animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of a television sitcom that is animation, animated instead of being filmed live-action, and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''The Simpsons'', ''SpongeBob SquarePan ...

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

The Phil Silvers Show ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes wer ...

con artist A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

's voice. During the original network run, the sponsor objected to the Silvers impersonation—insisting that it was paying for Stang, not Silvers—so in later episodes Stang modified his characterization, bringing it closer to his own voice, though still copying Silvers. Additionally,

Maurice Gosfield Maurice Lionel Gosfield (January 28, 1913 – October 19, 1964) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best remembered for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the sitcom '' The Phil Silvers Show'' (1954–1959) and vo ...

, who played Private Duane Doberman in ''The Phil Silvers Show'', provided the voice for Benny the Ball in ''Top Cat'', and Benny's chubby appearance was based on Gosfield's. Top Cat and his gang were also inspired by the

East Side Kids The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. The series was a low-budget imitation of the Dead End Kids, a successful film franchise of the late 1930s. History The 1935 Sidney ...

, roguish, street-smart characters from a series of 1940s

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s. This was only the second original cartoon series to premiere on

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

network television in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. ''Top Cat'' was conceived along the lines of a traditional, live-action situation comedy, and Hanna-Barbera recruited top sitcom writers of the day to furnish scripts, including

Barry Blitzer Barry E. Blitzer (April 21, 1929 – January 27, 2010) was an American television writer. Life and career Blitzer was well known as a writer for the Hanna-Barbera cartoons including ''The Flintstones'', ''Top Cat'', and '' The Jetsons''. Liste ...

(a ''Phil Silvers Show'' veteran), Harvey Bullock, and

Kin Platt Kin Platt (December 8, 1911 – November 30, 2003) was an American writer, artist, painter, sculptor, caricaturist, and comics artist, best known for penning radio comedy and animated TV series, as well as children's literature, children's Myster ...

.

Premise

The title character, Top Cat (T.C.), is the leader of a gang of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

alley cats living in Hoagy's Alley: Benny the Ball, Brain, Choo-Choo, Fancy-Fancy and Spook. The gang constantly hatch

get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk, skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich qui ...

s through

scam A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their Trust (emotion), trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence ...

s but they usually backfire, and a frequent plot thread revolves around the local

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, Charles "Charlie" Dibble (voiced by

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor, voice actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. He may be best known to some audiences as the voice of Officer Charl ...

), ineffectually trying to either arrest them, evict them from the alley, get them to clean the alley, or stop them using the policebox phone. Like ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'', all the episodes feature a

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North ...

, which is a small scene from the episode that takes place ''

in medias res A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf. '' ab ovo'', '' ab initio''). Often, exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled i ...

'', and after that, a long flashback that leads to the scene begins with the series' theme song "The Most Effectual Top Cat" and features Top Cat's misadventures that happen before the scene from the beginning plays. The story then continues from where it left off. In some episodes, the flashback stops near the middle when the same scene plays.

Broadcast

''Top Cat'' aired on Wednesday nights in prime time at 8:30 pm. Hanna-Barbera created 30 half-hour episodes. The show was broadcast in black-and-white but was created in color. The show aired on Saturdays in 1962 and 1963 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, and was then rerun (now in color) in various Saturday-morning slots on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 1965 to 1969, and occasionally in the 1980s. Reruns of the series aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

from 1992 until 2004, and on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

from 2000 to 2014 and again from November 26 to 29, 2020. Reruns later returned to Boomerang on April 4, 2023. The show began airing on

MeTV Toons MeTV Toons is an American broadcast television network owned and operated by Weigel Broadcasting in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on June 25, 2024, as a spin-off of MeTV, the network's programming mainly consists of classic an ...

on June 29, 2024.

