle, and Roll is a live-action/animated television show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Four Point Entertainment that premiered in the fall of 1990. The show's title was inspired by the song "Shake, Rattle and Roll"...
  
  , Top Cat and Choo Choo were one of the racers driving a trash can-modeled monster truck called the Alley Cat.

• In Yo Yogi!
  Yo Yogi!
  Yo Yogi! is an animated series first aired on NBC on Saturday mornings during the 1991-92 season. It is, to date, the last television series to feature or star Yogi Bear. It is also the last Hanna-Barbera show to premiere on NBC to this date...
  
  , Top Cat was a teenage cat voiced by Arte Johnson
  Arte Johnson
  Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Verrrry interesting, but...['stupid', 'not very funny', and other variations]".-Early life:Johnson...
  
  . Even here, he still lives in a trash can.

• Top Cat was seen in a Cartoon Network Rap in 1995.

Other cartoon shows

• In the Duck Dodgers
  Duck Dodgers (TV series)
  Duck Dodgers is an American animated television series, based on the classic cartoon short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 2003 to 2005. The series aired on Cartoon Network and starred Daffy Duck as the titular character...
  
   episode "K-9 Quarry", Top Cat was amongst the poached characters on the Alien Hunter
  Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
  Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
  
  's ship.
• Top Cat, Benny and Brain made a cameo appearance at the end of The Powerpuff Girls
  The Powerpuff Girls
  The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
  
   episode "Catastrophe". They can be seen at the bottom left corner of the screen (Note: Instead of his hat, Top Cat has a splat of slime on his head).
• Top Cat was seen briefly driving a motorcycle
  Motorcycle
  A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
  
   in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
  Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
  Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls. It first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television movie, which led to a series...
  
   episode "Cheese a go-go."
• Top Cat and Benny appear in the My Life as a Teenage Robot
  My Life as a Teenage Robot
  My Life as a Teenage Robot is an American animated television series, created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of XJ-9, better known as Jenny Wakeman, a female robot designed to protect Earth, who is excessively addicted to teen-related activities, which are almost...
  
   episode "Toying with Jenny"; they can be seen at the checkout desk when Jenny is looking at the Jenny toys.
• In the Futurama
  Futurama
  Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
  
   episode "That Darn Katz!
  That Darn Katz!
  "That Darn Katz!" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy show, Futurama. It first aired on Comedy Central on August 5, 2010. In the episode, Amy's rejected doctoral dissertation—a device to harness the Earth's rotational energy—is used by evil invading space cats to fix...
  
  ", a picture of Top Cat is seen.
• Top Cat made a cameo appearance in Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
  Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
  Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an American animated television series created by Bob Boyle. The series is animated in Toon Boom and Adobe Flash software, produced by Bolder Media, and Starz Media...
  
   episode "Wubbzy the hero".
• Top Cat can be seen in a crowd shot in the What-a-Cartoon Show episode "Buy One, Get One Free".

Comic Books

The gang's adventures continued off-screen in comic books as Dell

Dell Comics

Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...

 (which became Gold Key

Gold Key Comics

Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...

) published 31 issues from 1961 to 1970. Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...

 published 20 more issues from 1970 to 1973. In Mexico, La Coleccion Primavera featured Don Gato in 1968.

Books

Little Golden Books

Little Golden Books

Little Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...

 and Durabooks have both produced hardcover children's books starring Top Cat.

In the UK, BrownWatson published the 1978 annual entitled The Great Grape Ape and Boss Cat.

View-Master

T.C. and friends appeared on three View-Master

View-Master

View-Master is a device for viewing seven 3-D images on a paper disk. Although the View-Master is now considered a children's toy, it was originally marketed as a way for viewers to enjoy stereograms of colorful and picturesque tourist attractions.-1939–66: stereoscopic sightseeing:In 1911,...

 reels in 1962. These were titled "Medal for Meddling", "Zoo-Operation", and "No Cat Fishing".

Music

The Original TV Soundtrack was released by Colpix Records

Colpix Records

Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...

 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

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

' Special Products label.

