Customer Reviews

Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My younger brother and I watched this cartoon growing up in the 1980s. Because it wasn't a superblockbuster (GI JOE..etc) I am glad that it is being released on DVD.

Even though we never figured out why Iggy Nutmeg (the young boy in the "Heathcliff" segments) always was dressed up while Jennifer went casual and Grandma and Grandpa also looked (for their generation) informal, the series was great. Heathcliff was a cat who lived with the Nutmegs and, although generally well behaved, and wanting to impress his girlfriend Sonia (also a cat) got into trouble around the neighborhood.

He obviously wasn't content with being just a housecat because Heathclif was always cooking up some kind of 'get-rich-quick' scheme, but the family always forgave him and loved him exactly for who he was.

I loved the car which the Cadilac Cats had, it litterally changed into anything. Sure they lived in a junkyard and knew how to fend for themselves if need be, but the Cadilac Cats weren't hooligans. They were usually well-mannered cats and their leader Rif-Raf, honestly wanted nothing more than to be with his beloved Cleo, who worked at a music store. Plus (again to the perspective of a little kid) their makeshift house from an old airplane looked really cool.

I hope that whoever took the initiative to bring the series to DVD also included the theme song. Many years later, the lyrics and beat are still memorable.

Finally a good eighties reissue!! This set actually is everything from the original episodes! From the theme song to the right back to the episode clips everything is here just like it was back in '84/'85 minus the commercials ;) Seems most cartoons from the eighties that have recently come out on dvd are missing key parts such as proper opening closing credits voice changes and other bad annoying things. But, fear not this set is exactly is how they were shown back then! This is one of the few cartoons that wasn't out every Saturday (then in the late eighties everyday in the afternoon) that wasn't messed up because there was no toys to dictate how the show should be made vs action toy cartoons (i.e. thundercats is a good example of that.) One can enjoy watching this in nostalgia of your childhood while enjoying it with your children now! Kid's of today and yesterday will find Heathcliff and the Riff Raff Gangs escapades quite enjoyable and funny! Oh yeah they even include the pet tips on this which is cool too!

i loved heathcliff growing up. the show always made me laugh.it is a shame that the cartoons of today are nothing like what i watched growing up.Heathcliff is a cat that thinks he owns the street where he lives with family. Heathcliff gets into all kind of trouble. the second half of the show is with the catillac cats who live at the dump on heathcilffs street. the gang is run by Riff Raff who has the hots for Cloe who lives in a music shop with a dog named Butch. Between heathcliff and riff raff you never no what is going to happen.

I was so excited to find out HeathCliff and the Catillac Cats, one of my favorite cartoons from the 1980's was released on dvd. After viewing some of the episodes I found that they were still as entertaining as I remembered them.
Now for the problems, the picture quality could be much better. The picture has these little flicks of black and white lines in them that come and go very rapidly.(I can't think of any other way to describe them).Also, some episodes from the first disk have a wavy like appearence in the backround on the left hand side in a few scenes. I know these issues are not due to a defective copy as several people I know have copies that due the same thing. If you are willing to overlook these small problems and you love Heathcliff then I would recommened buying this DVD set.

Meeeeeow! Shout Factory has finally given fans of "Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats" something to MEOW! about. For the first time on DVD format fans will be treated to all 24 complete episodes of Heathcliff also containing all the Catillac Cats segments as they originally aired in the 80's. Voiced by the one and only Mel Blanc your family will be treated to hours of feline fun and frolic compliments of Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats.

To his feline friends Heathcliff is nothing more than a con-cat and neighborhood practical joker. For the rugged but loveable Bulldog Spike he's the constant thorn in his side and endless source of torment. The always scheming Riff Raff leader of "The Catillac Cats" is joined by sidekicks Hector, Wordsworth and Mungo. Riff Raff along with his girlfriend Cleo and the Catillac Cats live in a junkyard and drive a Cadillac car that can change into anything. Due to Riff Raff's cat brained ideas to get rich quick and eat gourmet grub, the Catillac Cats are constantly in and out of trouble.