Analysis

Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman says that the series can be seen as

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

. The cats may represent

disenfranchised Disfranchisement, also disenfranchisement (which has become more common since 1982) or voter disqualification, is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing someo ...

people confined to living in a poor environment. Top Cat's get-rich-quick schemes are efforts to escape to a better life. The gang faces a human police officer who frustrates their efforts and keeps them trapped in the alley.Lehman (2007), p. 26 This enforcement of the

social order The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social orde ...

by

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

ensures , says Lehman, that the cats will not escape their current living conditions. It is more likely that the cheerful amorality of the cats’ schemes is what draws police attention, and their own marginal morality that keeps them down. A staple of Hanna-Barbera cartoons is an authority figure of some kind, keeping the cartoon characters from going overboard, cf. Ranger Smith in the

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. He was created by Hanna- ...

cartoons. Co-creator Bill Hanna said it was one of the wittiest and most sophisticated shows he produced, with a rare appeal to audiences of all ages.

Characters

Main voices: *

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

Maurice Gosfield Maurice Lionel Gosfield (January 28, 1913 – October 19, 1964) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best remembered for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the sitcom '' The Phil Silvers Show'' (1954–1959) and vo ...

as Benny the Ball * Leo De Lyon as Brain, Spook *

Marvin Kaplan Marvin Wilbur Kaplan (January 24, 1927 – August 25, 2016) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter who was best known as Henry Beesmeyer in ''Alice'' (1978–1985). Early years Kaplan was born on January 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New Y ...

as Choo-Choo * John Stephenson as Fancy-Fancy *

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor, voice actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. He may be best known to some audiences as the voice of Officer Charl ...

as Officer Dibble Additional voices: *

Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that s ...

*

Herschel Bernardi Herschel Bernardi (October 30, 1923 – May 9, 1986) was an American actor and singer. He is best known for his supporting role in the television detective series ''Peter Gunn'' (1958–1961) for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emm ...

*

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

*

Walker Edmiston Walker Robert Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American actor and puppeteer. Early years Walker Edmiston was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 6, 1926, to William Sherman Edmiston (1894–1976) and Anna Edmiston ( ...

*

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

* Sallie Janes *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

* Ge Ge Pearson * Hal Smith *

Jean Vander Pyl Jean Thurston Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon ''The Flintstones''. In ...

*

Herb Vigran Herbert Vigran (June 5, 1910 – November 29, 1986) was an American character actor in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1980s. Over his 50-year career, he made over 350 television and film appearances. Early years Vigran was a native of Cin ...

Episodes

Series overview

Home media

Episodes of the series were released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

in Europe, as well as Worldvision Home Video in the United States. The series' episode, "''All That Jazz''", was edited into a 7-minute preview as part of the "A Sample of Boomerang" tape, from Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang. Episodes of the series were also released on Laserdisc in the United Kingdom by Guild Home Video, as well as Image Entertainment in the United States.

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

released the complete series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on December 7, 2004. It was re-released on January 10, 2017, albeit as a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release via the

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

. On June 6 of that year, ''Top Cat'' was re-released in stores again, albeit with all bonus features removed. In the UK, the complete series box set was released in 2007, initially as a

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

exclusive until 2008. Alternatively, five single DVD volumes, each containing 6 episodes, were released. The covers were originally from the US edition but 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: Primrose (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 for purchase from other retailers across the UK. Warner Archive released the complete series on Blu-ray on September 17, 2024.

In other media

Comic books

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

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

(which became Gold Key) published 31 issues from 1961 to 1970.

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic-book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T. W. O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line (comics), line was a divi ...

published 20 more issues from 1970 to 1973. In Mexico, Ediciones Latinoamericanas' "La Colección Primavera" featured Don Gato in 1968. In 2012, there was a crossover between Top Cat and Chilean comic book character Condorito. Top Cat had a backup story in ''Adam Strange/Future Quest Annual #1'' in where he escapes from prison and meets

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

through a cosmic portal. Unlike the cartoon, Top Cat is from a world where cats are the dominant species. As a follow-up, Top Cat also appears in one issue of a crossover series between DC and

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, titled ''Superman/Top Cat Special'' (October 2018).

Books

Little Golden Books The Little Golden Books is an American series of children's books, published since 1942. '' The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden ...

and Durabooks have both produced hardcover children's books starring Top Cat. In the UK,

World Distributors World Distributors (known colloquially as "Pembertons") was a British publisher and distributor of magazines and comic books. The company was known for repackaging American comics and producing comic book annuals based on licensed properties. Fo ...

published annuals during the 1960s sourced from the Dell comics strips. BrownWatson later published a 1978 annual entitled ''The Great Grape Ape and Boss Cat''.

