Top Cat


 * ''Episode 13 of The Harveytoons Show included a character and short called "Top Cat".

Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera prime time animated television series which ran from November 26, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network. Reruns were formerly played on Cartoon Network, but are now shown on its sister network Boomerang.

History
Originally broadcast on Wednesdays [8:30-9pm Eastern], Top Cat was co-sponsored by Kellogg's and Bristol-Myers (Bufferin). The central character, Top Cat—called T.C. by close friends, "pro-vid-ing it's with dignity" as the lyrics of the theme song say—is the leader of a gang of Manhattan alley cats: Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, Brain, and Choo Choo living in Hoagy's Alley.

Top Cat and his gang were inspired by characters from the popular 1940s B movies, "The East Side Kids", but many suggest it derived from a later 1950s military comedy whose lead was a crafty con-man (The Phil Silvers Show). Maurice Gosfield, who played Private Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show, also provided the voice for Benny the Ball in Top Cat (Benny's rotund appearance was based on Gosfield too). Even Arnold Stang's voicing of Top Cat strongly resembled Phil Silvers' voice. Other possible sources cited have been Guys and Dolls where actor Stubby Kaye played a short, stout street-wise gambler and a virtual Benny the Ball prototype. Lastly, an unlikely contender (as it also came from Hanna Barbera) was the character Hokey Wolf, from a segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show, which also had parallels to The Phil Silvers Show.

A frequent plot-line revolved around the local beat cop Charles "Charlie" Dibble, NYPD, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang from the alley. The only reason that he wanted to be rid of them was that Top Cat and his gang were constantly attempting to earn a quick dollar—usually through an illegal scam. Dibble's appearance was modeled on Allen Jenkins, who did his voice. The word dibble, previously used only for an implement for making holes to plant seeds, acquired a second meaning in the vernacular as slang for police officers.

DVD release
In the USA, a box set with all 30 episodes was released in December 2004.

In the UK, the complete series box set was released in 2007, initially as a HMV exclusive until 2008. Alternatively, 5 single DVD volumes, each containing 6 episodes, were released. The covers were originally from the US edition, but was 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 to buy in other retailers across the UK.

Other characters appearing in Top Cat
Other Hanna-Barbera characters make cameo appearances during the series.


 * In one of the episodes, Top Cat and his friends are reading comic books. Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound comics can be seen in the bottom right corner of the scene.
 * In the episode "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 T.V., but TC waves this off. The statues are modeled after Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
 * In the episode "A Visit from Mother", "El Kabong" graffiti (Quick Draw McGraw's alter-ego) is seen on the wall in the background.

Top Cat characters appearing in other shows

 * In one episode of, Gomer Pyle, Gomer is seen in a restaurant reading a Top Cat comic book.
 * Top Cat also made a cameo appearance in one of What-a-Cartoon shorts named "Buy One, Get One Free" in a party scene.
 * Top Cat made a cameo appearance in a 2012 MetLife commercial enititled, "Everyone".
 * Top Cat's theme is featured in The Flintstones episode "Surfin Fred" when Barney and Betty 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 episode "The Rafeefleas" when T.C and the gang found two statues of cave man (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. While the others don't have dialogue, Top Cat was voiced by Daws Butler while Benny the Ball was voiced by John Stephenson. It was presumed that Arnold Stang wasn't available at the time while Maurice Gosfield was already dead in 1964.
 * In 1985, Top Cat appeared on Yogi's Treasure Hunt with Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera toon stars; he was the one who assigned the treasure hunts. Officer Dibble made an appearance in the end of the show's episode, "Yogi's Beanstalk" voiced by John Stephenson since Allen Jenkins was already dead in 1974.
 * 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 film series), in which the gang helps a young girl claim her inheritance. During that time, John Stephenson reprised Officer Dibble while Benny the Ball was voiced by Avery Schreiber.
 * In the Fender Bender 500 segment of Wake, Rattle, and Roll, Top Cat and Choo Choo were one of the racers driving a trash can-modeled monster truck called the Alley Cat.
 * In Yo Yogi!, Top Cat was a teenage cat voiced by Arte Johnson. Even here, he still lives in a trash can.
 * Top Cat was seen in a Cartoon Network Rap in 1995.
 * In the Duck Dodgers episode "K-9 Quarry", Top Cat was amongst the poached characters on the Alien Hunter's ship.
 * Top Cat, Benny and Brain made a cameo appearance at the end of The Powerpuff Girls 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 episode "Cheese a go-go."
 * In the Futurama episode "That Darn Katz!", a picture of Top Cat is seen.
 * In a sketch from BBC Radio 4 show That Mitchell and Webb Sound, a cop claims to have problems with TC. one particular moment similarly mentions from Maharajah of Pookajee.
 * An excerpt from the show appears in the 1982 film Cat People.
 * There is someone that dresses up as Top Cat in a Hanna-Barbera convention in the film Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon.

