Saturday, November 5, 2011

Casey Kasem in The Cattanooga Cats (1969)

Obscurity factor: 8

Anyone who loves 60's and early 70's bubblegum music should know about the Cattanooga Cats. This  series followed the animated antics of the similarly named band as they traveled around singing their upbeat music. The series was made up of segments with the Cats, short musical interludes, something like music videos and segments featuring three other sets of characters - Around the World in 79 Days, It's the Wolf! (featuring Paul Lynde as Mildew) and Motormouse and Autocat. Originally an hour long, Saturday morning show, it was shortened to a half our in its second year and was cancelled in 1971. Casey Kasem, noted radio DJ voiced one of the cats in the speaking portion of the show. He didn't contribute his voice in the songs, however.

The Cats have developed something of a cult following, though the actual episodes can be hard to find. Many of the musical interludes can be found on YouTube. Above are the opening credits, uploaded by cartooncoon.

Obscurity factor: 8 (enjoys a small cult following, not on DVD, available on YouTube)

7 comments:

  1. The only thing that I remember about this cartoon? That image of those three cats, grinning. It gave me the creeps...just like the nightmare-inducing clown nightlight, that my parents thoughtfully placed in my childhood bedroom.

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  2. The music is kinda fun, but I can see why you think they're creepy...

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  3. I loved this show and especially Paul Lynde's voicing of Mildew ("Party Poooperrrrrrrrrrrr!") Josie the Autograph Hound was another stand-out character. I wish this was available on DVD. Doin' their thing, chubba da chubba da.

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  4. Oh, the groovy soundtrack album is here by the way - http://childrensrecordsandmore.blogspot.com/2007/07/cattanooga-cats-cartoon-lp-plus-16.html

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  5. That is an unbelievably catchy theme song. I couldn't get it out of my head after watching the clip earlier today. I vaguely remember the Cattanooga Cats, but for some reason I remember much more clearly the other cartoons that were featured on the show.

    To comment on Leighton's comment, I had a nightmare-inducing paint-by-numbers clown that my mom painted and hanged in my bedroom. I wonder if parents still decorate their kids' rooms with clown images! Everyone I know was scared of them as kids.

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  6. Chabba da, chabba da, say Chabba Da...

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