Heathcliff (1980 TV series)

Heathcliff is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series based on the Heathcliff comic strip created by George Gately and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. It premiered on ABC on October 4, 1980,[1] with a total of 26 episodes produced under the titles Heathcliff and Dingbat and Heathcliff and Marmaduke.[2]

Heathcliff
Also known asHeathcliff and Dingbat
Heathcliff and Marmaduke
GenreAnimated series
Created byGeorge Gately (Heathcliff character)
Brad Anderson (Marmaduke character)
Joe Ruby
Ken Spears
Story byTony Benedict
Tom Dagenais
Paul Haggis
Gordon Kent
Michael Maurer
Dalton Sandifer
Buzz Dixon
Elana Lesser
Cliff Ruby
Jack Enyart
Jack Hanrahan
Mark Jones
Don Jurwich
Kayte Kuch
Jim McNamara
Mark Shiney
Directed byCharles A. Nichols
John Kimball
Voices ofMel Blanc
Henry Corden
June Foray
Don Messick
Russi Taylor
Frank Welker
Paul Winchell
Opening theme"Heathcliff and Marmaduke Theme" by Scatman Crothers (season two)
Ending theme"Heathcliff and Marmaduke Theme" (instrumental, season two)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersJoe Ruby
Ken Spears
ProducerJerry Eisenberg
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesRuby-Spears Productions
McNaught Syndicate
United Features Syndicate (season 2)
DistributorFilmways (Season 1)
Worldvision Enterprises (Season 2)
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (1996–present)
Release
Original networkABC
Picture formatNTSC
Audio formatMono
Original releaseOctober 4, 1980 (1980-10-04) –
September 18, 1982 (1982-09-18)
Chronology
Related showsHeathcliff (1984)

History

The series began production on November 10, 1979.[3]

The first season, called Heathcliff and Dingbat, ran for 13 episodes and included backup segments with Dingbat and the Creeps, who were created for the show.[4]

Dingbat and the Creeps revolved around the adventures of three monstrous characters who were self-employed as "Odd Jobs, Inc." which consisted of Dingbat, a vampire dog who used a bat-shaped novelty straw to eat most foods, Sparerib, a strangely rotund skeleton with the ability to change himself into useful items (such as a floor lamp, which he did in the opening credits), and Nobody, a gravelly-voiced jack-o-lantern who led the team and often found them various work.

The second season, called Heathcliff and Marmaduke, ran for 13 episodes and featured backup segments with fellow comic strip character Marmaduke (although the Marmaduke segments are actually the first to be seen in each half-hour show).[4]

When it was called Heathcliff and Dingbat, it was originally aired as a half hour segment on the second season of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, but it became its own standalone show when it was called Heathcliff and Marmaduke.

Reruns of the second season (Heathcliff and Marmaduke) were seen occasionally on Boomerang.

In 1983, NBC reran the show as a segment on Thundarr the Barbarian reruns.

Two years after this show ended, another one based on Heathcliff was produced by DiC Entertainment, which was called simply "Heathcliff", although for distinction this series is usually referred to by the expanded title of Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats.

Dingbat has appeared as a cameo in a Yogi Bear Comic with many hanna barbera animal characters captured. He was the only Ruby Spears character there.https://mobile.twitter.com/HBGrifkuba/status/1349888218410450944

Cast

Additional Voices

Episodes

Heathcliff and Dingbat (1980-81)

Each episode consists of two 5-minute Heathcliff cartoons and two 5-minute "Dingbat and the Creeps" cartoons.[5][6]

