Cattanooga Cats

Plot and premise

The series centered on a fictitious rock band of anthropomorphic cat hippies: lead singer/guitarist Country (voiced by Bill Callaway), singer/dancer Kitty Jo (voiced by Julie Bennett), bassist Scoots (voiced by Jim Begg), and drummer Groove (voiced by Casey Kasem). A fifth member, a mouse keyboardist named Cheesie, was storyboarded but cut. The group traveled in a van, were chased by a female cat groupie named Chessie (also voiced by Julie Bennett), and Kitty Jo owned a big blue dog named Teeny Tim.

Singing vocals were performed by Michael Lloyd and Peggy Clinger; Mike Curb was musical director and co-wrote all songs. Ted Nichols composed background music. An LP featuring some songs was released in 1969. The Cats appeared in bumpers between other cartoons but are best remembered for animated musical segments with psychedelic and op-art influence.

Only nine cartoon story segments were produced. They compete against the sinister Crumden (voiced by Daws Butler), aided by chauffeur Bumbler (voiced by Allan Melvin) and pet monkey Smirky (voiced by Don Messick), for a £1,000,000 inheritance. This segment was a serial with a continuing story and no specific ending.

Legacy

Hanna-Barbera had high hopes for Cattanooga Cats to be a hit like The Banana Splits, but it failed to attract a large audience during its original run. Mildew Wolf, the most popular character, resurfaced six years after cancellation as co-host on Laff-A-Lympics, voiced by John Stephenson impersonating Paul Lynde. Lambsy appeared in the television film Yogi's Ark Lark. Sky One occasionally broadcast Cattanooga Cats shorts in the UK in 1990, shown in isolation. Reruns began airing as part of the Boomerang programming block on Cartoon Network. Boomerang UK ran the musical interludes as short fillers before closing down; these were dropped when the channel expanded to 24 hours.

Other appearances

Characters from all three segments were featured in The Enchanted Voyage ride at Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1972 to 1983. The Cattanooga Cats, Teeny Tim, Lambsy, Mildew Wolf, and Bristlehound appeared in the HBO Max original series Jellystone!, with Country voiced by Scott Whyte, Kitty Jo by Georgie Kidder, Lambsy by Dana Snyder, and Mildew Wolf by Bernardo de Paula. In that series, the Cats and Teeny Tim are portrayed as animatronics at a pizzeria. Lambsy is implied to be Jewish in the season 2 episode Yogi's Midlife Crisis.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album for the Cattanooga Cats series came out in 1969, featuring eleven songs sung by Michael Lloyd and Peggy Clinger. Two tracks, Mother May I and Merry-Go-Round, were issued as singles with Johnny Johnny Jump-Up and Country Carnival as their respective b-sides. The songwriters were not listed on the album itself but were credited on the singles. Curb Records, which took over from Forward Records and EMI and is owned by producer Mike Curb, likely holds the master tapes for this album.

The label has not indicated any intention to reissue it. Many other songs appeared in the series but were never released in any format. These include Cash Register Romance, Children Understand, Cold Wisconsin Night, Come and Play with the Cattanooga Cats, Come Back, Baby, Come Back, Daydream, The Day When Love Won't Stay Away, Do You Dig the Music, Honey, Hoot Owl, I Want to Sleep Tonight, I Wish I Was a Fire, It's Summertime, Love Could Be, Magic Machine, Pretty as a Picture, She Sure Got Soul, She's the Right One, Sing a Song of Sixpence, Stop Right There, The Story of My Life, Super Love, Up, Down, And on the Ground, and We're Incompatible.