This four disc set from Shout Factory is well done and a welcomed addition to any DVD collection. The disc packaging is well done and the disc artwork makes this set even more attractive to own. The picture is in its Aspect Ratio of: 1.33:1 has been remastered to DVD and other than some minor blemishes and speckling it's still very good. The sound in my opinion could have been much better; it's inconsistent throughout the episodes and distorted at times. Overall the quality is much better than I had hoped for and I'm giving "Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats" five stars and a bowl of milk.

Disc #1
The Great Pussini / Kitty Kat Kennels
Chauncey's Great Escape / Carnival Capers
Mad Dog Catcher / Circus Beserkus
Rebel Without a Claws / The Farming Life Ain't for Me
Heathcliff's Middle Name / Wishful Thinking
King of the Beasts / Cat Can Do

Disc #2
Smoke Gets in My Eyes / Much Ado About bedding
City Slicker Cat / House of the Future
Spike's Cousin / For the Birds
Heathcliff's Pet / Swamp Fever
Teed Off / Monstro vs. the Wolf Hound
Say Cheese / Cat's Angels

Disc #3
Meow Meow Island / Iron Cats
Family Tree / Who's Got the Chocolate?
Be Prepared / Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
Heathcliff Gets Canned / Whackoed Out
Brain Sprain / Cat Balloon
May the Best Cat Win / Comedy Cats

Disc #4
Revenge of the Kitty / Jungle Vacation
Hospital Heathcliff / Hector's Takeover
Going Shopping / Cat in the Fat
Wild Cat Heathcliff / Kitten Around
Cat Burglar Heathcliff / Lucky's Unlucky Day
The Blizzard Bandit / Harem Cat

On the DVD
Interview with Heathcliff's cartoonist, Peter Gallagher
Heathcliff Through the Years
Original series promo

The cartoon: This is the first season from the syndicated cartoon that ran from around 1985 to 1988, and then was picked up by Nickelodeon (where I remember watching it as a kid). It was produced by DiC, and the animation was farmed to famous anime company Tokyo Movie Shinsha. While it's not movie quality, the animation is definitely several cuts above the quality level of TV cartoons on average. Heathcliff is voiced by cartoon legend Mel Blanc, and there are several other familiar animation voices in the cast. I personally have fond memories of watching this cartoon as a kid, but overall I think it's held up well.

The DVD: This is a four disc set made by Shout Factory with 24 episodes total. The full episodes are there, with the intro, commercial bumpers, one Heathcliff and one Catillac Cats segment per episode, the obligatory 80s morality segment at the end where Heathcliff gives a blurb about caring for your pets, then the closing. The episodes are arranged in chronological order by the date they aired. The pilot is on here too, though for some reason it was #18 in rotation. There are extras on discs 1-3, the first one being the most interesting by far. It's an interview with the current Heathcliff cartoonist. Heathcliff's creator George Gately retired in 1999 and passed away two years later, leaving his nephew Peter Gallagher to continue the comic. Peter discusses the history of the comic and gives a short tutorial on how to draw Heathcliff. On disc #2, there is a strip gallery with one comic from each year up until 2005. Disk #3 has the last segment, the promo clips that were used to sell the show to independant stations. IMHO this is the worst out of all the extras, since it just has clips from cartoons that are already on the discs, sans voices.

My only beef with this DVD is the extras, in that there's not much on the show other than the clips of cartoons you'll watch on the discs, and absolutely nothing on the Catillac Cats. While Mel Blanc and Stan Jones have passed away, there are people who worked on the show still working in the animation business. Hopefully there will be more on the show itself if they release future seasons. I also noticed a short hitch in the sound, but it was during one of the commercial bumpers so you don't really miss anything. My gripes basically boil down to nitpicks, and I recommend it, especially if you watched it as a kid.

9.5 out of 10 dumped garbage cans.

Hello! Here I present to you what may be an unique perspective.

I am deaf (or "hearing impaired" for you politically correct folks); have been deaf since birth.

