CatDog | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Peter Hannan |
Creative director | Robert Porter |
Voices of | |
Theme music composer | Peter Hannan |
Opening theme | "CatDog Theme Song" |
Ending theme | "CatDog Ending Theme Song" |
Composer | Denis M. Hannigan |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 68 (134 segments) [a] (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Peter Hannan |
Producers |
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Running time | 23 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network |
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Release | April 4, 1998 – June 15, 2005 |
CatDog is an American animated television series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. [1] The series follows the zany hijinks of orange-furred conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and the other a dog. Nickelodeon produced the series from Burbank, California. [2] The first episode aired on April 4, 1998, following the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards , before the show officially premiered on October 5, 1998. Similarly, the Season 2 episode "Fetch" was shown in theaters in 1998 before airing on television. [3]
The series ended on June 15, 2005, after a total of four seasons and 66 aired episodes over seven years, plus two produced episodes that never aired. It was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Peter Hannan Productions and was released on DVD in Region 1 by Shout! Factory.
Two animation studios, Saerom Animation and Rough Draft Studios through Rough Draft Korea, worked on the animation for the show.
CatDog follows the adventures of a cat and a dog who share a body, despite having opposite personalities. Cat is a strait-laced, intellectual cat whereas Dog is an impulsive, happy-go-lucky dog. While the brothers can independently control their upper bodies with two heads, they are conjoined at the midsection, meaning they have no tail or hind legs. Cat and Dog's personality differences share similarities with The Odd Couple , the Looney Tunes shorts and elements of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and fellow Nicktoon characters Ren and Stimpy. [4] Because Cat and Dog cannot be separated, Dog will often drag his brother into activities Dog enjoys, such as chasing garbage trucks, eating fast food, and exploring, even though Cat is reluctant to do so.
The series, created by Peter Hannan, was developed as the next Nicktoons production and produced from Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California. Hannan served as executive producer. This was part of Nickelodeon's $350 million investment in original animation over the next five years after the series' inception. [2]
Albie Hecht, Nickelodeon's senior vice president of worldwide productions, said that the creators planned for the series to "really play off of kids' sympathies" by portraying the characters as experiencing "the worst of both worlds". [2] Hannan said CatDog was inspired by watching neighborhood cats and dogs occasionally fight each other, and thought that it would be great to make conjoined twins Cat and Dog to see how both of the animals would fare against other things. [2] The idea of them being conjoined twins came from Hannan watching several news stories on TV about conjoined twins living a normal life conjoined together. [2] Both aspects, he claimed, initially developed the idea of CatDog. [2]
The title characters were originally envisioned as a two-headed superhero called "CatDog Man".
The series originally aired on Nickelodeon in the US from 1998 to 2004, and aired reruns from 2005 to 2007. It was subsequently aired on Nicktoons from May 1, 2002 to August 23, 2011. Catdog began airing on Nickrewind in 2013 and continued to air until 2021. The show started streaming on Paramount+ in 2020. In the UK and Ireland, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon (1998–2005), Channel 4 (1999-2007) and Nicktoons (2002–13). In Canada, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon (2009–2019) and on YTV (1998–2006). In Australia and New Zealand, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon (1998–2015). In Japan, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon (1999–2009) and on TV Asahi (1999–2006). In Middle East, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon Arabia (2008–2011) and on MBC 3 (2014–2015). In March 2021, the series was added along with other various Nicktoons and Nickelodeon shows onto Paramount+.
The series was reviewed by Common Sense Media with a score 2/5 stars, advised for children 7 and up. [5]
In 1998, the series was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production, for "Dog Gone". The recipients would have been Derek Drymon, Robert Porter and Peter Hannan. [6]
At the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards, the show was nominated for Favorite Cartoon. However, it lost to Rugrats . It did so again in the 2000 Kids' Choice Awards.
Two VHS tapes of the series were released by Paramount Home Video on March 30, 1999. Together Forever contains a bonus short "Cat-Diggety Dog" plus the episodes "Dog Gone", "Flea or Die", "Diamond Fever", "CatDog's End" and "Work Force", and CatDog vs. The Greasers contains the episodes "Siege on Fort CatDog", "Squirrel Dog", "Full Moon Fever", "Shriek Loves Dog" and "All You Need is Lube".
