Heathcliff (1984 TV series)

Heathcliff
Title screen
Also known as
  • Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats
  • Heathcliff Cats & Co (UK)
Genre Comedy
Created by George Gately (Heathcliff)
Jean Chalopin, Bruno Bianchi (The Catillac Cats)
Developed by Jean Chalopin
Alan Swayze
Chuck Lorre
Directed by Bruno Bianchi
Michael Maliani
Voices of Mel Blanc
Donna Christie
Peter Cullen (Season 1)
Stanley Jones
Jeannie Elias
Danny Wells
Theme music composer Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Opening theme "Heathcliff Theme" (long version) performed by Noam Kaniel
Ending theme "Heathcliff Theme" (short version) performed by Noam Kaniel
Composer(s) Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Country of origin France
Canada
United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 86
Production
Executive producer(s) Jean Chalopin
Andy Heyward
Tetsuo Katayama (season 1)
Producer(s) Jean Chalopin
Denys Heroux (season 1)
Lori Crawford (season 1)
Andy Heyward (season 2)
Tetsuo Katayama (season 2)
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) DiC Audiovisuel
LBS Communications, Inc.
McNaught Syndication Co.
ICC TV Productions (season 1)
FR3 (season 1)
Chris-Craft Television (season 2)
United Entertainment Group (season 2)
Distributor DHX Media
Release
Original network first-run syndication
Audio format Mono (Season 1)
Stereo (Season 2)
Original release 1984 – 1988
Chronology
Related shows Heathcliff (1980)

Heathcliff (a.k.a. Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats) is a French-Canadian-American 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 Audiovisuel. It ran in syndication until 1988 with a total of 86 episodes. The first show based on the comic strip was Heathcliff and Dingbat / Heathcliff and Marmaduke, which debuted in 1980 and was produced by Ruby-Spears. The Catillacs Cats characters were created by Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi. Animation was outsourced to many Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean studios including TMS, Studio Korumi, Wang Film, Cuckoo's Nest, Mushi and others for the first season before DiC utilized their own, private Japanese studio to avoid paying other companies.

Mel Blanc provided the voice of Heathcliff.

Premise

The first season ran for 65 episodes while the second season ran for 21. Each episode included an additional segment featuring The Catillac Cats. While the series was on the air, the movie Heathcliff: The Movie, was released which was a compilation of segments.[2]

Characters

  • Heathcliff: the title character, he is an orange street smart, comical, and trigger-happy cat who spends most of his time trying to turn a dustbin over onto people's heads. Heathcliff is a street cat who loves to fight anyone but will not fight girls. He is a trickster who will also lie, cheat and steal to get himself some food, but despite it all, he is a good guy and is always quick thinking. Heathcliff was voiced by Mel Blanc.
  • Sonja: Heathcliff's girlfriend, 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 would often date other male cats that Heathcliff would have to fight, but always ends hanging out and reconciling with him. Sonja was voiced by Marilyn Lightstone.
  • Knuckles: dressed 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 was voiced by Derek McGrath.
  • Spike: probably the closest thing to a nemesis that Heathcliff has, Spike, a bulldog, is nowhere near as clever as Heathcliff — all brawn and no brains. But despite being strong, he fears Heathcliff and was never able to overcome Heathcliff's trickery. Spike is owned by a neighborhood bully called Muggsy. Heathcliff is able to handle both of them when necessary. Spike was voiced by Derek McGrath.
  • Iggy Nutmeg: Heathcliff's owner who lives with his grandparents. Iggy sometimes takes Heathcliff to strange places and new locations for adventures. Iggy was 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. She also loves to have Heathcliff ride in her baby doll carriage, which for the most part Heathcliff is more than happy to oblige. Marcy was voiced by Jeannie Elias.
  • Pop: Heathcliff's father, he is an orange cat, who is normally in and out of prison, as evident on the episode "Pop On Parole". Pop was voiced by Peter Cullen.
  • Grandpa Nutmeg: Iggy's grandpa. Grandpa often shows dislike to Heathcliff, but Iggy and Grandma usually come to Heathcliff's defense. Grandpa Nutmeg was voiced by Ted Zeigler.
  • Grandma Nutmeg: grandma cooks a lot and Heathcliff steals her food. Grandma, like Iggy and Marcy, thinks Heathcliff is an angel. Grandma Nutmeg was voiced by Marilyn Lightstone.
  • Ricky Peppercorn: loud mouthed restaurateur who occasionally tries to bargain with Heathcliff.

The Catillac Cats (Cats & Co.)

A gang of cats that played alongside Heathcliff. When Riff-Raff and Cleo are not around, three of the Catillac Cats are sometimes helping Heathcliff in some adventures or sometimes tease him. They drive a slick Cadillac which could transform into an RV and a boat. They live in a junkyard.

