Space Monkey
- Studio
- Hanna-Barbera Studios
- Distributor
- Columbia/Screen Gems
Synopsis
Hearing stories about the luxurious living conditions of Marvo the Chimp, who is awaiting a flight into space, the cats apply for positions at Cape Canaveral. The tales of luxury prove to be exaggerated, however, and after realizing how homesick Marvo really is, Top Cat sidetracks the rocket, sending it not into outer space, but to Marvo's home in Africa.
Teaser Sequence: Top Cat, Benny, and Choo-Choo walk past a sign that reads "Cape Canaveral" while Choo-Choo is wondering about the name of it. Top Cat tells Choo-Choo to hurry up. Choo-Choo stops walking and is in shock they are in Cape Canaveral pointing over at the sign. Top Cat spells C--A-N and says Canaveral. Choo-Choo says "That's it, T.C., we're at Cape Canaveral?" Top Cat says to Benny and Spook that's the place where people (makes a "pfft" noise). Benny makes the same noise and Top Cat says "Uh-huh." Choo-Choo says "And more over they ("pfft" noise) with us in the ("pfft" noise) ster."
Teaser Sequence: Top Cat, Benny, and Choo-Choo walk past a sign that reads "Cape Canaveral" while Choo-Choo is wondering about the name of it. Top Cat tells Choo-Choo to hurry up. Choo-Choo stops walking and is in shock they are in Cape Canaveral pointing over at the sign. Top Cat spells C--A-N and says Canaveral. Choo-Choo says "That's it, T.C., we're at Cape Canaveral?" Top Cat says to Benny and Spook that's the place where people (makes a "pfft" noise). Benny makes the same noise and Top Cat says "Uh-huh." Choo-Choo says "And more over they ("pfft" noise) with us in the ("pfft" noise) ster."
Characters
Top Cat, Spook, Benny the Ball, Choo Choo, The Brain, Spook, Fancy-Fancy, Officer Charlie Dibble, Marvo The Chimp, Scientists
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, Harvey Bullock, Harvey Marshall
- Story Directors
- Paul Sommer, Alex Lovy, Lewis Marshall
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, Marvo The Chimp), Herb Vigran, Walker Edmiston
Music
- Music
- Hoyt S. Curtin
Animation
- Animation Director
- Charles Nichols
- Animator
- Kenneth Muse
Editing
- Editor
- Warner Leighton, Greg Watson
Crew
- Production Supervisor
- Howard Hanson
- Titles
- Lawrence Goble
- Layouts
- Jack Huber, Dick Bickenbach, Walter Clinton, Dan Noonan
- Backgrounds
- F. (Fernando) Montealegre, Richard H. Thomas, Robert Gentle, Art Lozzi, Neenah Maxwell, Anthony Rizzo
- Camera
- Frank Paiker, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade, Charles Flekal
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.