''Black Cat Detective'' (, "Black Cat Sheriff") is a Chinese animated television series based on a 1982

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

written by Zhu Zhixiang produced by the

Shanghai Animation Film Studio Shanghai Animation Film Studio () also known as SAFS () is a Chinese animation studio based in Shanghai, China, as part of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation. Shanghai Animation Film Studio was officially established in April, 1957, led by pion ...

. It is sometimes shortened as Mr. Black. The main character, Black Cat Detective. was created by Zhu Zhixiang (诸志祥). During the middle of the

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...

to this day, China had a zero-tolerance against crime, which inspired the themes of the series and also at the time the series was a popular amongst Chinese children and adult audiences alike. Sheriff Black Cat is a police officer and his duty is to protect citizens. He has a righteous, brave and heroic demeanor. Sheriff Black Cat is a cute and clever Chinese classic cartoon character. An unsmiling police sergeant. The early 1980s when "Black Cat Sheriff" was born coincided with the "Strike Hard" period. At that time, prison vans were used to escort death row prisoners and parade along the streets. The purpose of shock was self-evident. The righteous image of Sheriff Black Cat and the story of the forest police officers fighting various evil forces in the film were all refracted and influenced by the social atmosphere at that time.

Premise and plot

The story takes place in a forest, where the Black Cat Detective wanders around on his motorcycle stopping villains. Cases range from clashing with mice and other characters.

The White Cat

The White Cat Squad Leader is a character who appears in the domestic cartoon "Black Cat Sheriff", the squad leader of the Forest Police Department and the most capable officer of Sheriff Black Cat, who has made great achievements in many cases. In the cat-and-mouse case, in order to protect the key to the archives room, he was brutally persecuted by One-Eared Uncle Cat-Mouse and died heroically.

Detective White Pigeon

Detective White Pigeon is a heroic and combat-savvy investigator who is a subordinate of Sheriff Black Cat. On a thunderstorm night, huge monsters attacked the forest residents, and many small animals were taken away.After Sheriff Black Cat learned that the monster was disguised as a monkey-eating hawk, he immediately sent Detective White Pigeon to investigate the nest of the monkey-eating hawk. Detective White Pigeon was unfortunately discovered when he reported to Sheriff Black Cat at the destination and was beaten by the monkey-eating hawk. He was seriously injured and fell into a coma. He was finally rescued by Sheriff Black Cat and others who came to support him.

One ear

One ear is the villain, a mouse, his uncle is a cat-eating mouse, and his eldest brother is a monkey-eating eagle and Dr. Great Ape.

Cat-Eating Mouse

Cat-Eating Mouse is a one-eared uncle who comes from Africa and is so powerful that he can pick up a huge cat's paw with one hand and beat away crocodiles with an oar. There were three of them in the play, and they once led everyone to attack the police station and killed the white cat squad leader. In the end, except for one Er Sanjiu who was shot dead, the rest were captured by Black Cat Sheriff.

Mantis young man

Mantis young man fell in love with Mantis girl at first sight while fighting against the locust plague, and got married. On their wedding night, in order to raise stronger offspring, he was voluntarily eaten by Mantis girl, and left a suicide note to prove that Mantis girl was innocent.

Mantis girl

The mantis girl fell in love with the mantis young man at first sight while fighting against the locust plague, and they got married. On their wedding night, they ate the groom in order to raise stronger offspring.

Zhu Zhixiang's original manhwa (February 1982-1991)

The manhwa was published by Fujian Children's Publishing House which was first featured in the Chinese science fiction anthology ''

Science Fiction World ''Science Fiction World (Sci-Fi World; SFW)'' (, Kehuan Shijie), began in 1979, is a monthly science fiction magazine published in the People's Republic of China, headquartered in Chengdu, Sichuan. It dominates the Chinese science fiction magazi ...

'' which ran from February 1982 to 1991.

1984-1987 original series

The original version of ''Black Cat Detective'' aired from 1984 to 1987 on CCTV in China and

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

in Japan, lasting 5 episodes on the first season (and also an unmade 6th episode). The protagonists in the 1980s have some limitations due to the influence of the times, and are somewhat "tall, big and complete". At that time, the police officers in life were dressed in a somewhat "unfashionable" style, with a gun on their waist, a motorcycle, white clothes, and blue trousers. Basically, after taking off the hat and getting the collar badge, he looks almost like a chef. It's not that powerful anyway. The black uniform of Sheriff Black Cat is very similar to that of the police today, and he also wears such high riding boots, which makes him look very time-traveled.

Controversy

Critics bemoaned the series for its depiction of gore and

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

(such as

guns A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, ...

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

and swords) and it did not have the same "harmless" type of cartoon violence like in

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

2006 rerun

Not much is known about the reruns that aired in 2006.

2010 digitally restored film

The digitally restored animated film was released on April 23, 2010, with the general director still Dai Tielang (戴铁郎). The new movie version is actually a cut from the original 5 episodes of the show, with dialogue rewritten and dubbed for the times, and the movie theme song sung by Lin Miao Ke (林妙可).

2015 animated film

Mr. Black: Green Star has been released in theaters on August 7, 2015.

Notes

References

External links

Images, clips and stories
AsiaObscura.com
China's Movie Database

{{CCTV shows 1984 Chinese television series debuts 2010 Chinese television series endings China Central Television original programming Chinese children's animated science fantasy television series Shōnen manga Seinen manga Gekiga Animated television series about cats Detective anime and manga 1980s Chinese television series 1990s Chinese television series 2000s Chinese television series 1980s animated television series 1990s animated television series 2000s animated television series 2010s animated television series Science fiction anime and manga Television characters introduced in 1984 Teenage characters in anime and manga Mandarin-language television shows Teen fantasy television series 2015 films Talking animals in fiction