  • Riff-Raff: the boss, lives in a trashed airplane on top of a junk-pile while using a trapdoor for an exit. He is a small brown cat with a large white cap. Riff-Raff was voiced by Stanley Jones.
  • Hector: second-in-command, sometimes wanted to be leader. Insecure. His colors are brown, beige, and dark brown. Hector wears a headband, beige jumpsuit, and a neck-tie. He mainly drove the convertible Cadillac. Sometimes Wordsworth would drive. Hector was voiced by Danny Mann in a New Jersey accent.
  • Wordsworth: is a white cat on roller-skates, speaks in rhyme and always wears a yellow personal cassette player. Wordsworth is voiced by Stanley Jones.
  • Mungo: big, clumsy and not the sharpest tool in the box. He is a large cat with unique purple/blue/grey fur that wears a red tank top and a matching red beanie. The name was based on the character Mongo from the 1974 Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles. Mungo was voiced by Ted Zeigler.
  • 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 an 1980s hairstyle and leg warmers. Cleo was voiced by Donna Christie.
  • Leroy: guard dog who lives in the junkyard with the Catillac Cats. Leroy was voiced by Ted Zeigler.
  • Bush: a loyal sheepdog who lived with Cleo in the music shop. Bush was voiced by Danny Wells.

Voices

Episodes

Season 1 (1984–86)

  1. The Great Pussini / Kitty Kat Kennels
  2. Chauncey's Great Escape / Carnival Capers
  3. Mad Dog Catcher / Circus Beserkus
  4. Rebel Without a Claws / The Farming Life Ain't For Me
  5. Heathcliff's Middle Name / Wishful Thinking
  6. King of the Beasts / Cat Can Do
  7. Smoke Gets in my Eyes / Much Ado about Bedding
  8. City Slicker Cat / House of the Future
  9. Spike's Cousin / For the Birds
  10. Heathcliff's Pet / Swamp Fever
  11. Teed Off / Monstro vs. the Wolf Hound
  12. Say Cheese / Cat's Angels
  13. Meow Meow Island / Iron Cats
  14. Family Tree / Who's Got the Chocolate?
  15. Be Prepared / Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
  16. Heathcliff Gets Canned / Whackoed Out
  17. Brain Sprain / Cat Balloon
  18. May the Best Cat Win (possibly the pilot episode)/ Comedy Cats*
  19. Revenge of the Kitty / Jungle Vacation
  20. Hospital Heathcliff / Hector's Takeover
  21. Going Shopping / Cat in the Fat
  22. Wild Cat Heathcliff / Kitten Around
  23. Cat Burglar Heathcliff / Lucky's Unlucky Day
  24. The Blizzard Bandit / Harem Cat
  25. Kitten Smitten / Young Cat with a Horn
  26. The Gang's All Here / The Meowsic Goes Round & Round
  27. Snow Job / Condo Fever
  28. Heathcliff Pumps Iron / Mungo's Dilemma
  29. Heathcliff's Double / Big Foot
  30. Terrible Tammy / The Games of Love
  31. Big Top Bungling / Space Cats
  32. Lard Times / The Merry Pranksters
  33. Spike's Slave / Scaredy Cats
  34. Gopher Broke / A Camping We Will Go
  35. Where There's an Ill, There's a Way / Yes Sewer That's my Baby
  36. Soap Box Derby / A Better Mousetrap
  37. Bamboo Island / Superhero Mungo
  38. Butter Up! / Mungo Gets No Respect
  39. Sonja's Nephew / Dr. Mousetus
  40. Cat Food for Thought / Going South
  41. Phantom of the Garbage / Junkyard Flood
  42. Trombone Terror / The Other Woman
  43. Pop on Parole / The Babysitters
  44. The Siamese Twins / The Mungo Mash
  45. Copa-ca-Heathcliff / Leroy's in Love
  46. Used Pets / Search for a Star
  47. An Officer and an Alley-Cat / Hector Spector
  48. Service with a Smile / Junk Food
  49. Boom Boom Pussini / Beach Blanket Mungo
  50. Sealand Mania / Riff Raff the Gourmet
  51. The Super M.A.C. Menace / Journey to the Center of the Earth
  52. A Piece of the Rock / Divide and Clobber
  53. Flying High / Debutante Ball
  54. Heathcliff Reforms / Prehysteric Riff Raff
  55. Heathcliff's Surprise / The Big Break In
  56. The Catfather / The Big Swipe
  57. Tally-Ho Heathcliff / Cleo Moves In
  58. Granpda vs. Grandpa / The Big Game Hunter
  59. The Great Tuna Caper / Peco's Treasure
  60. The Baby Buggy Bad Guys / Riff Raff's Mom
  61. Momma's Back in Town / Trash Dance
  62. Claws / Hector the Detector
  63. Raiders of the Lost Cat / Mungo Lays an Egg
  64. The Home Wrecker / In Search of Catlantis
  65. Star or Tomeow-meow / Soccer Anyone?

Note: The DVD lists episode, May the Best Cat Win as first, and titles the episode Pilot.

