CatDog

CatDog
CatDog logo
Genre	Animated Series Comedy
Created by	Peter Hannan
Voices of	Tom Kenny Jim Cummings Carlos Alazraqui Maria Bamford Nika Frost John Kassir Dwight Schultz Billy West
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	66 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Original release
Network	Nickelodeon
Release	October 4, 1998 – July 24, 2004

CatDog was an American animated television series on Nickelodeon created by Peter Hannan.

History

Nickelodeon at first ordered 40 episodes for the series and planned to debut it in fall 1998. Narc produced the series from Burbank, California, United States.

The show never got the highest of ratings, but it managed to keep and have amoderate fan base. Towards the end of the series run, there was a movie produced, CatDog going on an adventure to discover who their parents were. Apparently, Winslow discovered CatDog after a massive hurricane came through thier town. Winslow (weirdly enough) somewhat, adopted them and never revealed to them how he had found them because he did not want them to know that he had had sympathy for them all along. In the end, CatDog discovers the a huge blue sasquatch creature and its husband a frog had discovered them after a hurricane had blown them to outside their front door. They had lost them to the hurricane that landed them to wear Winslow would find them. The end of the movie had a clip show of images showing how they spent time together.

The idea for the character came from the 1938 animated short Porky in Wackyland.

Premise

The show follows the adventures of CatDog, a cat and dog conjoined at the waist. Because of their strange condition, CatDog are often harassed by the Greaser Dogs, a trio of tough thugs, and their neighbor, Winslow, a devious blue rat.

Albie Hecht, Nickelodeon's senior vice president of worldwide productions, said that the creators planned for the show to "really play off of kids' sympathies" by portraying the characters as experiencing "the worst of both worlds".

The show revolves around Cat and Dog who share the same body, and although they are best friends/brothers, they have very different personalities. Cat is into Opera, cleanliness and money. Dog is very fun loving and loves eating, chasing cars, exploring, and just about anything else a dog would love.

They live in a house that is in the shape of a fish and bone with their roommate Winslow, a smart mouth blue rat who loves giving CatDog grief. In the city of Nearburg, the two inadvertently cause problems for the residents that live there. The Greaser Dogs, a gang of bullies whose names are Cliff, Shriek, and Lube, are always bullying Cat and Dog, but mostly Cat.

Characters

• Dog

Dog is the more happy-go-lucky and more naive of the two. He is extremely ambitious when Cat or any other character convinces him to take on a task, diving right into it with full force and energy. Dog is the typical loyal "dumb dog" and is easily convinced. He will believe everything he is told. His attention span is very short and he is easily distracted by garbage trucks, bones, food, and his overactive imagination. He is extremely lovable and gets along with most everyone he meets. Because of his dysfunctional brain, Dog usually is the one who gets him and Cat into trouble. Not paying attention to Cat's warnings, they always end up with some severe consequences. Like Cat, Dog adores his brother and looks up to him no matter how many times Cat steers him into danger.

Dog is the typical canine. He is often distracted chasing shadows, and loves eating garbage, chasing after tennis balls, and eating. Much to Cat's dismay, he leaves a mess everywhere he goes. He is best described as being carefree and happy-go-lucky. Despite his flakiness, Dog has a heart of gold and often goes out of his way to help others. He was voiced by Tom Kenny.

• Cat

Cat is the smarter and more cunning of the two. He often devises plans to trick Dog into getting what he wants, like making Dog smarter in an attempt to have more in common with him, or having him win a dog sledding contest by training him in a very hard and militaristic manner, and usually, as a result of his greediness and selfishness, these schemes all blow up in his face. Cat is the typical smart, vain, uptight tortured soul. He is the "underdog" of the two. Life has been hard for the both of them, since they have been shunned by society due to their awkward appearance; but Cat always seems to get the short end of the stick in the situations, especially faced with the Greaser Dogs. With his brains and constant ridiculing from the rest of the characters, he's the most defensive and short tempered, of the two. Despite his quirks, and spats with Dog, he loves his brother with his whole heart. He cares so deeply that he ends up helping Dog in the end once his guilty conscience gets to him.

Cat desires fame and fortune, and tends to go to excessive lengths in order to gain them. He is intelligent and enjoys reading, gardening, and listening to classical music. Cat is somewhat uptight and believes strongly in being polite and neat. He is a stickler for cleanliness, and, like most cats, is aquaphobic. He was voiced by Jim Cummings.