When I saw Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats show as a young teenager, it was not closed-captioned back then. Being an avid cat lover, I was smitten with the feline characters (especially Catillac Cats) and religiously watched or recorded every episode. Even though I couldn't understand what is being said, determining each character's personality wasn't too hard. By following their gestures and what is generally happening, I could grasp the whole story in every episode. I loved all of the Catillac Cats but I have to say that Wordsworth the white rollerskating cat and Hector the Himalayan cat (the one with the headband) were my favorites. Even to this day, I still remember the names of the rest of the gang: Mungo the gray chubby cat, Riff-Raff the short leader of the gang, and his girlfriend Cleo. Let's not forget Leroy the junkyard dog who thinks he's tough!

Funnily enough, I could even read lips! Not all the time, of course, and it was usually when a character called out another character's name, or when a common phrase is said so it didn't help at all with understanding the story. However, good lip-synching by the animators. I could tell that not all episodes were done by the same animators, but I have to stress that they all did a great job especially with the characters' expressions.

So you can imagine my CATastrophic disappointment when I got this DVD. Why? Let me explain . . . At first I was super excited that whopping 24 episodes were at last closed-captioned as indicated by the "Product Details" here on Amazon. During my youth, someone had mentioned to me that Wordsworth the white cat spoke in rhymes so I was quite curious about his dialogues as well as other characters'. Thrilled to finally hear (with my eyes) the cats' voices for the first time, I eagerly played the DVD . . . only to discover that it wasn't closed captioned! :-( Either my DVD discs (all four of 'em) are defected in the closed-caption department, or someone needs to update and correct the "Product Details" section here.

(March 2009: Apparently the "Product Details" section has been updated and no longer indicates that these DVDs are closed-captioned.)

While I am crestfallen, I'm keeping the DVDs for nostalgic purposes. Technically, the video itself is purr-fect and is exactly like back when you first saw the show! It's like watching a VHS tape instead of DVD. Excellent colors and good quality overall. I recommend it highly to other hardcore Heathcliff/Catillac Cats fans. For you deaf/hearing-impaired fans, I would suggest thinking twice before you buy this DVD. If you're a huge and dedicated fan, get it! Otherwise, if you want to buy it just for the closed-caption purposes, I wouldn't recommend it.

Anyone know where I could get the Catillac Cats scripts?! ;-)

I watched this series as a kid and only relatively recently was reminded of it. It's a unremembered classic...at least, the second half with Riff Raff and Cleo is. I don't know about the Heathcliff parts, thinking back on it I'm pretty sure that those parts were the ones that bored me(and most people watching the show), despite Mel Blanc's voice talent. The plots are often a bit weak, and the Heathcliff character isn't dynamic enough to save them. I soon started skipping those episodes and you probably will too.

The DVD is not up to "DVD quality." If you just want to watch, it's acceptable, but there is no sign of any special treatment or restoration given to the original video, and you can occasionally see speckling, color bands at the edges, and muddiness in some clips. Sometimes the audio is a bit distorted, which is disappointing since the music in this show is pretty good.

Now I want the second season...

This cartoon is sooooooooooooooo underrated.

As a kid, I was the most hyperactive person you could've possibly known.
I absolutely could not sit still and I gave my teachers migraines constantly and get this, I was even worse in the summertime.

With that in mind, I only got to watch this cartoon in the summer and it kept my full attention each time.
Too bad for the unfortunate victims that happened to get stuck monitoring me and my friends in the summer, these episodes were too short.
Not a problem with this set.
If you have kids, get this cartoon. I guaranty it'll get their attention.

Quality is excellent compared to what I was expecting. You even get the Heathcliffe life lessons that were attached to the end of each episode!!

I love watching Heathcliff after 22 years and still love it back then and now ! I grew up watching Heathcliff on telvison and laughed happy til it went off air ! Heathcliff still funny as ever on dvd now that I watch it !
Heathcliff is 40 stars and love , love , love , love the carttoon !
reccomand for the kids at heart and the children after 22 years !
great bouns features on the dvd of how this carttoon begin !