Season 2 (1987–88)

  1. The Whitecliffs of Dover / Life Saver
  2. Nightmare in Beverly Hills / The Cat in the Iron Mask
  3. The Shrink / Brushing Up
  4. Dr. Heathcliff and Mr. Spike / Time Warped
  5. Spike's New Home / Mungo's Big Romance
  6. The Cat and the Pauper / Mungo of the Jungle
  7. In the Beginning / Catlympic Cats
  8. Rear Cat Window / Cat Days, Ninja Nights
  9. Something Fishy / Christmas Memories
  10. Heathcliff's Mom / Hockey Pucks
  11. Cat Day Afternoon / Hector Protector
  12. Feline Good / Off-Road Racer
  13. Spike's Coach / The Trojan Catillac
  14. Heathcliff Gets Framed / Repo Cat
  15. Missing in Action / Bag Cat Sings the Blues
  16. It's a Terrible Life / Leroy Gets Canned
  17. Hair of the Cat / Tenting Tonight
  18. The Fortune Teller / Cottontails, Chickens, & Colored Eggs
  19. Break an Egg / A Letter to Granny
  20. The New York City Sewer System / High Goon
  21. North Pole Cat / He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Theme song

The theme was composed and written by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban and sung by Noam Kaniel.

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 1988 until 1993. It was rerun on Family Channel from 1993-1998 and Fox Family Channel from 1998 until 1999. From September 27, 2010 until September 23, 2011, reruns of the series were aired in the United States on the This Is for Kids block on This TV.[1][3] In the U.K. the series aired on CBBC during the late 1980s and early 1990s, then it was repeated on Channel 4 until 1996, then in the early 2000s it was aired on Toon Disney in the United Kingdom. In the early 2000s, the show was aired in syndication in North American local channels in 2000, and was usually billed under the title Heathcliff Cats & Co.[4] The series also aired in Japan. the series was seen weekdays on Starz Encore Family (as of 2018) and Light TV (as of October 6th 2018). It is currently being broadcast in Colombia through the digital channel Tacho Pistacho.

According to an interview with Donna Christie, the voice for Iggy Nutmeg and Cleo, the series did not continue because of Mel Blanc's failing health.[5]

DVD releases

On February 24, 2004, UAV Entertainment released two best-of collections with each set featuring nine select episodes from the series.

On May 25, 2004, Sterling Entertainment released Heathcliff: The Movie on DVD. However, this release is now out of print.

In the UK, there have been several volumes of Heathcliff released on DVD by Maximum Entertainment. These DVDs are now out of print.

On September 20, 2005, Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment released Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats in a 4-disc boxset featuring the first 24 episodes of the series in its original, complete and uncut television broadcast form. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print as Shout! Factory has lost the rights to the series.[6]

Since 2007, NCircle Entertainment has released seven Heathcliff DVDs.[7]

On February 21, 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment released Heathcliff- Season One, Volume 1 on DVD. This 3-disc set features the first 32 episodes from the Season 1.[8] They also released a 10 episode best-of collection on that same day. Heathcliff- Season 1, Volume 2 was released on October 1, 2013, which contains the remaining 33 episodes from Season 1.[9] As of 2015, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print.

On August 2, 2016, Mill Creek released Heathcliff - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[10] The 9-disc set contains all 86 episodes of the series, including the final 21 episodes which were previously unreleased.

The episode "Going Shopping / Cat in the Fat" was included as a bonus in the DVD release of the first half of the Beverly Hills Teens series.[11]

In France, two more 4-disc sets were released under the French title of the series, Les Entrechats.

DVD Name Ep # Release date
Heathcliff / Super Mario Bros. 2 2004
Heathcliff: Fish Tales 9 February 24, 2004
Heathcliff: Terror of the Neighborhood 10 February 24, 2004
Heathcliff: The Movie 1 May 25, 2004
Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats 24 September 20, 2005
Heathcliff - Season One, Volume One 32 February 21, 2012
Heathcliff - Season One, Volume Two 33 October 1, 2013
Heathcliff - The Complete Series 86 August 2, 2016

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

References

  1. 1 2 "Heathcliff". This TV. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Heathcliff and the catillac cats". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  3. ↑ "Mon 25 Mon 27 Sep 2010-Sun 3 Oct 2010". This TV. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ TVArk – CBBC clip with Andi Peters referring to the show as 'Heathcliff Cats & Co'
  5. ↑ "36: Donna Christie interview (Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Dennis the Menace, Popples, Real Ghostbusters)".
  6. ↑ Shout! Factory - Forum Thread with Brian Ward announcing the current ownership of 'Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats' Archived January 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Heathcliff DVDs". NCircle Entertainment. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Heathcliff (a.k.a. Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats) DVD news: Announcement for Season 1, Volume 1 and King of the Beasts - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2012-01-08.
  9. ↑ "Heathcliff (a.k.a. Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats) DVD news: Announcement for Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats - Season 1, Volume 2 - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2013-09-13.
  10. ↑ "Heathcliff (a.k.a. Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats) DVD news: Announcement for The Complete Series - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2016-06-03.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
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