Saturday, April 28, 2012

DVD Review - Heathcliff: King of the Beasts


 Last month I entered a DVD giveaway on a blog just for a chance to win the Heathcliff: King of the Beasts. Luckily, I won the contest and I have been spending my free time watching new and old cartoons. Even though I was only a three-year-old when Heathcliff originally aired back in 1984, I vaguely remember the show, but for some odd reason I do remember the catch theme song.

Heathcliff is based on the comic strip by the late George Gately. Prior to the 1984, Heathcliff appeared in the 1980 series Heathcliff and the Dingbats, which last two years and 25 episodes. When Heathcliff returned to TV in 1984, it followed a similar format with each episode having two 11 segments, followed by a short ending segment with Heathcliff giving good pet advise to kids. The old Dingbats segment was replaced with The Catillac Cats, which was created by Jean Chalopin, Bruno Bianchi.


Just like the 1981 incarnation, the legendary Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and many other Looney Tunes characters.) provided the voice for Heathcliff. The show follows Heathcliff, who is an indoor/outdoor streetcat, spending his days romancing Sonja, a white Persian cat, the rest of the day he is causing trouble, like getting into fights with other cats, annoying dogs, and conning everyone he meets. The Catillac Cats centers on Rift-Raft, Hector, Mungo, and Wordsworth. When he is not romancing his girlfriend, Cleo, Rift-Raft and his gang are always getting into some sort of trouble. Occasionally, when Rift-Raft is not around his gang assists Heathcliff.

Heathcliff: King of the Beasts DVD contains the first ten episodes on one DVD, along with a bonus episode of The Get-Along Gang.
  1. The Great Pussini / Kitty Kat Kennels
  2. Chauncey's Great Escape / Carnival Capers
  3. Mad Dog Catcher / Circus Beserkus
  4. Rebel Without A Claws / The Farming Life Ain't For Me
  5. Heathcliff's Middle Name / Wishful Thinking
  6. King of the Beasts / Cat Can Do
  7. Some Gets in My Eyes / Much Ado About Bedding
  8. City Slicker Cat / House of the Future
  9. Spike's Cousin / For the Birds
  10. Heathcliff's Pet / Swamp Fever
I flew through Heathcliff: King of the Beasts, which is still funny and is better than most of today’s cartoons. I had forgot about The Catillac Cats, but after a few episodes and I started to remember them. There is one mistake on the back cover of the DVD. It has the bonus episode from The Busy World of Richard Scarry, which is not on the DVD at all. Instead, it is an episode of The Get-Along Gang. Overall, I really enjoyed revisiting Heathcliff and this 10 episode DVD is a great way to introduce the fat orange cat to a new generation.

2 comments:

  1. Ah, a fond memory from my childhood. Loved Heathcliff as a kid, though I was also a bit young(I watched the reruns that were later broadcast on Nickelodeon).

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was young too, but for some reason Heathcliff, and a few others, made an impact on me.

    ReplyDelete

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