Title | No. of episodes | Release date | Episodes include | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Together Forever | 6 | March 30, 1999 | 2x04c | "Cat-Diggety Dog" |
1x01a | "Dog Gone" | |||
1x02a | "Flea or Die" | |||
1x05a | "Diamond Fever" | |||
1x12a | "CatDog's End" | |||
1x04b | "Work Force" | |||
CatDog vs. The Greasers | 5 | 1x12b | "Siege on Fort CatDog" | |
1x09a | "Squirrel Dog" | |||
1x11a | "Full Moon Fever" | |||
1x04a | "Shriek Loves Dog" | |||
1x03b | "All You Need Is Lube" |
In 2010, Nickelodeon contracted Amazon.com's CreateSpace service arm to produce DVD sets of CatDog and other Nickelodeon shows exclusively for sale on Amazon. The DVDs were "manufactured-on-demand" DVD-Rs to match orders. The series is also available for download on Amazon's InstantVideo service. From 2011 to 2013, Shout! Factory released the series on DVD via several season sets, and a proper complete series set was released on December 9, 2014. [7] [8]
Title | Release date | Discs | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | April 7, 2010 | 4 | 20 |
Season 2, Volume 1 | December 1, 2010 | 3 | 17 |
Season 2, Volume 2 | December 1, 2010 | 4 | 17 |
Season 3 | December 1, 2010 | 3 | 13 |
Title | Season(s) | Episodes | Release date | Episodes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Volume 1: Season 1, Part 1 | 1 | 10 | October 18, 2011 | 1 ("Dog Gone" / "Fan Mail" / "All You Can't Eat") – 6 ("Party Animal" / "Mush, Dog, Mush!"), 8 ("Pumped" / "Dummy Dummy"), 9 ("Squirrel Dog" / "Brother's Day"), 11 ("Full Moon Fever" / "War of the CatDog") and 14 ("Nightmare" / "CatDogPig") | |
Volume 2: Season 1, Part 2 | March 27, 2012 | 7 ("Armed and Dangerous" / "Fistful of Mail!"), 10 ("Escape From the Deep End" / "The Collector"), 12 ("CatDog's End" / "Siege on Fort CatDog"), 13 ("Safety Dog" / "Dog Come Home!"), 15 ("New Neighbors" / "Dead Weight") – 20 ("All About Cat" / "Trespassing") | |||
Volume 3: Season 2, Part 1 | 2 | June 5, 2012 [9] | 21 ("Send in the CatDog" / "Fishing for Trouble" / "Fetch") – 30 ("Climb Every CatDog" / "Canine Mutiny") | ||
Volume 4: Season 2, Part 2 | September 25, 2012 [10] | 31 ("It's a Wonderful Half Life" / "Shepherd Dog") – 40 ("Cliff's Little Secret" / "Freak Show") | |||
Volume 5: The Complete Third Season [b] | 3 | 20 | March 12, 2013 [11] | 41 ("Sumo Enchanted Evening" / "Hotel CatDog") – 60 ("New Cat in Town" / "CatDog's Booty") | |
Volume 6: The Complete Final Season | 4 | 8 | August 20, 2013 [12] | 61–63 ("CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery") – 68 ("Vexed of Kin" / "Meat Dog's Friends") | |
The Complete Series | 1-4 | 68 | December 9, 2014 [8] | 1 ("Dog Gone" / "Fan Mail" / "All You Can't Eat") – 68 ("Vexed of Kin" / "Meat Dog's Friends") |
The complete series is also available for download in the iTunes Store and streaming on Paramount+.
In Australia, seasons 1-3 were released on DVD by Beyond Home Entertainment.