A jazzy arrangement of the Top Cat theme can be heard most weeks over the end credits of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

's Theme Time Radio Hour

Theme Time Radio Hour

Theme Time Radio Hour was a weekly, one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan originally airing from May 2006 to April 2009...

. The Top Cat theme song is the opening track on Ted Kooshian

Ted Kooshian

Ted Kooshian is a New York jazz pianist and keyboardist who has performed with artists that include Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, Toni Braxton, Marvin Hamlisch, Sarah Brightman, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Kooshian has played in many Broadway pit orchestras, and is a member of the Ed Palermo Big...

's 2008 jazz CD, Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet.
The theme for Top Cat is also used in the 2009–2010 ABRSM Grade three exam pieces. It is C:2

Feature film

Anima Studios

Anima Studios

Anima Studios is a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002 by Guillermo Cañedo White, Fernando De Fuentes, Fernando Pérez Gavilán, José Carlos García De Letona and Federico Unda...

 and Illusion Studios have released a feature film in Mexico (where it's extremely popular), entitled Don Gato y Su Pandilla (the name used for the Latin-American Spanish dub of the series), on September 16, 2011 only on Latin America; it is shown in 2D and 3D.

Top Cat and the gang face a new police chief, who is not at all happy with the poor performance of officer Matute (Officer Dibble) and avoids Top Cat's scams.

Lucas Buenrostro, the new police chief, has loads of technology resources and their real intention is to take the city, imposing ridiculous laws. Will test the Top Cat and all members of the gang, as well as officer Matute (Dibble).

The film has been released by the Latin American branch of Warner Bros. Pictures (whose parent company, Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

 owns Turner Entertainment

Turner Entertainment

Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...

, which acquired Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 in 1990), but there has been no word from WB if in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 the film will be released either in theaters.

The movie has become one of the most successful Mexican movies ever, earning in its 5th week $108 millions of pesos (About $ 7,929,515 dollars)

United States

• ABC
  American Broadcasting Company
  The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
  
   (1961–1962)
• NBC
  NBC
  The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
  
   (1965–1969)
• Television syndication
  Television syndication
  In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
  
   (1970–1993)
• Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network (United States)
  Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
  
   (1992–2000)
• Boomerang
  Boomerang (TV channel)
  Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
  
   (2000 – present)

Pakistan

• Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network (Pakistan)
  Cartoon Network Pakistan is a cable and satellite television channel created by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner which primarily shows animated programming. The channel officially launched on April 2, 2004. Cartoon Network Pakistan follows Pakistan Standard Time for its programming...
  
  
• NTM
  Network Television Marketing
  NTM - A former Shalimar Television Network ChannelThe Network Television Marketing was Pakistan's first ever private sector Television Channel. NTM had started its transmission in 1990 under a 3-year agreement with Shalimar Recording & Broadcasting Company . NTM succeeded in acquiring much...
  
  

Denmark

• Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
  
    1995–2002
• Boomerang
  Boomerang (TV channel)
  Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
  
   2002– present

Spain

• Televisión Española
  Televisión Española
  Televisión Española is the national state-owned public-service television broadcaster in Spain. TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and subsidies from the national government, but since it's been supported by subsidies only.TVE belongs to the RTVE...
  
  
• Antena 3 (Spain)
  Antena 3 (Spain)
  Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel owned by Antena 3 de Televisión. Some of the more popular programmes broadcast by Antena 3 include Aquí no hay quien viva, El Barco, Los Protegidos, Los Simpson and El Internado....
  
  
• Boing
  Boing (Spanish TV channel)
  Boing is a Spanish children's television channel operated by Gestevisión Telecinco.has a sister channel of the same name in Italy-References:...
  
   Present

United Kingdom

• BBC One
  BBC One
  BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
  
  , formerly named as Boss Cat (see below)
• Boomerang
• Cartoon Network
• Cartoon Network Too

Australia

• Boomerang
  Boomerang (Australian TV channel)
  For the original Boomerang channel, see Boomerang .Boomerang is a cable and satellite television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner and its main flagship channel of Cartoon Network...
  
