Heathcliff

I'm live-and-let-live when it comes to personal taste. It's just here I feel the need to bring my perspective. I think on the Garfield strips and then the cartoons, and they complement each other well with story lines that gradually build to the big comedic payoff.Not so much with the DIC Heathliff episodes. They follow Garfield episode pacing, and yes, good comedic playoffs, but that doesn't jibe with what we get from Heathcliff comics. They were single picture strips (occasionally an extra panel) with single actions and usually a single line that made it an ingenious running gag. That's the spirit of the Ruby-Spears eps; fast- paced with the comedy running in the whole plot process. I often laughed during the start, sometime in the middle, and at the big payoff. I enjoyed DIC (A biig help that they kept Mel Blanc), but Ruby-Spears' fluidity in their presentation makes it my unquestionable preference.

Heathcliff Heathcliff no one should, terrorize their neighborhood.... This cartoon came on everyday after school. The first half would be an adventure involving the comic strip cat Heathcliff, the second half would be about the much cooler and more happening cat, Riff Raff. Heathcliff lived in a house with a family, and Riff Raff had a much more happening pad in the junk yard. There were also three alley cats, one named Hector, one named Mongo and Wordsworth who always spoke in rhyme. They were the trouble makers and would show up and terrorize both Heathcliff and Riff Raff. Because Riff Raff's cartoon was always so much cooler, that is the reason it was shown second. It made children have to wait an extra fifteen minutes before going out to play and force them to see more toy commercials.

"Heathcliff Heathcliff no one should

Terrify the neighborhood

But Heathcliff just won't be undone

Playing pranks on everyone."

I think the theme song was the best part of the show. For some reason I wasn't a big Heathcliff fan. He got away with too much when other cats like Tom and Sylvester couldn't get away with anything.

I remember this as 3 cartoons in one (a bit like the pink panther show) and was shown by the BBC in the mid-80s.

The first was Heathcliffe of course, who was a bit too much of a smartarse for my liking.

The third was Marmaduke. The opening theme tune was kind of sung by both and referred to them as a "team" I'm sure, but I don't recall them ever appearing together.

In between(?) was a cartoon about a family of dogs. Can't for the life of me think of the title, but it had a great theme tune.

Maybe I've confused the middle bit with another cartoon altogether, but they all seem related in my mind.

"Heathcliff" was my fave animated series growing up. In a time (mid 80s) when we were bombarded by violent, mindless action cartoons like "Transformers," "Gobots," and "Thundercats," it was nice to have a pleasant, laid back show like "Heathcliff." The show mostly consisted of the tubby tabby's daily mischief with the owner of the fish market, the milk man, new neighborhood rivals, and the felines and canines he already knew. Other characters were big, dumb dog Spike, Heathy's babe, Sonja, and his family of Iggy, Grandma and Grandpa. After Heathcliff's story we were treated to the adventures of the Cats and Co. led by Riff Raff. It may sound odd, but I actually preferred their tales more than 'Cliffs. They seemed more inventive and fun. Riff Raff's gang consisted of spindly, wannabe tough guy, Hector, constantly rhyming Wordsworth, and brainless, pudgy, Mungo. Those three were also sometimes featured in Heathcliffs stories as well, but for whatever reason Riff Raff and Heathcliff never appeared in the same story. Guess it was to give each their own seperate time on screen. Hey, cartoon characters can have egos too I guess. But all in all, strong writing (especially for a cartoon) and harmless adventures made this a nice half hour after school.