View-Master

T.C. and friends appeared on three

View-Master View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.Mary Ann & Wo ...

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

Music

The Original TV Soundtrack, written and recorded by

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer, music producer and the primary musical director for Hanna-Barbera from its beginnings with '' The Ruff & Reddy Show'' from 1957 to 1965, and again from 1972 to ...

, was released by

Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...

in 1962, consisting of slightly edited versions of "The Unscratchables" and "Top Cat Falls in Love". Hanna-Barbera Records released an LP in 1965 titled ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

Starring Top Cat''. T.C. and the gang were pictured as

Merry Men The Merry Men are the group of Outlaw (stock character), outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The members of the group appear both collectively and individually in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remain ...

on the cover. Its 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 is an American reco ...

' 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 (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's ''

Theme Time Radio Hour ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' (''TTRH'') was a weekly one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan that originally aired from May 2006 to April 2009. Each episode had a freeform mix of music, centered on a theme (such as "Weather", "Money" or ...

''. The titles and underscore were released as part of the CD release, ''The Best of Hanna-Barbera: Tunes from the Toons'' by Music Club in 2002 in Europe.

Top Cat's cameos

* In "King for a Day", The Brain and Spook are reading comic books. At the right and at the bottom there is a ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. He was created by Hanna- ...

'' comic and a ''

Huckleberry Hound Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue dog who speaks with a North Carolina accent. He first appeared in the series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960 as a ...

'' comic. * In "Rafeefleas", 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 TV, but TC waves this off. The statues are modeled after

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...

and

Barney Rubble Barney Rubble is a fictional character who appears in the television animated series ''The Flintstones''. He is the diminutive, blond-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. His best friend is his next ...

. * In "A Visit from Mother", graffiti of "El Kabong",

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is an anthropomorphic white horse wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasionally spurs, he was origina ...

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

Top Cat's appearance in other shows

* Top Cat's theme is featured in ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'' episode "Surfin Fred" when Barney and

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatric ...

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 the episode "Rafeefleas" when T.C and the gang found two statues of cavemen (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'' is a 1972 American animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, intended to raise ecological awareness. Written by Bob Ogle and Dick Robbins and directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna, it was ...

''. While the others don't have dialogue, Top Cat was voiced by

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

and Benny the Ball was voice by John Stephenson. It was presumed that Arnold Stang wasn't available at the time, while Maurice Gosfield died in 1964. * In 1985, Top Cat appeared on ''

Yogi's Treasure Hunt ''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'' is an American animated television series, and the fifth entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Featuring Yogi Bear and various other Hanna-Barbera characters, it premiered in synd ...

'' with Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera toon stars; he was the one who assigned the treasure hunts. Officer Dibble also made an appearance in the end of the show's episode, "Yogi and the Beanstalk" voiced by John Stephenson. * In 1987, Hanna-Barbera produced a feature-length television film based on the show titled '' Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats'' (part of the ''

Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 ''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' is a series of 10 syndicated made-for-television animated films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of ''The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera'' programming block from September 20, 1987 to November 20 ...

'' film series), in which the gang helps a teenager claim her inheritance. During that time, John Stephenson reprised Officer Dibble while Benny the Ball was voiced by

Avery Schreiber Avery Lawrence Schreiber (April 9, 1935 – January 7, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. He was a veteran of stage, television, and movies who came to prominence in the 1960s in a comedy duo with Jack Burns. He acted in an array of roles ...

. * In the ''Fender Bender 500'' segment of ''

Wake, Rattle, and Roll ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll'' (retitled ''Jump, Rattle, and Roll'' when it aired on The Disney Channel on weekday afternoons in 1991''The Disney Channel Magazine'', Vol. 9, no. 5, September/October 1991: pp. 20, 36, 45.) is an American live-action/ ...