  
• GO!
  Go! (Australian TV channel)
  GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
  
  

Chile

• Teleonce,RTU & Chilevision
  Chilevisión
  CHV, also known as Chilevisión, is the third oldest television station in Chile. Formerly called Teleonce and RTU , this TV station was owned by University of Chile, a Chilean state university...
  
   (1987–1989, 1991–1992, 1993–1994)
• Canal 13
  Canal 13 (Chile)
  Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
  
   (1975–1986, 1995–1998)
• Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network
  Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
  
   (1993–2001)
• TC Telecanal (Chile)
  Telecanal
  Telecanal is a private owned TV channel of Chile. It currently airs in Santiago on VHF channel 2. It mostly airs American films and TV series, and some original entertainment TV shows.-Controversy:...
  
   (2009)

Other countries

• Boomerang
  Boomerang (TV channel)
  Boomerang is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner. Boomerang specializes in reruns of animated programming from Time Warner's extensive archives, including pre-1986 MGM, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
  
   (2001–2008)
• Tooncast
  Tooncast
  Tooncast is a Latin American cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System Latin America/Time Warner. Launched on December 1, 2008 in some countries of the region, it airs 24-hours of classic animation, both from Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network, and with no interruptions...
  
   (2008 – present)
• Liv TV (2009–present)

Canada

Top Cat was among the first programs aired on CTV

CTV television network

CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

. The country's first private television network commenced broadcasts in October 1961.

Mexico and Latin America

In spite of the modest success of the show in the United States, the show was a massive hit in Mexico, Peru and Argentina, where it is recognized as one of the most famous Hanna Barbera characters ever, being as popular as the Flintstones. In Mexico the show is aired under the name Don Gato y su pandilla (literally Don Cat and his gang like mafia style, 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, and their popularity is commonly attributed by the excellent dubbing and voice acting: 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

Yucatán

Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....

 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

Demosthenes

Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...

, with whom he shares a speech impediment) and Officer Dibble renamed as Oficial Carlitos Matute. This name, "matute" was used in Argentina as a slang reference for policemen. Top Cat is still rerun every few years. The main voice actors were Julio Lucena (voice of Top Cat), Jorge Arvizu

Jorge Arvizu

Jorge Arvizu is a Mexican voice actor who was the first Spanish voice, among others, of Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone and Cookie Monster...

 (voice of Benny and Choo Choo), Víctor Alcocer

Víctor Alcocer

Víctor Alcocer Gómez was a Mexican actor of voice-over, film, and television. He dubbed many American TV characters into Spanish, in the midst of them all, "Herman Munster" from The Munsters is one of the most recognizable.-Selected filmography:*Corazón salvaje *La Valentina .....

 (voice of Dibble), David Reynoso

David Reynoso

David Reynoso was a Mexican actor. He appeared in over 170 films and television shows between 1955 and 1994.-Selected filmography:* Ash Wednesday * Ánimas Trujano * Black Wind...

 among others.

In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, the character is known as Manda-Chuva (Brazilian Portuguese for big shot) and was voiced by actor Lima Duarte

Lima Duarte

Lima Duarte is a Brazilian actor. He has played a number of characters in Brazilian soap operas, such as Zeca Diabo in "O Bem Amado" and Sinhozinho Malta in "Roque Santeiro"...

. In addition, the city of New York was replaced by Brasilia (federal capital) in the Brazilian version.

United Kingdom

In 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

Cat food

Cat food is food intended for consumption by cats.As with all species, cats have requirements for specific dietary nutrients, rather than ingredients. Certain nutrients, including many vitamins and amino acids, are degraded by the temperatures, pressures and chemical treatments used during...

. 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.

As Welsh Conservative MP David Davies' name sounds the same as fellow Conservative MP David Davis

David Davis (British politician)

David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...

, a candidate in the 2005 Conservative leadership contest, confusion could occur between the two in Westminster. Therefore, David Davies is referred to in the House of Commons in Westminster as David T.C. Davies. This has caused opposition MPs to refer to him in jest as Top Cat.

