Catscratch

For the disease, see Cat scratch fever. For the Ted Nugent album, see Cat Scratch Fever.

Catscratch
Format	Children's television series
Created by	Doug TenNapel
Voices of	Wayne Knight Rob Paulsen Kevin McDonald Maurice LaMarche Liliana Mumy John DiMaggio
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	20 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	Nickelodeon
Original run	July 9, 2005 (2005-07-09) – February 10, 2007 (2007-02-10)

Catscratch is a American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel (the creator of The Neverhood games company, Earthworm Jim) airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and on Nicktoons in late 2007 [1]. It was also shown on Nickelodeon UK/Ireland in 2006. It is a light-hearted adaptation of TenNapel's graphic novel, Gear, which is also the name of the cats' monster truck. The series features music composed by longtime TenNapel collaborator, Terry Scott Taylor. Catscratch's first DVD appearance was on Nick Picks which came out February 7, 2006 (though the DVD contained only "Bringin' Down the Mouse").

Catscratch aired as a sneak peek on Nick on CBS in 2004.^[1]

Description

Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle (voiced by Wayne Knight, Rob Paulsen, and Kevin McDonald) were raised in a mega-mansion by Mrs. Edna Cramdilly who left the three her house and every penny of her fortune when she passed away. But it turns out that Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle aren't her grandsons; they're actually her cats. The brothers live a life of freedom, adventure, and usually total mayhem. Whether they're taking on ferocious bears, sea monsters, zombies, giant robots, hobos, rock stars, or aliens, these wealthy felines just can't keep out of trouble. Their house is normally completely destroyed at the end of episodes, but somehow everything goes back to normal at the beginning of the next episode. The cats also adore Root-Beer.

Broadcast History

 USA

• CBS (2004)
• Nickelodeon (2005-2007)
• Nicktoons (2005-2009)

 UK Ireland

• Nickelodeon (2006-2010)
• Nicktoons (2006-2008)

 Pakistan

• Nickelodeon (2011-present)

 Canada

• YTV (2005-2009)
• Nickelodeon (2011-present)

 Philippines

• Nickelodeon (2011-present)
• TV5 (2008-2010)
• Studio 23 (2011-present)

 Australia

• Nickelodeon (2006-present)

Main characters

The Cats

Gordon Quid (voiced by Rob Paulsen)

Gordon is a brave member of the Highland Quid clan and acts like he's from Scotland despite the fact that he is not. However, he speaks with a thick stereotypical Scottish accent. He is full of heart, has a soft spot for "Human" Kimberly and loves to sing, which quite regularly irritates his older brother, Mr. Blik. He is also an amazing cook, usually cooking Scottish recipes, which a lot of people don't find edible. He has an orange patch on his right eye and is allergic to both broccoli and chocolate which, if touched, will turn him into a "Mr. Hyde"-like monster. In some episodes, Gordon is shown with green-colored eyes, but in others he has blue. Judging from his short tail, he is a Manx. Gordon also has a mission set before him: Get Mr. Blik to do the right thing. Gordon's catch phrases are, "In the name of the Highland Quid Clan", "Feel my sting.", "Great gopher", "Cheer", and sometimes "Pop a Wheelie!".

Waffle (voiced by Kevin McDonald)

Waffle is a extremely enthusiastic, goofy, cute, funny, and can speak Newtuguese (a language supposedly spoken by newts) as if he were a newt himself. Waffle is a free spirit who is overly optimistic. He's catch phrases are "Splee!" or "Woo Hoo!" when happy and gets super-excited about all things silly. Waffle has been wowed by revolving doors, fingers, bubble wrap and newts. He also wishes roller coasters were public transportation, would eat donuts straight from "donut trees", loves zero gravity basketball and smelling the pictures of flowers on shirts. Waffle enjoys making Armpit Noises. He is a gray American Curl with long, dog-like ears and a long tail. He is the oldest.

Mr. Blik (voiced by Wayne Knight)

Mr. Blik is the self-appointed leader of the group who's loud, bossy and brash. It is told that a black cat means bad luck, and this is true for Mr. Blik (because he is a black cat), who gets himself into getting major trouble and is prone to near-death injuries. Mr. Blik has yellow eyes and is proud of his newly inherited riches and spends his money on anything and everything that spells respect and power. Mr. Blik always insults his two brothers. Mr. Blik's catch phrase is, "Yeah!"