'', Top Cat and Choo Choo were racers driving a trash can-modeled monster truck called the Alley Cat. * In 1991, Top Cat was a teenage cat (but he still lived in a trash can) on ''

Yo Yogi! ''Yo Yogi!'' is an American animated television series, and the seventh entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired from September 14 to December 7, 1991, on NBC for 13 episodes. Synopsis Taking pl ...

'' voiced by

Arte Johnson Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (January 20, 1929 – July 3, 2019) was an American actor and comedian who was best known for his work as a regular on television's ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Biography Early life Johnson was born January 20, 19 ...

. * Top Cat was seen in a

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Rap in 1995. * Top Cat made a cameo appearance in the background in ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons; by th ...

'' segment "Buy One, Get One Free". * In the ''

Duck Dodgers Duck Dodgers is the star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero. He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short '' Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directed by Chuck Jone ...

'' episode "K-9 Quarry", Top Cat was amongst the poached characters on the

Alien Hunter ''Alien Hunter'' is a 2003 American-Bulgarian science-fiction-thriller film directed by Ronald Krauss and starring James Spader, Carl Lewis and Leslie Stefanson. Plot In 1947 New Mexico, a radio operator receives a bizarre signal coming from R ...

's ship. * Top Cat and his gang appeared in the ''

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The first season of ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney ...

'' episode "Mindless" with Top Cat and Choo Choo voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

, Benny the Ball voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

, and Fancy-Fancy voiced by

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly is an American voice actor. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several guest voices on the TV series ''Drawn Togeth ...

. Brain has no dialogue and Spook is nowhere to be seen. In that episode, Harvey Birdman takes Top Cat and his gang home. Top Cat gets sued for bookmaking and running an illegal gambling service out of Harvey's home. He is found guilty and is sentenced to probation. * Top Cat, Benny and Brain made a cameo appearance at the end of ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom ...

'' 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 in the ''

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as the network's first show animated primarily with Adobe Flash, whic ...

'' episode "Cheese a go-go". * In the ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' episode "

That Darn Katz! "That Darn Katz!" is the eighth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series ''Futurama'', and the 96th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central on August 5, 2010. In the episode, Amy's rejecte ...

" a picture of Top Cat is seen. * Top Cat, Benny, and the rest of the alley cats appeared in the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

original series ''

Jellystone! ''Jellystone!'' is an American animated television comedy, comedy television series developed by C. H. Greenblatt for the streaming service HBO Max. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and features reimagined versions of various cha ...

'' Choo-Choo, Spook and Brain are females in this series. Spook is also renamed as Spooky and she is completely mute. * Top Cat made a cameo appearance in ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...

'' episode "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary".

Top Cat's appearances in comic strips

* Top Cat and his gang (except for Brain) appeared in the March 10, 2016, strip of '' Heathcliff''.

Television movies and specials

* '' Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats'' (1988) * '' Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration'' (1989)

Theatrical films

The series has spawned two theatrical films produced by Mexican animation studio, Ánima Estudios. Both films have grossed a combined total of $19.3 million (MX$166.35 million pesos). * '' Top Cat: The Movie'' (2011) * ''

Top Cat Begins ''Top Cat Begins'' (also known in Spanish as ''Don Gato: El Inicio de la Pandilla'', ''Top Cat: The Start of the Gang'') is a 2015 computer-animated comedy film produced by Ánima Estudios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in Mexico wit ...

'' (2015)

Box office

International broadcast

Australia

The show premiered on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

on September 27, 1961

Canada

''Top Cat'' premiered on the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

on October 9, 1961.

Hungary

''Top Cat'' (''Turpi úrfi'') was one of the first American cartoons premiered on Hungarian television channels in 1969. It also broadcast later with ''

The Huckleberry Hound Show ''The Huckleberry Hound Show'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and the second series produced by the studio following '' The Ruff and Reddy Show''. The show first aired in syndication on Septembe ...

'', ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

'', ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'', ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'' and ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produc ...

'' on

Magyar Televízió Magyar Televízió (, ''Hungarian Television'') or MTV is a nationwide public television broadcasting organization in Hungary. Headquartered in Budapest, it is the oldest television broadcaster in Hungary and today airs five channels: M1 HD, ...

from 1985 to 1990, and tv2 from 1997 to 1999 (together with ''

Wacky Races ''Wacky Races'' is a media franchise containing five animated series, several video games, and a comic book, with most centered on the theme of various Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters primarily engaged in auto racing (although occasionally employ ...

