Real Cats Wear Plaid

"**Real Cats Wear Plaid**" is the third episode of *Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts*. It premiered on Netflix with the rest of season 1 on January 14, 2020. It was directed by Chase Conley and written by Bill Wolkoff.

## Synopsis

Held captive by the brawling Timbercats, Kipo and pals must find the tough kitties' leader, Yumyan Hammerpaw, if they want to avoid becoming cat food.

## Plot

***Warning:** the following text contains spoilers about the plot or the series.*

Kipo is rock climbing with her supportive dad, Lio Oak, right below her. Lio distracts a nervous Kipo by quizzing her and reassuring her at the same time. During the climb, Leo realizes something's not right when they sense a Mega mute above them hasn't moved past the burrow. He yanks Kipo down into the sewer river below right before a Mega Mute bust the ceiling of the burrow in, making Kipo the only escapee.

A few days later, back with the gang and the cat mutes, the gang attempt to escape with Dave's ability to fly. Unfortunately, Dave has performance anxiety and metamorphosizes into an old man before turning into a pre-grub bug. The gang scrambles to hide while the cats survey the area. Kipo thinks talking to them will help their quest when she realizes they're after whatever destroyed her city.

Kipo recklessly shows herself to the cats hoping to team up with the cat army and is immediately captured with the others. They're taken to the cat's base, but Kipo remains optimistic. The cats, the Timbercats, start arguing amongst themselves about what to do without the presence of the leader, Yumyan Hammerpaw. Yumyan's pet flea Pierre goes on a rampage interrupting them, which Kipo uses as an opportunity.

Kipo manages to subdue and leash Pierre by feeding him, and the cats grudgingly agree not to eat the gang. Unfortunately, they think to hand them over to Scarlemagne instead.

Benson and Dave manage to convince the Timbercats into letting them make flapjacks, which they put cat fur into. Kipo still thinks she can talk the cats into helping each other out. She learns Yumyan is actually still above the canopy then leads them into a rousing folksong. In the middle of the song, the cats begin hacking out furballs and the gang makes their escape-- Kipo reluctantly.

In the middle of the night, Kipo sneaks away while everyone else is asleep and climbs to the top of the canopy. There she meets a butterfly mute and Yumyan. Yumyan is determined to catch the butterfly (which he named Charles) with the excuse that it now houses the spirit of their sacred tree. However, with a heart to heart, Kipo convinces him to return to his people, who have mourned him and need him.

Kipo "encourages" Yumyan back to his village by shoving him off the top of the tree. They chaotically reach the bottom and are reunited with the other Timbercats.

Kipo enthusiastically greets her friends who had returned to the village to look for her. The Timbercats had agreed to help her hunt down the Mega mute.

## Credits

* **Written by**
	+ Bill Wolkoff

* **Directed by**
	+ Chase Conley

* **Storyboards by**
	+ Jacob V. Eaton
	+ James P. Gibson
	+ Ben Li

* **Cast**
	+ Karen Fukuhara as Kipo Oak
	+ Sydney Mikayla as Wolf
	+ Deon Cole as Dave
	+ Coy Stewart as Benson
	+ Dee Bradley Baker as Mandu / Mega Monkey / Pierre
	+ Steve Blum as Yumyan Hammerpaw
	+ Sterling K. Brown as Lio Oak
	+ Lea DeLaria as Molly Yarnchopper
	+ Justine Huxley as Shoelace McCutty
	+ Matt Lowe as Ruffles

## Transcript

You can find the transcript here: Real Cats Wear Plaid/Transcript

## Episode notes

### Featured songs

* "Timbercats"
* "Yumyan Hammerpaw"

### Trivia

* So far, it is the only episode that does not have Kipo's name as part of the opening.
* When Kipo and Yumyan head down the canopy, it is still nighttime. When they come back down to the ground in the next scene, it is suddenly daytime.