The Humans

• "Human" Kimberly (voiced by Liliana Mumy): Kimberly is a 9-year-old Mexican-American with a lot of heart, a gap in her teeth, and an obsession with unicorns. She is one of the few human friends the cats have. She doesn't think they are greedy, and just accepts her feline neighbors for who they are and sees the good in their fur-covered hearts. She is also completely unaware of that Gordon has a giant crush on her. She has three human friends called Kaitlin, Kaitlyn and Charlotte.
• Hovis (voiced by Maurice LaMarche): Hovis was Mrs. Cramdilly's butler and he's stayed on to see after the cats and collect his measly paychecks (which Mr. Blik signs). He's not exactly thrilled about his new situation, but he hails from a long line of butlers who have served in the house and he honestly believes he's got nowhere else to go. So Hovis puts up with the fact that the former pets have become his masters. Blik barks out orders constantly, Gordon treats him as an equal and Waffle hasn't quite figured out he's not a pet anymore (he still asks Hovis to be let out and scratched behind his ears). His birthday is April 14, 1982, as seen in "Love Jackal". (Hovis' voice sounds similar to that of Shackelford, the butler to the Sherman family on The Critic, which LaMarche also portrayed.)
• Mrs. Edna Cramdilly: Mrs. Cramdilly is the deceased owner of the cats and Hovis's boss. She left her fortune and Hovis to the cats.
• The Chumpy Chump Brothers: The Chumpy Chump Brothers are the neighbors and rivals of the cats. The Chumpy Chumps call Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle "Cats". They have a cat named Bootsy. Tad is the one with the red jacket, Brick is the one with the gray shirt and Lunk is the one with the white shirt. None of them had made any friends, until Lunk became the friend of Waffle in the episode "Two Of A Kind", since the two of them are very stupid. They make their first appearance in the "Go, Gomez, Go!" episode, and are voiced by John DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche.
• Kaitlin: Katlin is a 9 year old Bulgarian American girl like her friend Kimberly. She was shown in "Tale Of A Tail" and "Slumber Party". She loves unicorns, has braces and short ginger hair.
• Katlyn: Katlyn is one of Kimberly's other friends. She was shown in "Tale Of A Tail" and "Slumber Party". She also loves unicorns. She is African American and has brown plaits with a rainbow grip. She also wears dungarees. Like Kimberly, Kaitlin, and Charlotte, Katlyn is 9 years old.
• Charlotte: Charlotte is Kimberly's 9 year old Swiss American friend who is literally a giant. She has blonde hair and wears a pink dress. She was shown in "Slumber party". She is very large in stature and she never speaks.
• The Mayor: Not really known if he is the mayor, but judges all events. For example, in To The Moon he judges the rib cooking. He gives Mr. Blik the worst ribs ever award. He also judges on Halloween, the best decorated house for the candy bucket.

Gear

Gear is the cats' Monster Truck. A simple and solid perk of wealth, this massive machine is adored by the brothers for all its audacious guy-ness. Their pride in blasting down the street aboard their beloved Gear is an equal mix of devil-may-care attitude and obliviousness.

Gear's "personalized" license plate is also written in exactly the same style and font as the logo for the comic Gear which loosely inspired the Catscratch series. Also, in the episode "Mecha Kitties", the robot the cats construct resembles one of the first guardians they encounter in the Gear graphic novel. In the episode "To the Moon", Gear is reassembled into a rocket ship.

Kraken

Kraken (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a giant squid creature who has appeared in two Catscratch episodes. The first was, "Tale Of A Tail", the other, "Hi Ho Kraken". It appeared in "Tale Of A Tail", as an intercepted catch while fishing out in the sea.

Audrey

Mrs. Cramdilly's pet cat and Mr. Blik, Gordon, and Waffle's mother. She was only seen in the flashback, and was only mentioned once by Gordon (he comments her name was 'Audrey'). Her current status is unknown, but she is presumed dead. Unlike her three mixed breed sons, who look very comical, she apparently was a serene cat.

Mitchell the Mammoth

A 1 million year old Woolly Mammoth that was trapped in an ice cube and befriended Mr. Blik. It thought Mr. Blik was his mother so he followed him around in the episode "A Woolly Adventure".

Squeakus

A very evil mouse who tricks Waffle into thinking his two older brothers are mice. In the episode "Bringin' Down the Mouse", he is described to be the only uncatchable mouse. (also by Mr. Blik as 'ugly'.)

Barkmeat

A short but very mean stray dog (voiced by Clancy Brown) who Waffle meets in the episode "Off The Leash" where Waffle did a quiz that said he's a dog. Barkmeat hates cats and finds them tasty. They both are captured and taken to the Dog Pound. They later escape and part ways as Barkmeat gains new found respect for Waffle.

Comics

Confirmed by an e-mail from Doug TenNapel, there are a few two-page Catscratch comics in the works for Nick Magazine. The first one appeared in the December/January 2005 issue. The second appeared in the March 2006 issue. The third and the last was in the February 2007 issue.

Award Nominations

Annie Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2006 Nominated Annie Best Character Design in an Animated Television Production Luther McLaurin

Casting Society of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2006 Nominated Artios Best Animated Voice-Over Television Casting Sarah Noonan Meredith Layne

Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2008 Nominated Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing - SFX, Foley, Dialogue, ADR & Music for TV Animation Joe Pizzulo (supervising sound editor) Tom Maydeck (supervising sound editor) Jeffrey Kettle (supervising foley editor) Mishelle Fordham (supervising dialogue/adr editor) Rick Hinson (sound editor) William Hinson (sound editor) Jason Stiff (dialogue editor) Terry Taylor (music editor) Robert Watson (music editor) Sanaa Cannella (foley artist) For episode "Spindango Fundulation/Duck and Cover".

2006 Nominated Golden Reel Award Best Sound Editing in Television Animated Joe Pizzulo (supervising sound editor) Tom Maydeck (supervising sound editor) Jeffrey Kettle (supervising foley editor) Mishelle Fordham (supervising dialogue/adr editor) Terry Taylor (music editor) Robert Watson (music editor) Rick Hinson (sound editor) Sanaa Cannella (foley artist) For episodes "Love Cats" and "Zombie Party a Go-Go".

Catscratch also picked up the award for "Best Foreign Animation Series" at the 2nd annual China Int’l Cartoon & Animation Festival in Hangzhou, China

DVD Releases

There are 2 Catscratch episodes on DVD:

• "Bringin' Down the Mouse" on Nick Picks Vol 3
• "Love Cats" on Nick Picks Vol 5

See also

• Earthworm Jim
• Doug TenNapel
• Nickelodeon

References

1. ^ http://www.theinfoexperience.com/q/#!/Catscratch

External links

• Catscratch at TV.com
• Catscratch at the Internet Movie Database