Sergeant Top Cat
- Studio
- Hanna-Barbera Studios
- Distributor
- Columbia/Screen Gems
Synopsis
Overhearing Officer Dibble's list of ideas for improving the police force, Top Cat later repeats them for the benefit of the police captain. The captain is so impressed that he appoints Top Cat to the post of honorary sergeant. A fuming Dibble finally gets revenge when, during a robbers' shoot-out in the alley, he refuses to save Top Cat until the cat signs a confession stating that he stole Dibble's ideas.
Teaser Sequence: As Top Cat is playing a gambling game with the cats saying before he was so rudely interrupted, Spook says to Top Cat that he was cleaning them out. Top Cat replies with they can make it back at "Bingo." Suddenly, there's bullets flying by and Top Cat asks Dibble who is running down the alley what's the racket about and Dibble says it's robbers from the bank and that the bank guards are chasing them into the alley. Top Cat and Dibble duck and hide in trash cans as a shootout happens. Top Cat is terrified and tells Dibble he has a gun and wants to be saved. Dibble rises up out the trashcan and holds the trash lid as a shield to protect himself, tells the crooks to put up their hands, scats a fanfare and yells "Charge" as he hops over in the trash can as they shoot at him.
Teaser Sequence: As Top Cat is playing a gambling game with the cats saying before he was so rudely interrupted, Spook says to Top Cat that he was cleaning them out. Top Cat replies with they can make it back at "Bingo." Suddenly, there's bullets flying by and Top Cat asks Dibble who is running down the alley what's the racket about and Dibble says it's robbers from the bank and that the bank guards are chasing them into the alley. Top Cat and Dibble duck and hide in trash cans as a shootout happens. Top Cat is terrified and tells Dibble he has a gun and wants to be saved. Dibble rises up out the trashcan and holds the trash lid as a shield to protect himself, tells the crooks to put up their hands, scats a fanfare and yells "Charge" as he hops over in the trash can as they shoot at him.
Characters
Top Cat, Spook, Benny the Ball, Choo Choo, The Brain, Spook, Fancy-Fancy, Officer Charlie Dibble, Police Captain
Credits
Directing
- Director
- William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Producing
- Producer
- William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
- Associate Producer
- Alan Dinehart
Writing
- Writer
- Kin Platt, Michael Maltese, Joanna Lee, Barry Blitzer, Tony Benedict, Harvey Bullock, Ray Allen, Larry Markes, Harvey Marshall
- Story Directors
- Paul Sommer, Alex Lovy, Lewis Marshall
Animation
- Animator
- Irv Spence
- Animation Director
- Charles Nichols
Voices
- Voice
- Arnold Stang (Top Cat), Allen Jenkins (Officer Dibble), Maurice Gosfield (Benny), Marvin Kaplan (Choo Choo), Leo De Lyon (Spook, Brain), John Stephenson (Fancy-Fancy, Police Captain, Sarge)
Music
- Music
- Hoyt S. Curtin
Editing
- Editor
- Warner Leighton, Greg Watson
Crew
- Layout
- Jack Huber, Dick Bickenbach, Walter Clinton, Dan Noonan
- Backgrounds
- F. (Fernando) Montealegre, Richard H. Thomas, Robert Gentle, Art Lozzi, Neenah Maxwell, Anthony Rizzo
- Story Directors
- Paul Sommer, Alex Lovy, Lewis Marshall
- Camera
- Frank Paiker, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade, Charles Flekal
- Titles
- Lawrence Goble
- Production Supervisor
- Howard Hanson
Production notes
Top Cat has the distinction of being one of the few animated series to debut in prime time. After one season, it was moved to Saturday mornings, and was met with huge success.
Essentially, Hanna-Barbera took Phil Silvers' popular character from the hit prime-time sitcom Sgt. Bilko and turned him into a cat. T.C. and the gang (Benny, Choo Choo, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, and The Brain) lived on the streets of Manhattan and were always in search of a free lunch, figuratively and literally. Their main obstacle was Officer Dibble, who had an extreme dislike for the crafty cat and his schemes, especially when they involved using the police phone for personal calls. The Sgt. Bilko connection was strengthened by the fact that Maurice Gosfield, who played Doberman on the sitcom, voiced Benny, T.C's right hand cat.
Like The Flintstones, Top Cat was written for adults and children alike, since it was initially shown during the family hour on a weeknight. This particular programming effort made the scripts stronger than your average cartoon, relying less on overused cartoon cliches and more on character. Unfortunately, T.C. didn't do well in prime time, but when he and the gang moved to Saturday mornings, the show found a loyal audience, who still remember it fondly.
The name of this show became "Boss Cat" when it ran in the United Kindgom to avoid confusion with a British cat food called Top Cat.
Essentially, Hanna-Barbera took Phil Silvers' popular character from the hit prime-time sitcom Sgt. Bilko and turned him into a cat. T.C. and the gang (Benny, Choo Choo, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, and The Brain) lived on the streets of Manhattan and were always in search of a free lunch, figuratively and literally. Their main obstacle was Officer Dibble, who had an extreme dislike for the crafty cat and his schemes, especially when they involved using the police phone for personal calls. The Sgt. Bilko connection was strengthened by the fact that Maurice Gosfield, who played Doberman on the sitcom, voiced Benny, T.C's right hand cat.
Like The Flintstones, Top Cat was written for adults and children alike, since it was initially shown during the family hour on a weeknight. This particular programming effort made the scripts stronger than your average cartoon, relying less on overused cartoon cliches and more on character. Unfortunately, T.C. didn't do well in prime time, but when he and the gang moved to Saturday mornings, the show found a loyal audience, who still remember it fondly.
The name of this show became "Boss Cat" when it ran in the United Kindgom to avoid confusion with a British cat food called Top Cat.