The Houndcats is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes were produced.[2]

The Houndcats
Created byJoe Ruby & Ken Spears[1]
Voices ofMichael Bell
Joe Besser
Daws Butler
Stu Gilliam
Arte Johnson
Aldo Ray
Joan Gerber
Bob Holt
John Stephenson
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducersFriz Freleng
David H. DePatie
Running time22 minutes (per episode)
Production companyDePatie–Freleng Enterprises
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 9 (1972-09-09) –
December 2, 1972 (1972-12-02)

Plot

edit

Loosely based on the CBS adventure series Mission: Impossible and the short-lived 1971 series Bearcats!,[3] it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name, as they go on spy missions in 1914 America.

Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other devices, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of Mission: Impossible. However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion.[4]

Members

edit
  • The "Houndcats" were led by cool and confident cat Stutz.[5]
  • Dingdog was Stutz' right-hand man. He wore a blue Civil War uniform. He was known for bad timing and bad judgment. He is a Briard.
  • Mussel Mutt was the muscle – large, bulky and ever-hungry, his eyes were almost always hidden under his hat. He is an Old English Sheepdog.
  • Putty Puss was a tiny cat and a disguise expert.
  • Rhubarb was a dog and a scientist. He wore a long coat and a large sombrero usually revealing only his nose. His coat was full of gadgets.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

13 half-hour episodes of the series were produced. An adult laugh track was added, as was common practice for cartoon series at the time.[citation needed]

Incarnations

edit
  • The Houndcats (1972–1973)
  • The Houndcats and The Barkleys (1972–1973)

Episodes

edit
No.TitleOriginal air date
1"The Misbehavin' Raven Mission"September 9, 1972 (1972-09-09)
2"The Double Dealing Diamond Mission"September 16, 1972 (1972-09-16)
3"The Great Gold Train Mission"September 23, 1972 (1972-09-23)
4"The Over the Waves Mission"September 30, 1972 (1972-09-30)
5"There's No Biz Like Snow Biz Mission"October 7, 1972 (1972-10-07)
6"The Strangeless Than Fiction Mission"October 14, 1972 (1972-10-14)
7"The Ruckus on the Rails Mission"October 21, 1972 (1972-10-21)
8"The Who's Who That's Who Mission"October 28, 1972 (1972-10-28)
9"The Perilous, Possibly, Pilfered Plans Mission"November 4, 1972 (1972-11-04)
10"The French Collection Mission"November 11, 1972 (1972-11-11)
11"The Outta Sight Blight Mission"November 18, 1972 (1972-11-18)
12"Is There a Doctor in the Greenhouse Mission"November 25, 1972 (1972-11-25)
13"The Call Me Madame X Mission"December 2, 1972 (1972-12-02)

Home media

edit

In October 2015, Film Chest Media Group released The Barkleys and The Houndcats - 2 DVD Classic Animation Set on DVD in Region 1.[6] This collection features all 13 episodes of the series on DVD.

Syndication

edit

The show was previously syndicated by Viacom International, which is now CBS Television Distribution (later known as CBS Media Ventures).[7]

Staff

edit

In other languages

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012). "Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears". Stu's Show. Retrieved 03-18-2013.
  2. ^ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 143–144. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  3. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 290–291. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 417–418. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. ^ 2-DVD Set with DePatie-Freleng's 'The Barkleys' and 'The Houndcats' Archived 2015-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  8. ^ "Котараци-хрътки - интро/аутро (БГ аудио - Нова телевизия, 1994 г.)". midoled. 2024-01-08.
  9. ^ "La valle dei gatti - Antonio Genna". Il mondo dei doppiatori. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  10. ^ "まんがキッドボックス (1971) - 私的 昭和テレビ大全集". FC2. 2006-12-03. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  11. ^ "골목대장 똘이 (KBS 1978년)". Naver. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  12. ^ "골목대장 똘이 : 미만부 가사묶음 - 황씨신문". Mimanbu. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
edit