The Catillac Cats is the name of a group of characters that starred in the secondary segment (officially billed Cats & Co. on the end credits) of the 1984 animated series of Heathcliff . [1] Most episodes revolve around Riff-Raff's get-rich-quick schemes or searches for food. [2]
The segment stars a group of cats who live in a junkyard.
The group is headed by Riff-Raff, a tan, short, tough, streetwise alley cat. Riff-Raff is a suave cat who fancies himself incredibly debonair. He often has get-famous and/or get-rich-quick schemes, which form the basis of many of the episodes. He is always shown dressed with a blue scarf and a sideways cap.
Hector, a brown and beige cat who speaks with a New Jersey accent, is sometimes depicted as feeling that he should be the head of the group, and becomes so on some occasions, such as in the episode "Hector's Takeover". Riff-Raff and Hector's conflicts form the basis of a number of episodes. He is always seen wearing a tie and a headband.
Wordsworth, named after poet William Wordsworth, is a light-gray cat who always speaks in rhyme, and wears roller skates, yellow headphones, and sunglasses.
Mungo is a large, dim-witted gray cat who acts as a lackey for Riff-Raff. Mungo is often seen wearing a red shirt with a red winter hat. Though unintelligent, Mungo has astounding strength and fighting prowess. Mungo is a "gentle giant" and lighthearted in personality.
Cleo is Riff-Raff's girlfriend, who lives in a music store. She is a cream-colored cat with long blonde hair. Her fur resembles a leotard and she wears a pair of pink legwarmers. In the flashback episode "Christmas Memories", it is revealed that Cleo is, in fact, one of the Catillac Cats herself, even going as far as to indicate that she coined the name. [3] On more than one occasion, Riff-Raff ends up "two-timing" Cleo with another female cat (accidentally or otherwise). [4]
Although both Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats are set in the city of Westfinster, only Hector, Wordsworth and Mungo appear in both segments. When the trio appears in Heathcliff episodes, Hector is depicted as the leader of the group. Riff-Raff and Cleo never appeared in a Heathcliff episode (though Riff-Raff is mentioned a couple of times), and neither Heathcliff nor any other characters from the Heathcliff series ever appeared in a The Catillac Cats episode. The only time Heathcliff and Riff-Raff appeared on-screen together is in the end credits, when Riff-Raff snatches his hat back from Heathcliff. [5]
The Catillac Cats (minus Wordsworth) appeared in a Heathcliff comic on July 20, 2016, which shows Heathcliff walking with them to the junkyard. [6] The Catillac Cats (including Wordsworth) reappeared once again in the Heathcliff comic on February 20, 2018, in which two garbagemen witness Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats sharing stories about the 80s. [7]
In the end credits and on home videos, the Catillac Cats series is commonly referred to as Cats & Company, or Cats & Co., as seen in the end credits. Early Heathcliff VHS releases used the spelling "The Cadillac Cats", until DiC put out an all 'Cats & Co' tape, which included the first use of the spelling "The Catillac Cats".
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Heathcliff is an American comic strip created by George Gately in 1973, featuring the title character, an orange cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher, it is distributed to over 1,000 newspapers by Creators Syndicate, which took over the comic from McNaught Syndicate in 1988.
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Heathcliff is a children's animated television series that debuted on September 3, 1984. Produced by DIC Audiovisuel, it was the second animated series based on the Heathcliff comic strip. 65 half-hour episodes aired in first-run syndication in the fall of 1984, followed by a second season of 21 episodes in 1985 ran in syndication until it ended in 1988. The Catillac Cats characters were created by Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi.
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