The Houndcats
| The Houndcats | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Joe Ruby & Ken Spears |
| Voices of | Michael Bell |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Friz Freleng David H. DePatie |
| Running time | 22 mins (per episode) |
| Production company(s) |
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (Marvel Entertainment) |
| Distributor |
CBS Television Distribution (National Amusements) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 9 – December 2, 1972 |
The Houndcats is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes were produced.
Loosely based on the CBS adventure series Mission: Impossible, it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name.
Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving their orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other device, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of Mission Impossible. However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion.
On October 20, 2015, Film Chest Media Group released The Barkleys and The Houndcats - 2 DVD Classic Animation Set on DVD in Region 1. This collection features all 13 episodes of the series.
Some episodes of the show were previously released onto videocassette in the 1980s by now-defunct Trans World Entertainment.
(The Houndcats is presumably in the public domain because production company DePatie-Freleng Enterprises folded into Marvel Productions in 1981, and the Marvel empire was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 2009. Most likely, Marvel failed to renew the copyrights on The Houndcats when they expired in 2000, and Disney - very likely unaware this show was now a part of their vast library - failed to take any further action to renew the copyrights.)
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Wikipedia