Heathcliff (comic strip)
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Heathcliff has some similarities to the more popular comic strip Garfield, which it predated. Both title cats are orange with black stripes, and noted for their bad temper; a "Beware of Cat" sign has been applied to both. However, the major difference between them is in their lifestyle. While Garfield prefers to eat and sleep all day, Heathcliff has a more active and mischievous lifestyle.
Heathcliff as seen in the strip is predisposed to annoying the manager of the fish store, tipping over garbage cans, annoying the milkman, and pursuing female cats. Heathcliff is also involved in a difficult relationship with the goateed owner of the house he lives in. He is, overall, an adventurous and fun-loving cartoon character. He is not predisposed towards apologizing for the endless situations he finds himself in the cartoon.
The strip is usually presented in single-panel gag frames on weekdays. On Sundays, though, the strip is expanded to multiple panels and titled Sunday with Heathcliff. A regular feature in the Sunday strips is Kitty Korner, where abnormal kittens in the real world are described.
In the mid-1980s, Heathcliff was also featured in a self-titled comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their child-friendly Star Comics imprint. A later spin-off comic, Heathcliff's Funhouse, was a combination of new material and reprinted stories that first appeared in the original Heathcliff title.
Two animated TV series with the same name were based on the strip - the first, in 1980, by Ruby-Spears Productions, which teamed him up with "Dingbat and the Creeps", an original creation by Ruby-Spears in the first season, then with fellow comic strip character Marmaduke in the second season. The second series was made in 1984 by DiC Entertainment, which paired the character up with original characters Cats and Co. (this series is often referred to as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats to avoid confusion). In 1986, a best-of compilation of the DiC episodes was released into theaters (under the title Heathcliff: The Movie). The first series can be seen occasionally on the digital cable channel Boomerang. While the second series is not currently being shown on television, it has made several DVD releases, including volumed sets produced by Shout! Factory (the Ruby-Spears series has yet to be put on DVD).
Trivia
- Swedish comic book author Simon Gärdenfors is a Heathcliff collector and fan. He even made a comic about Heathcliff, which was published in the Scandinavian edition of Vice magazine.
- Heathcliff is known as "Katten Nisse" (Nisse the Cat) in Sweden and as "Kattimatti" in Finland.
- For whatever reason, two versions of the Heathcliff (DiC series) theme song were made. The two only differ in the repeating chorus. The original chorus goes: Heathcliff, Heathcliff no-one should, terrify their neighborhood, the altered version goes: Cats and company have fun, playing pranks on everyone. The latter has only appeared in the VHS releases of the cartoon, (though it was also seen in reruns on cable).
- Although Heathcliff was a silent protagonist in the comic strip, both animated versions of him was voiced by legendary voice actor Mel Blanc. Heathcliff was the last of Blanc's many original characters.
- In both the strip and the first series, Heathcliff's human buddy, Iggy Nutmeg, was drawn as a blonde kid in normal street clothes and a red baseball cap. In the DiC animated series, however, Iggy was drawn as a brunette in a somewhat nerdy get-up. Similarly, Heathcliff's female human pal, Marcy, was drawn in the strip as a normal girl with brown hair, a green skirt and has a bow in her hair. In the animated series, Marcy was still drawn as a normal girl, but with blonde hair and a bow and a blue t-shirt and a pink skirt, and instead of white socks, she had purple. Why exactly these character design changes were made is unknown.
- In Australia, Heathcliff was one of Network Ten's last 1980s shows.
- On the Ruby-Spears series, Heathcliff had three buddies who live in a trash can named Knuckles, Raul (a voice like Jeff Foxworthy) and Wordsworth, in at least some episodes their names are Mungo, Hector and Wordsworth respectively.
- On the unseen episode, "Heathcliff's Workout", the only time he went to the gym was Feline Good owned by a strongman named Biff Biceps.
- "Crazy Shirley", a character from the comics (who is madly in love with Heathcliff) made at least one appearance in the Ruby-Spears series; she is never seen in the DiC series.
Cast
Ruby-Spears Series
- Mel Blanc as Heathcliff
- Donna Christie as Iggy
- Henry Corden as Clem
- Ted Zeigler as Grandpa
- June Foray as Grandma
- Marilyn Lightstone as Sonja
DiC Series
- Mel Blanc as Heathcliff
- Derek McGrath as Spike, Muggsy and Knuckles
- Marilyn Lightstone as Grandma and Sonja
- Ted Zeigler as Leroy, Grandpa and Mungo
- Donna Christie as Cleo and Iggy
- Stan Jones as Riff Raff, Wordsworth and the Milkman
- Jeannie Elias as Marcy and Willie
- Danny Wells as Raul and Bush
- Danny Mann as Hector and the Fish Market Proprietor
- Peter Cullen additional voices
External links
- [Heathcliff at Creators Syndicate]
- [Heathcliff DiC Cartoon Review] (contains immense amounts of profanity)
- [Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats DVD official site]
- [Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats] at the Internet Movie Database
- [The classic Nickelodeon petition] Petitioning Nickelodeon to Re-release classic material.
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