• Winslow

Winslow lives in CatDog's house in the hole in the wall. Despite his rat-like appearance and behavior, he is actually a mouse. Winslow speaks with a typical Brooklyn accent. Winslow is always full of wisecracks about anything and everything. He's very sneaky and underhanded with CatDog, especially with Cat. Winslow and Cat do not get along at all, because he's always getting Cat in trouble. Dog, however, doesn't mind Winslow and is friendly with him. All in all, Winslow has proven to be not such a bad guy. Deep down he has a very big heart and loves CatDog. He acts out against them because he is jealous of how close Cat and Dog are.

• Rancid Rabbit

Rancid Rabbit is the stereotypical authority figure. He has had job titles like police officer, life guard, prison guard , boss of various businesses, principal, president, mayor, Egyptian Pharaoh, doctor, TV host, contest judge, store and Taco Depot manager, etc. Rancid hates CatDog and will go out of his way to punish them or force them to work for him, abusing his power to the fullest degree. Rancid takes advantage of CatDog as much as he can by deceiving them into buying his products or pushing them to do his bidding in a job. He does whatever it takes to take their money or benefit himself in any way. He was voiced by Billy West

• The Greaser Dogs

The Greaser Dogs is a street gang consisting of three tough dogs: Cliff, Shriek, and Lube. They act no different than school playground bullies, picking on anyone either weaker or different than them. They pick on CatDog (mostly Cat), and their only reason: "CatDog's a FREAK!" Their usual nickname for them is "Catbutt" because Dog has Cat for a butt. Dog sometimes gets along with them because he's a canine too. They initiated him in the gang in the episode "Full Moon Fever", after he had proven his worth as a "real" dog. Shriek has a huge crush on Dog, which he doesn't realize.

Cliff is the leader of the Greasers. He wears a black leather jacket with a picture of a dead cat on it. He is very short tempered and talks similar to Winslow with a Brooklyn - type accent. All of the Greasers are very ignorant and unaware of their actions. Cliff got a taste of his own medicine when Eddie was accidentally glued to his jacket, which turned them into "SquirrelDog". Once this happened Shriek and Lube kicked him out of the Greasers because now HE was a "2 headed freak". Cliff learned the pain of being an outcast and what CatDog goes through. Later he went back to his ignorant ways and became a Greaser again, once he was free of Eddie. Later on episodes revealed softer sides of Cliff such as his love for ballet and cashmere.

Shriek is the only girl in the Greasers. She is a tiny white poodle. She has a high pitched, squeaky voice with a slight raspiness to it. Though she's as tough and loyal as the other 2, she's very emotional romantically and has a secret crush on Dog. Shriek will not hit Dog, she'll only hit Cat. She came from a rich family. Her last name is Dubois. She didn't like the posh life, so she left home and became a Greaser.

Lube is a hound dog, and the slowest and sweetest one of the group. He'll forget what he's saying and slur his speech. He's the most loyal of the 3 Greasers. Despite his dim-wittedness, like his parents Lube has lots of musical talent and can sing very beautifully. It is also important to note a character design modification that occured after the first episode. In the premier episode 'Dog Gone', Lube appeared with black dot eyes and long brown hair that extended down to his nose. In subsequent episodes, his appearance was changed and remained that way until the demise of the series.

• Eddie the Pulverizer

Eddie, a squirrel, is a Greaser wannabe with little red pieces of paper taped to the side of his head to look like red sideburns in hopes to be more like Cliff. He is always bruised up from getting punched, and from being used as a birdie in badminton, or a football. He wants to be a Greaser extremely bad, but sadly lacks their number one requirement - being a dog.

• Randolph Grant

Randolph is a trendy, suave cat who has an accent like Cary Grant. He first appears in the episode "CatDog's End". He'll try anything once, as long as it's terribly exciting and attention - getting. Randolph appears to be like a celebrity in his lifestyle. In "All About Cat", Randolph was hosting the musical awards banquet. "In the Lady is a Shriek" Randolph is the proud owner of "Randolph's Charm School and House of Beauty", to help turn girls into beautiful women with poise and etiquette. That's Randolph: a trend setting, rich and famous cat.

• Tallulah

Tallulah is an actress on whom Cat has an enormous crush. CatDog first met Tallulah during the musical "Abe Lincoln Superstar". Since then she has become a major celebrity and good friend of Randolph's. Tallulah is forever searching for her soul mate "that's as loyal as a dog and as clever as a cat, who will take [her] in his arms and say 'Baby, you're the one!"

• Mean Bob

The fictional super hero is Dog's ultimate hero. Watching Mean Bob movies, playing the video games and with the toys, has made Dog quite an expert on Mean Bob and how to do certain things like dodge meteors, fly and shoot at enemy ships, and battle "Salivians". Mean Bob has made appearances as an action figure, or actor, in The Collector, Spaced Out, Dog Show, the Golden Hydrant Game, and Saving Mean Bob game. And he's gone.