'', ''

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on Septem ...

'' and '' Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo'').

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

began broadcasting it in Hungarian in 2013 (the show had a one-off airing the year before as part of a cats-themed block).

Latin America

The show was dubbed to Spanish in Mexico in 1963, using some of the same voice actors who worked in ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

''. It was renamed '' Don Gato y su pandilla'' (literally ''Mr. Cat and his gang'') and the main characters adopted different accents. The voice acting improved the show, adding new jokes and local references. In spite of the modest success of the show in the United States, the show was a massive hit in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina, where it is recognized as one of the most famous Hanna Barbera characters ever. Besides Top Cat, all the other characters from the show were 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 childlike voice than was the case in the original dubbing. * Choo Choo was renamed ''Cucho'' and spoke with a Yucatecan accent. * Fancy-Fancy was ''Panza'' (belly). * Spook renamed as the word's rough translation ''Espanto''. * Brain was called ''Demóstenes'' (honouring the Greek statesman

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

, with whom he shares a speech impediment). * Officer Charlie Dibble renamed as ''Oficial Carlos "Carlitos" Matute''. The adaptation and translation was made by Rubén Arvizu. The main voice actors were Julio Lucena (voice of Top Cat),

Jorge Arvizu Jorge Isaac Arvizu Martínez (July 23, 1932 – March 18, 2014), better known by the stage name Jorge Arvizu, was a Mexican actor who was the first Spanish voice, among others, for the characters Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone and Cookie Monster. H ...

(voice of Benny and Choo Choo),

Víctor Alcocer Víctor Alcocer Gómez (March 23, 1917 – October 2, 1984) was a Mexican actor of film, television and voice-over.David Reynoso David Reynoso Flores (29 January 1926 – 9 June 1994) was a Mexican actor. He appeared in more than 170 films and television shows between 1955 and 1994. He was also a federal deputy from 1979 to 1982, representing the Federal District's seven ...

, among others. ''Top Cat'' is still rerun every few years. In

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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

Lima Duarte Ariclenes Venâncio Martins (born 29 March 1930), known professionally as Lima Duarte (), is a Brazilian actor. He played a number of characters in Brazilian telenovelas, such as Zeca Diabo in '' O Bem-Amado'' and Sinhozinho Malta in '' Roque San ...

. The dub premiered in 1963 on

TV Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in t ...

in São Paulo and other stations in other cities. The series was later syndicated and was aired in the late 80s on

TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

as part of ''

Xou da Xuxa ''Xou da Xuxa'' () was a Brazilian children's television series directed by Marlene Mattos, and hosted by Xuxa Meneghel. It premiered on TV Globo, Rede Globo between 30 June 1986 and 31 December 1992, with 2000 editions completed. ''Xou'' replaced ...

''. In addition, the city of New York was replaced by Brasília (federal capital) in the Brazilian version most of the time.

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 until 2004.

Japan

''Top Cat'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ''ドラ猫大将'') first aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

back in 1963 under the title translating to ''Stray Cat Boss.'' It was then rebroadcast many times over the years. In 1990, A new dub was produced for

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

sold by

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

and released under its original name in Katakana (''トップキャット''). This new dub was also carried over to airing on

Cartoon Network Japan Cartoon Network is a pan-Asian television channel that primarily broadcasts animated series. Operated by Warner Bros. Discovery under its International division, the channel is broadcast from its headquarters in Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia to ...

since its launch in 1997.

Sri Lanka

''Top Cat'' ( Sinhala: () literally ''Crazy Cat'') was one of the most popular cartoon shows in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

early 1980s and it has been repeated several times on the national television channel "

Rupavahini The Sri Lanka Rūpavāhinī Corporation (; ), also known as Jathika Rupavahini (lit. National Television) or simply as Rupavahini, is the national television network of Sri Lanka. The term Rupavahini literally means "purveyor of images" in the ...