Nº Heathcliff Dingbat and the Creeps Air date
1 Feline Fugitive / Doggone Dogcatcher Football Flunkies / Lumbering Loonies October 4, 1980 (1980-10-04)
2 The Watchcat / Pumping Irony It's a Snow Job for a Creep / Knutty Knights October 11, 1980 (1980-10-11)
3 Great Cop 'n Cat Chase / Milk Run Mayhem Heir Today Gone Tomorrow / U.F. Oafs October 18, 1980 (1980-10-18)
4 Mascot Rumble / Heathcliff of Sherwood Forest Safari Saps / Prized Pooch October 25, 1980 (1980-10-25)
5 Angling Anglers / Cake Flakes Health Nutz / Retail Ruckus November 1, 1980 (1980-11-01)
6 The Mouse Trapper / Lion Around the House Window Washouts / Door to Door Sales Creeps November 8, 1980 (1980-11-08)
7 Robinson Cruise Ho / Heathcliff & the Sleeping Beauty Creep Crop Crack-ups / Nautical Noodnicks November 15, 1980 (1980-11-15)
8 Gold-Digger Daze / Hives Batty Boo-ticians / Carnival Cut-ups November 22, 1980 (1980-11-22)
9 Rodeo Dough / Pinocchio Rides Again Bungling Baby Sitters / Treasure Haunts November 29, 1980 (1980-11-29)
10 Cat In The Beanstalk / The Great Chase LeMans-ter Rally / Beach Blanket Bozos December 6, 1980 (1980-12-06)
11 Kitty a la Carte / Mystery Loves Company French Fried Fracas / Showbiz Shenanigans December 13, 1980 (1980-12-13)
12 Red Hot Riding Hooded Heathcliff / The Great Milk Factory Fracas Service Station Screwballs / No News Is Ghoul News December 20, 1980 (1980-12-20)
13 Star Trick / The Big Fish Story Detective Ding-a-Lings / High Flying Fools December 27, 1980 (1980-12-27)

Heathcliff and Marmaduke (1981-82)

Each episode consists of a 6-minute Heathcliff cartoon sandwiched between two 6-minute Marmaduke cartoons.[7] Scatman Crothers sang its theme song. It competed with The Smurfs on NBC.

Nº Marmaduke Heathcliff Marmaduke Air date
1 Home Run Rover Gator Go Round Play Grounded September 12, 1981 (1981-09-12)
2 Missy Miseque Crazy Daze Shuttle Off to Buffalo September 19, 1981 (1981-09-19)
3 Wish Bones Caught Cat Napping Wondermutt September 26, 1981 (1981-09-26)
4 Gone with the Whim Dud Boat Seagoing Watchdog October 3, 1981 (1981-10-03)
5 Beach Brawl Of Mice and Menace Tricky Treat October 10, 1981 (1981-10-10)
6 Ghostly Goof Up A Briefcase of Cloak and Dagger Fret Vet October 17, 1981 (1981-10-17)
7 Bearly Camping Tabby and the Pirate Gold Fever Fracas October 24, 1981 (1981-10-24)
8 Police Pooch Mush Heathcliff Mush Bone to Pick with Marmaduke October 31, 1981 (1981-10-31)
9 Surburden Cowboy A Close Encounter Marmaduke of the Movies November 7, 1981 (1981-11-07)
10 Baby Sitting Shenanigans A New Kit on the Block Kitty Sitter November 14, 1981 (1981-11-14)
11 Leapin' Leprechaun Clonin' Around School Daze November 21, 1981 (1981-11-21)
12 Caper Cracker Cat Kit Barking for Dollars November 28, 1981 (1981-11-28)
13 The Lemonade Kid The Great Milk Factory Fracas Double Trouble Maker December 5, 1981 (1981-12-05)

Home media

On August 14, 2012, Warner Bros. released The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively in the US and only through Warner's online store or Amazon.com.[8]

References
  1. McNeil, Alex (1996). "Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present". Penguin Books. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 271–273. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television, the First Thirty-five Years, 1946-1981: Animated cartoon series. Internet Archive. Scarecrow Press. p. 134. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  4. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 398–400. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. "Heathcliff and Dingbat (1980) TV Show - Season 1 Episodes List - Next Episode". next-episode.net. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  6. "Heathcliff (1980)". Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  7. "Heathcliff (1980)". Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2012-08-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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