India

Top Cat was one of the early favorites on Cartoon Network. It was aired in India in the 1990s. Top Cat was aired again in 2003

Sri Lanka

Top Cat (Sinhala: Pissu Pusa (පිස්සු පූසා)) was one of the most popular Cartoon Character in Srilanka and It has been re-telecasted several time on the same TV channel.

Name in different languages

• Brazilian Portuguese
  Brazilian Portuguese
  Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
  
  : Manda Chuva (voice by Lima Duarte
  Lima Duarte
  Lima Duarte is a Brazilian actor. He has played a number of characters in Brazilian soap operas, such as Zeca Diabo in "O Bem Amado" and Sinhozinho Malta in "Roque Santeiro"...
  
  ) (Top Ket)
• Canadian French
  French language
  French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
  
  : Pacha et les chats
• Czech: Kočičí banda
• Danish: Top Kat
• Finnish: Topi Katti
• French: Le Pacha
• German: Superkater
• Hungarian: Turpi Úrfi
• Italian: Top Cat
• Japanese: (lit. 'Stray Cat Boss') (Tosho Machorot)
• Norwegian: Topp Katt
• Polish: Kocia Ferajna (lit. Catfellas) and earlier translation Kot Tip Top (lit. Tippytoe Cat), featuring vastly better translation of the original, reels with that version were lost or recorded over
• Portuguese: Top Cat(පිස්සු පූසා)
• Spanish: Don Gato y su pandilla (Mr. Cat and his gang)
• Swedish: Top Cat (voice by Per Sandborgh
  Per Sandborgh
  - Career :Sandborgh is known for his work with dubbing animated films, TV series, and video games. Some of his roles include:*Joker...
  
  )
• Russian: Супер Кот

See also

• List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera
• List of Hanna-Barbera characters
• Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
  Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
  Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats is a 1987 animated movie for television and it is part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series. The TV film's plot is essentially an extended remake of the original show's episode, "The Missing Heir".- Plot :...
  
  
• Yogi's Treasure Hunt
  Yogi's Treasure Hunt
  Yogi's Treasure Hunt is a segment that kicked-off in 1985 as the first of the programming block, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It also ran as a regular series in syndication from 1985 to 1988.-Plot:...
  
  

Production credits

• Produced and Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
• Story Director: Paul Sommer
• Associate Producer: Alan Dinehart
• Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
• Voices: Arnold Stang, Allen Jenkin, Marvin Kaplan, Maurice Gosfield, Le De Lyon,John Stephenson, Paul Frees
• Animation: Kenneth Muse, Jerry Hathoock
• Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
• Layout: Jack Huber
• Titles: Lawrence Goble
• Backgrounds: Montealeger
• Camera: Roy Wade, Norman Stainback, Frank Paiker, Charles Flekal
• Film Editing: Greg Watson, Warner Leighton, Zachary Zeiger
• Top Cat © Copyright MCMLXI Hanna-Barbera Productions
• A Hanna-Barbera
  Hanna-Barbera
  Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
  
   Production
• A Screen Gems Film Presentation
  • Television Subsidiary: Columbia Pictures Corporation

Cultural references

• In a sketch from BBC Radio 4 show That Mitchell and Webb Sound
  That Mitchell and Webb Sound
  That Mitchell and Webb Sound is a comedy sketch show on BBC Radio 4 which started on 28 August 2003. A second series was broadcast in 2005 with a third starting on 24 May 2007. The series became adapted for television as That Mitchell and Webb Look in 2006. The series is seen in some ways a...
  
  , a cop claims to have problems with TC. one particular moment similarly mentions from Maharajah of Pookajee.
• An excerpt from the show appears in the 1982 film Cat People
  Cat People (1982 film)
  Cat People is a 1982 American erotic horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer...
  
  .

External links

• Top Cat Unofficial Site
• Top Cat at Toonopedia
• TV.com site
• Toon Tracker's lyrics to the Top Cat theme song
• Top Cat fan site
• The Cartoon Scrapbook – Profile on Top Cat.
• Don gato y su pandilla movie site