The Houndcats
The Houndcats | |
---|---|
Created by | Joe Ruby & Ken Spears[1] |
Voices of | Michael Bell |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Producers | Friz Freleng David H. DePatie |
Running time | 22 minutes (per episode) |
Production company | DePatie-Freleng Enterprises |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 9 – December 2, 1972 |
The Houndcats is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes were produced.
Plot
Loosely based on the CBS adventure series Mission: Impossible and the short-lived 1971 series Bearcats!, it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name, as they go on spy missions in 1914 America.
Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving their orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other device, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of Mission: Impossible. However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion.
Members
- The "Houndcats" were led by cool and confident cat Stutz.
- Ding Dog was his blue Civil War uniform-wearing right-hand man with bad timing and judgment. He is a Briard.
- Mussel Mutt was the muscle - a large, bulky, and ever-hungry herding dog whose eyes were almost always hidden under his hat. He is an Old English Sheepdog
- Putty Puss was a tiny cat and a disguise expert.
- Rhubarb was a canine scientist. He wore a long coat and a large sombrero (you usually just saw his nose sticking out from under it) that hid his gadgets.
Voices
- Michael Bell - Stutz, The Raven
- Joe Besser - Putty Puss
- Daws Butler - Rhubarb (three episodes), Dr. Strangeless, Grogan
- Stu Gilliam - Ding Dog
- Arte Johnson - Rhubarb, Captain Blight
- Aldo Ray - Mussel Mutt
- Joan Gerber - Madame X
- Bob Holt -
- John Stephenson - Doctor Doll
Production notes
13 half-hour episodes of the series were produced. An adult laugh track was added, as was common practice for cartoon series' at the time.
Incarnations
- The Houndcats (1972–1973)
- The Houndcats and The Barkleys (1972–1973)
DVD/syndication
On October 20, 2015, Film Chest Media Group released The Barkleys and The Houndcats - 2 DVD Classic Animation Set on DVD in Region 1.[2] This collection features all 13 episodes of the series.
Some episodes of the show were previously released onto videocassette in the 1980s by now-defunct Trans World Entertainment.
The show was previously syndicated by Viacom International, which is now CBS Television Distribution.[3]
(The Houndcats is presumably in the public domain because production company DePatie-Freleng Enterprises folded into Marvel Productions in 1981, and the Marvel empire was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 2009. Most likely, Marvel failed to renew the copyrights on The Houndcats when they expired in 2000, and Disney - very likely unaware this show was now a part of their vast library - failed to take any further action to renew the copyrights.)
Staff
- Created for Television by David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
- In Association with Ken Spears, Joe Ruby
- Writers: Woody Kling, Tom Dagenais, Don Christensen
- Animation Director: Bob McKimson
- Storyboard Directors: Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Leonardi, Cullen Houghtaling, Paul Sommer
- Layout Supervisor and Design: Robert Taylor
- Layouts: Martin Strudler, Marty Murphy, Bob Givens, Tony Rivera, Peter Alvarado
- Animation: Don Williams, Manny Gould, Ken Muse, Norm McCabe, Bob Richardson, Warren Batchelder, John Gibbs, Jim Davis, Bob Matz, Bob Bransford, Reuben Timmins, Bob Bemiller
- Background Supervised by Richard H. Thomas, Mary O'Loughlin
- Film Editing Supervised by Lee Gunther
- Film Editors: Joe Siracusa, Roger Donley, Allan R. Potter, Rick Steward
- Voice Talents of Michael Bell, Joe Besser, Daws Butler, Stu Gilliam, Arte Johnson, Aldo Ray and Joan Gerber, Bob Holt, John Stephenson
- Title Designs by Arthur Leonardi
- Music by Doug Goodwin
- Music Score Conducted by Eric Rogers
- Music Recording Engineer: Eric A. Tomlinson
- Executive in Charge of Production: Stan Paperny
- Production Supervisor: Harry Love
- Camera: Ray Lee, Larry Hogan, John Burton, Jr.
- Production Mixer: Steve Orr
- Sound by Producer's Sound Service, Inc.
- THIS PICTURE MADE UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF IATSE-IA AFFILIATED WITH A.F.L.-C.I.O.
- COPYRIGHT © MCMLXXII DePATIE-FRELENG ENTERPRISES, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
- Associate Producers: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
- Produced by David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
- DFE FILMS
- A DePATIE-FRELENG PRODUCTION
- A VIACOM PRESENTATION
In other languages
- Arabic: فرقة المطاردة
- Basque: Ehizakatuak
- Italian: Gli investigatti, La valle dei gatti[4]
- Japanese: それゆけ珍探偵ハウンドキャッツ[5]
- Korean: 골목대장 똘이[6][7]
- Polish: Gończe koty
- Portuguese: Missão Quase Impossível
References
- ^ Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012). "Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears". Stu's Show. Retrieved 03-18-2013.
- ^ 2-DVD Set with DePatie-Freleng's 'The Barkleys' and 'The Houndcats' Archived 2015-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYhzUBXwXX4
- ^ ""La valle dei gatti - Antonio Genna". Il mondo dei doppiatori. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
- ^ "まんがキッドボックス (1971) - 私的 昭和テレビ大全集". FC2. 2006-12-03. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
- ^ "골목대장 똘이 (KBS 1978년)". Naver. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
- ^ "골목대장 똘이 : 미만부 가사묶음 - 황씨신문". Mimanbu. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
External links
- The Houndcats at IMDb
- Template:Bcdb
- The Houndcats at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.
- 1970s American animated television series
- 1972 American television series debuts
- Television series by CBS Television Studios
- 1973 American television series endings
- NBC network shows
- American animated television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
- Television series by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
- Television shows about dogs
- Fictional cats
- American children's animated television series