Comic Books
The gang's adventures continued off-screen in comic books as Dell (which became Gold Key) published 31 issues from 1961 to 1970. Charlton Comics published 20 more issues from 1970 to 1973. In Mexico, La Coleccion Primavera featured Don Gato in 1968.

Books
Little Golden Books and Durabooks have both produced hardcover children's books starring Top Cat.

In the UK, BrownWatson published the 1978 annual entitled The Great Grape Ape and Boss Cat.

View-Master
T.C. and friends appeared on three View-Master reels in 1962. These were titled "Medal for Meddling", "Zoo-Operation", and "No Cat Fishing".

Feature film
A feature film based on the TV series was released on September 16, 2011 in 2D and 3D theaters. The film was produced by Mexico's Ánima Estudios and Argentina's Illusion Studios and was released by the Latin American branch of Warner Bros. Pictures (whose parent company, Time Warner owns Turner Entertainment, which acquired Hanna-Barbera in 1990). Entitled Don Gato y su Pandilla (the name used for the Spanish dub of the series), the film was a major box-office success in Mexico and was one of the most successful releases from a Mexican production.

The film later had a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 2, 2013, featuring the voices of Rob Schneider as Lou Strickland and Danny Trejo as Griswald.

Production credits
1961-62
 * Produced and Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
 * Written By: Kin Platt
 * Story Director: Paul Sommer
 * Associate Producer: Alan Dinehart
 * Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
 * Starring the Voice of: Arnold Stang, With: Allen Jenkins, Maurice Gosfield, Marvin Kaplan, Leo De Lyon, John Stephenson, Paul Frees
 * Animation: Kenneth Muse, Jerry Hathcock
 * Animation Direction: Charles A. Nichols
 * Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
 * Layout: Jack Huber
 * Titles: Lawrence Goble
 * Backgrounds: Montealegre
 * Camera: Roy Wade, Norman Stainback, Frank Paiker, Charles Flekal
 * Film Editing: Greg Watson, Warner Leighton
 * Top Cat Copyright MCMLXI Hanna-Barbera Productions
 * A Hanna-Barbera Production
 * A Screen Gems Film Presentation
 * Television Subsidiary: Columbia Pictures Corporation

2004 DVD Version
 * Produced and Directed By: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
 * Written by Kin Platt, Joanna Lee, Michael Maltese, Barry Blitzer, Tony Benedict, Ray Allen, Larry Markes, Harvey Bullock, Harvey Marshall
 * Story Direction: Alex Lovy, Lewis Marshall, Paul Sommer
 * Associate Producer: Alan Dinehart
 * Musical Direction: Hoyt Curtin
 * Starring the Voice of: Arnold Stang With: Maurice Gosfield, Allen Jenkins, Marvin Kaplan, Leo De Lyon, John Stephenson
 * Additional Voices: Bea Benaderet, Daws Butler, Herschel Bernardi, Walker Edmiston, Paul Frees, Sally Jones, Don Messick, Ge Ge Pearson, Hal Smith, Jean Vander Pyl, Herb Vigran
 * Animation: Ed Aardal, George Goepper, Jerry Hathcock, Harry Holt, Ed Love, Tony Love, Dick Lundy, Kenneth Muse, Don Patterson, Irv Spence, Carlo Vinci, Don Williams
 * Animation Direction: Charles A. Nichols
 * Production Supervision: Howard Hanson
 * Layout: Dick Bickenbach, Jack Huber, Walter Clinton, Dan Noonan
 * Titles: Lawrence Goble
 * Background: Art Lozzi, Montealegre, Robert Gentle, Neenah Maxwell, Anthony Rizzo, Richard H. Thomas
 * Camera: Charles Flekal, Roy Wade, Norman Stainback, Frank Paiker
 * Film Editing: Greg Watson, Warner Leighton, Zachary Zeiger, Kenneth Spears, Joseph Ruby, Donald A. Douglas
 * A Hanna-Barbera Production