Catscratch

***Catscratch*** is an American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel (also known for creating the *Earthworm Jim* franchise). It aired on Nickelodeon from July 9, 2005 to February 10, 2007. It was a loose adaptation of TenNapel's comic book series, *Gear*, which in the series is also the name of the cats' monster truck. The series features music composed by longtime TenNapel collaborator, Terry Scott Taylor. *Catscratch* is notable as the first Nicktoon series co-produced by DreamWorks Animation Television.

After the series ended, a direct-to-video film and series finale, *Catscratch: The Movie* was released on TBD, 2012 to mixed reviews.

## Description

The series revolves around a trio of anthropomorphic feline brothers. After their wealthy owner Edna Cramdilly died, she left her riches to them, along with a menacing, oversized monster truck named Gear and a dignified butler named Hovis. The program commonly chronicles their wealthy lifestyles and action-packed, sometimes paranormal experiences. Other characters include the sweet young neighbor girl, Kimberly, with whom Gordon is obsessed, and the cats' competitive rivals the Chumpy Chump Brothers.

## Characters

### Main characters

* **Mr. Blik** (voiced by Wayne Knight) - the self-appointed male Bombay cat leader of the group who is confident, pampered, surly, and vain. Mr. Blik often gets himself into major trouble and is prone to near-death injuries. Mr. Blik 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. His catchphrases are "Yeah!" and "Suckers!". Mr. Blik is the oldest of the three.
* **Gordon Quid** (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - a cat who speaks with a Scottish accent, even though Gordon is not from Scotland, and claims to be a member of the Highland Quid Clan. Gordon has a crush on "Human" Kimberly and loves to sing, which quite regularly angers Mr. Blik. He enjoys cooking Scottish recipes, which many people find disgusting. Gordon is likely a Manx cat due to his small tail, and has an orange patch on his right eye. Gordon is the middle of the three, younger than Mr. Blik and older than Waffle.
* **Waffle** (voiced by Kevin McDonald) - a male dimwitted and happy-go-lucky cat with an affinity for his many pet newts. His catchphrases are "Spleee!" or "Woohoo!", and is easily fascinated by many simplistic, everyday items. Waffle also likes doing flatulent sounds with his underarms. Waffle is a gray American Curl with long, floppy ears and a long tail with dark periwinkle stripes like his right ear. Waffle is the tallest and youngest of the three.

### Supporting characters

* **Hovis** (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - Mrs. Cramdilly's butler who looks after the cats and collects her measly paychecks (which Mr. Blik signs). Hovis is not exactly thrilled about his new situation but hails from a long line of butlers who have served in the house and honestly believes that he has nowhere else to go. Therefore, Hovis puts up with the fact that the former pets have become his masters. Mr. Blik barks out orders to him constantly, Gordon treats him as an equal, and Waffle hasn't quite figured out that he is not a pet anymore (though he still asks Hovis to be let out and scratched behind his ears). His birthday is April 14, 1982, as seen in the episode "Love Jackal".
* **Human Kimberly** (voiced by Liliana Mumy) - an 8-year-old girl who has a good-natured personality, a gap in her teeth, and an obsession with unicorns. Kimberly is one of the few human friends the cats have. Kimberly doesn't think they are greedy and just accepts her feline neighbors for who they are and sees the good in their hearts. Kimberly is also completely unaware of the fact that Gordon has a complete infatuation with her. Kimberly has three human friends named Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, and Charlotte.
* **Randall the Bear** (voiced by Frank Welker) - an antagonistic male brown grizzly bear who is on the hunt for the three cat brothers. Randall knows where the cats live and will sometimes be at their door to eat them up as soon as it is opened.

## Production

*Catscratch* went into production in early 2005. Production continued on *Catscratch* until the final episode, "Spindango Fundulation/Duck and Cover" aired on February 10, 2007. After the initial run concluded, Nicktoons continued to show reruns of the series until January 2, 2009. It was briefly reran again on December 19, 2015 as a part of their "Nicktoons Holladays" marathon.

## Episodes

**Note:** All episodes were directed by Michael Girard, with only two episodes being co-directed by:

* Doug TenNapel in "A Line in the Litterbox"
* Christine Kolosov-Pitt in "King of Clubs"

## Reception

### Critical

Sarah Wenk of Common Sense Media gave the series 3 out of 5 stars; saying that, “*Catscratch* is a generic cartoon show that involves oddly drawn characters who don't really look like anything, very loud voices, very bright colors, and many instances of people and creatures and things being bashed, broken, and bonked. The show is a by-the-book program, but that doesn't mean it's not sometimes funny or even touching. Many kids will get a kick out of it, although you may not be as tolerant. There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but nothing terribly right, either.”

## Comics

Confirmed by an e-mail from Doug TenNapel, there were a few 2-page *Catscratch* comics in the works for Nickelodeon Magazine. The first one came out in the December/January 2005 issue. The second one came out in the March 2006 issue. The third and last one was in the February 2007 issue.