". The series is dubbed in Sinhala and directed by

Titus Thotawatte Thotawattege Don Manuel Titus de Silva ( Sinhala:ටයිටස් තොටවත්ත), popularly as Titus Thotawatte, was a Sri Lankan director and editor who made several popular Sri Lankan action movies in the 1960s and 1970s and later ...

.

United Kingdom

"Top Cat" premiered on the

BBC Television Service BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

(now

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

) on May 16, 1962, under its original name but after only four weeks was renamed ''The Boss Cat'' on June 13, 1962. This was shortened on February 22, 1967, to ''Boss Cat''. This rapid name change was made because Top Cat was also the name of a then-popular British brand of

cat food Cat food is food specifically formulated and designed for consumption by cats. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, cats in London were often fed horse meat sold by traders known as Cats’ Meat Men or Women, who traveled designated routes ...

, and the cartoon was aired on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

which does not carry advertising. The dialogue and theme tune still referred to the character by his original name. Despite the show being renamed ''Boss Cat'', the character's name was unchanged as Top Cat or the initials "TC". The ''Boss Cat'' title card was last used for a repeat run in summer 1989; From that point onwards the original US title sequence was used in full. In 2016, the characters from the show (all the cats and Officer Dibble) were used as part of a set of television commercials for the British bank Halifax.

Name in different languages

*

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

: ''Manda-Chuva'' (voice by

Lima Duarte Ariclenes Venâncio Martins (born 29 March 1930), known professionally as Lima Duarte (), is a Brazilian actor. He played a number of characters in Brazilian telenovelas, such as Zeca Diabo in '' O Bem-Amado'' and Sinhozinho Malta in '' Roque San ...

) *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''Boss Cat'' * Bulgarian: ''Топ Кет'' (''Top Ket'') *

Canadian French Canadian French (, ) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Canadian French'' referred solely to Quebec French and the closely re ...

: ''Top chatons'' *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: ''Kočičí banda'' * Danish: ''Top Kat'' *

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ''Top Kat'' *

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

: ''Top Cat'' * Finnish: ''Topi-katti'' ("Topi" does not mean 'Top', but is a Finnish nickname like "Tommy") *

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Pacha'' *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Superkater'' * Hungarian: ''Turpi úrfi'' (Lord Trick) in the series and ''Főmacsek'' (Main Cat) in the special. *

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Top Cat (Temistocle)'' *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: () * (''Tosho Machorot'') * Norwegian: ''Top Katt'' * Persian: ''گربه استثنائی / داش پیشی / پیشی خان'' *

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Kocia Ferajna'' () and earlier translation ''Kot Tip Top'' () * Portuguese: ''similar to Brazilian'' *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: ''Super Motanul'' (''The Super-Cat'') *

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: ''ГлавКот'' * * Sinhala: () *

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Don Gato y su pandilla'' (''Mr. Cat and his gang'') *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Top Cat'' (voice by Per Sandborgh)

Notes

References

Sources

*

External links

* * * * {{Children's programming on NBC in the 1960s 1960s American animated comedy television series 1960s American children's comedy television series 1960s American parody television series 1960s American sitcoms 1961 American animated television series debuts 1962 American television series endings American animated sitcoms American children's animated comedy television series American children's television sitcoms Animated television series about cats American English-language television shows Children's television series about talking animals Television characters introduced in 1961 Television series by Hanna-Barbera Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Television series by Screen Gems Television shows adapted into comics Television shows set in Manhattan Animated television series set in New York City American Broadcasting Company sitcoms American Broadcasting Company animated television series Animated characters introduced in 1961 Fictional cats Anthropomorphic cats 1961 comics debuts 1973 comics endings Comics characters introduced in 1961 Humor comics Comics about anthropomorphic cats Comics about talking animals

Background

Premise

Broadcast

Analysis

Characters

Episodes

Series overview

Home media

In other media

Comic books

Books

View-Master

Music

Top Cat's cameos

Top Cat's appearance in other shows

Top Cat's appearances in comic strips

Television movies and specials

Theatrical films

Box office

International broadcast

Australia

Canada

Hungary

Latin America

India

Japan

Sri Lanka

United Kingdom

Name in different languages

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links