Top Cat 

Top Cat is the leader of a group of alley cats, always trying to cheat someone.

Creators:

Joseph Barbera, William Hanna

Stars:

Leo DeLyon, Allen Jenkins, Arnold Stang

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Leo DeLyon	...	Spook / ... 30 episodes, 1961-1962
Allen Jenkins	...	Officer Dibble 30 episodes, 1961-1962
Arnold Stang	...	Top Cat 30 episodes, 1961-1962
Maurice Gosfield	...	Benny the Ball 30 episodes, 1961-1962
Marvin Kaplan	...	Choo Choo / ... 30 episodes, 1961-1962
John Stephenson	...	Fancy-Fancy / ... 30 episodes, 1961-1962

Storyline

Set in the Alleys of New York, "Top Cat" tells the story of a gang of low-life cats with their charismatic Leader, Top Cat. With ability and mischief, Top Cat will always try to get rich gambling, to eat for free, or to play jokes on someone, but he is always being watched by Officer Dibble, who is very strict and fierce with them, but in fact is a friend to all of them.

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Plot Keywords:

jazz music | anthropomorphism | talking animal | slapstick comedy | scam | 

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Taglines:

He's the most tip-top!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Don Gato

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (30 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White (original broadcasts)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was only the second cartoon series to premiere on prime time network television in the United States. The first was another Hanna-Barbera production. "The Flintstones" (1960).

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Goofs

In the opening title song "Top Cat" (seen in every episode) the waiter should be shown in front of the lunch box on the table. His torso is behind the box until Top Cat jumps up and runs for the taxi. At that point the waiter "pops" fully in front of the lunch box. This was related by Arnold Stang on the DVD commentary and he was very annoyed (even years later!) that the studio would let such an error occur every week.

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Quotes

Professor Zimbach: [admiring a contemporary painting] This man has artistic temperament, like Van Gogh. You know, the painter who cut off his ear and sent it to his girlfriend.
Top Cat: Oh, yeah, to ask her why he hadn't heard from her.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits feature Top Cat entering a high-class restaurant to have lunch... which he picks from a construction worker working across the restaurant. He escapes from the maitre'd and the worker into a taxi and gets away (originally the series title appears on a blind TC pulls down in the taxi - later versions feature the title as TC gets into the taxi).

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Alternate Versions

UK broadcast versions replaced the last shot of the opening titles with a freeze frame of TC standing next to the title BOSS CAT on a blue background. However, he was still referred to as 'TC' and 'Top Cat' in the episodes and the title song as it was not re-dubbed. The end titles were edited to remove the 'Top Cat' billboard at the start, beginning instead with the pan down to the trash can. There was then an abrupt jump where the 'Top Cat' title normally appears to the 'A Hanna Barbera Production' title, missing out TC reaching for his hat, and jumping straight to him reaching for the lid, making his hat inexplicably appear on his head. These titles looked extremely grainy and washed out compared to the episode. The UK VHS releases from Guild/Worldvision however retained the original title, although they had the same grainy opening/closing titles. These were a slightly different edit - not having the missing footage from the end of the opening titles, the missing jump cut footage from the end credits was edited into the opening titles to keep the song fully intact, but inexplicably had TC going into bed at night following the restaurant scene. The end titles re-inserted the missing footage of TC into the end credits too, but had to freeze frame the last few seconds of the footage to make up for lost footage as the opening billboard scene (as per the broadcast version) was still missing (this kept the closing song intact also).

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Connections

Referenced in Scrubs: My Nah Nah Nah (2009)

User Reviews

Classic cartoon from the days when they really cared.

Based on "The Phil Silvers show",this cartoon translates army capers into the adventures of a bunch of cats in a rundown New York alley.They are led by Top Cat,a conniver who could even teach Bilko a thing or two!Their nemesis and sometime victim is policeman Charlie Dibble.Each of the cats has his own very distinct character.I especially like Spook with his beatnik "hep cat" language. The show is full of humor,wit and charm.The voice actors are superb-including Bilko regular Maurice Gosfield("Benny").Fortunately Hanna-Barbera haven't revived the show;the result would undoubtedly be of much lower standard than the 30 original gems from 1961-2