Manda Chuva

Top Cat is another one of my favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoons! Set in the Alleys of New York, "Top Cat" tells the story of a gang of low-life cats (Choo Choo, Benny the Ball, Fancy-Fancy, Spook and Brian) with their charismatic Leader, Top Cat. With ability and mischief, Top Cat will always try to get rich gambling, to eat for free, or to play jokes on someone, but he is always being watched by Officer Dibble, who is very strict and fierce with them, but in fact is a friend to all of them. This is series is so funny.

User Rating: 9/10

BOTTOM LINE: HE IS THE KING, HE IS TIP TOP, TOP CAT!

We all love Top Cat. If you didn't like Top Cat then you must be either a zombie or a robot.

In the show, Top Cat lived in a dustbin and along with his friends caused trouble for Police Officer Dibble. One thing T.C. did frequently was using the police telephone for his own calls. T.C. generally was always looking for ways to make money and mischief, the two things generally going hand in hand.

Top Cat kind of reminds me of my childhood many many years ago. I was a good child and I tended to hang around on the streets kicking balls around and trying to figure out games we could play with a stick and a tin can. There were also the constant trips to the shop to waste pocket money on cans of pop and sweets. I was never a naughty child but there always seemed to be miserable adults (of which I am now one) around trying to spoil the fun. I didn't have my own Officer Dibbles but I do remember one elderly guy who seemed to hate kids having any kind of fun.

That must be why I liked watching Top Cat as a child-because really I was looking at me and my friends in the mirror. But isn't hanging round on street corners with your friends something that kids having been doing since time began?

All in all, Top Cat was my hero and I urge you to check him out if he comes on your screen.

I must admit that I was never a big fan of this show, but after learning that at long last, Warner Home video had issued the COMPLETE SERIES on DVD recently, I just had to take a look; especially since this may be the ONLY chance to view it unless my cable system decides to offer the Cartoon Network's BOOMERANG channel sometime soon.

Despite the fact that the original run of this series was only from 1961-62, "TOP CAT" still has a cult following, as well as a high place on the top 100 Cartoons of All-Time.

From my point of view, the only apparent fault I could find was that some of the episodes could have much shorter; though I am sure the purists out there would disagree.

The four DVD set contains all 30 original episodes, and includes the pilot about the gang's trip to Hawaii, as well as some priceless background information for the serious fanatic out there.

Like other animated prime-time series ("The Flintstones", "The Jetsons", "Rocky & Bullwinkle"), this played to an adult audience as well as the kids; which explains the wide appeal of this program, and its continued durability after 40+ years.

AMAZING !!!

As for quality, all of the episodes have been digitized and restored to their uncut brilliance, complete with the original laugh tracks, that is if you like that kind of thing.

As a result, the show seems not to have aged at all, and consiering that the scripts were first-rate to begin with, it really hasn't.

It is hopefully apparent that along with our other favorites from this Golden Age of 'TV-toons', Warner will make sure that this trend continues; and considering that Hanna-Barbera virtually owned Staurday morning as well as prime time, we should be looking forward to other collections very soon; allowing us baby-boomers to relive our childhoods once more, and share with future generations who otherwise have been deprived of genuine quality entertainment.

After all, if people are willing to pay top dollar for these 'blasts from the past', there isn't much out there anymore to watch.

A little trivia. You can see Arnold Stang (Top Cat) and Marvin Kaplan (Choo Choo) together as a hilarious duo in the classic comedy "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" 1963. They play the hapless gas station owners that take on the crazy Jonathan Winters' character, a truly funny highlight in a movie that is filled with great comedy. They make such an absolutely wonderful team that I wonder why they never got paired up again; except that it might have been feared that they would steal the show. I can't recommend their scenes and the entire movie enough. Marvin Kaplan was also on a half dozen episodes of the TV show "Becker" as a returning patient, Mr Gordon. It's funny just hearing these voices.

My 8 year old asked what cartoons I used to watch. I'm 56 so I mentioned Top Cat.I explained to him it was a show about cats that acted out people roles.There was no violence or evil villains, just a bunch of guys trying to beat the system.The old get by while the other guys do all the work.They always had a get rich quick gimmick going that was going to put them on easy street and every time they made it on to easy street they missed the good old days and officer Dibble.It was similar to Bilko, McHales navy and other popular sitcoms of that era.

I was amazed my 8 year old hadn't seen an episode. We have DISH TV so I did a search and it did not come up. I thought Boomerang or Cartoon network would have had it on. My 17 year old son came home and caught me looking up Top Cat. He remembered the show. He told his brother it was a great show where a cat had a bunch of trash can buddies that hung out in an alley. How the cartoon network can not have this show on the air is a crime against children everywhere.