Nickelodeon initiated a $20 million promotional campaign for the series' first season in 1999 with partners Burger King, Duracell, Jell-O, and Nabisco. [13] Burger King, which had promoted Nickelodeon's The Rugrats Movie with toys the previous year, offered CatDog-themed toys in its kids meals for five weeks beginning February 22, 1999. [13] Nickelodeon promoted a trip to Universal Studios Florida as a prize in an on-air sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King and Mattel, which also released a line of CatDog toys that year. [13] Duracell held a back-to-school-themed backpack offer as well as a "Catch CatDog" sweepstakes on television and radio during the holiday season. [13] Jell-O packaged CatDog stickers in its Jell-O Yogurt kids packs. [13] Nabisco marketed limited edition CatDog Cheese Nips flavors, which featured instant-win contest prizes that included a trip to Los Angeles to meet and have their likeness drawn by creator of CatDog. [13]
On May 13, 1999, Nickelodeon and Hasbro Interactive announced a three-year partnership to publish video games based on Nickelodeon television series, the first being CatDog: Quest for the Golden Hydrant for Microsoft Windows, which released in late 1999. [14] Ports of the game for PlayStation and Game Boy Color were mentioned but ultimately never released. [14] Another Hasbro title, CatDog: Saving Mean Bob, was announced for a 2000 release for PC and PlayStation [15] but never released.
Characters from the series appeared as cameos or playable characters in the Nickelodeon games Nicktoons Racing , Super Brawl Universe, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix , Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl , Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis, and Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway . Characters make cameo appearances in Nickelodeon Party Blast , Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots , and Nicktoons MLB .
The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø, the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", alongside Doug and Rugrats, and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand.
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-day lives, usually involving life experiences that become much greater adventures in the imaginations of the main characters.
Hey Arnold! is an American animated series and sitcom created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. It originally aired from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandparents in an inner-city tenement in the fictional city of Hillwood. Episodes center on his experiences navigating urban life while dealing with the zany hijinks he and his friends encounter. Many episodes, however, focus on other characters, including major, secondary, supporting, and even minor characters.
The Wild Thornberrys is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family of nomadic wildlife documentary filmmakers known as the Thornberrys, which consist of the nature documentary television host Nigel, his wife and camera operator Marianne, their 16-year-old daughter Debbie, their younger daughter Eliza, their adopted son Donnie, and a chimpanzee named Darwin. The series focuses in particular on Eliza, who has a magical ability to communicate with animals. The Thornberry family travels to every continent and wildlife environment in the ComVee, a recreational vehicle equipped with safety mechanisms to handle any terrain or body of water, to document their journeys in detail, with typical episodes involving Eliza befriending an animal and subsequently finding herself in peril.
Klasky-Csupo, Inc. is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and her then-husband, Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó in a spare room of their apartment and grew to 550 artists, creative workers and staff in an animation facility in Hollywood.
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Rocko's Modern Life is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer Heffer Wolfe, the neurotic turtle Filburt, and Rocko's faithful dog Spunky. It is set in the fictional town of O-Town. Throughout its run to present day, the series has been controversial for its adult humor, including double entendre, innuendo, and satirical social commentary, and gained a cult following, similar to The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. It is the fifth Nicktoon after Doug, Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rocko's Modern Life. The show focuses on three young monsters—Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm—who attend a school for monsters under a city dump and learn to frighten humans. Many of the episodes revolve around their zany hijinks after making it to the surface in order to perform "scares" as class assignments. The series premiered on October 29, 1994 and aired until November 16, 1997.
The Angry Beavers is an American animated sitcom created by Mitch Schauer for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around the zany hijinks of Norbert and Daggett Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have moved out of their parents' home to become bachelors in the forest near the fictional Wayouttatown, Oregon. The series premiered in the United States on April 19, 1997, and ended its initial run on November 11, 2003. 4 episodes would not premiere in the United States on Nickelodeon during its initial run and would premiere in that country on Nicktoons in 2006, with the last episode airing on August 27. The complete series has also been released on DVD in Region 1 by Shout! Factory.
Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company in their copyright bylines.
KaBlam! is an American animated sketch comedy anthology television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 11, 1996 to January 22, 2000, with repeats until November 2, 2001. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fully animated showcase for alternative forms of animation that were more common in indie films and commercials. Each episode thus features a collection of short films in different innovative styles of animation, bridged by the characters Henry and June, who introduce the short animations and have zany hijinks of their own in between.
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