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''Herman and Katnip'' is a series of theatrical cartoons featuring Herman the Mouse and Katnip the Cat, produced by
Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
in the 1940s and 1950s. Arnold Stang and Allen Swift were the regular voices of Herman, while Sid Raymond was the regular actor for Katnip, although one or both of the characters would occasionally be voiced by Jackson Beck and Jack Mercer, respectively.


History

From 1944 to September 1950, Herman, voiced by Arnold Stang and Allen Swift, (occasionally by Jackson Beck) was a solo star of theatrical animation shorts produced by
Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
and distributed by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. Katnip, voiced by Sid Raymond (occasionally by Jack Mercer), made his first appearance in November 1950 with "Mice Meeting You". The two characters continued to star in animated cartoons until 1959. In 1958, they and the other original Famous Studios characters were purchased by comic-book publisher Harvey Comics, which continued to promote the characters under the name Harveytoons. The 1944 to 1950 Herman and the 1947 to 1950 pre-Katnip cartoons (originally released as part of the Noveltoons series) were sold by Paramount in 1955 to U.M. & M. TV Corporation for television distribution.Herman and Katnip
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 11, 2015.


Filmography


Legacy

Animation historian
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
described the ''Herman and Katnip'' series as a prime stereotype of the "violent cat versus mouse" battles that were commonplace among Hollywood cartoons of the 1920s through the 1960s. The violence in this series, while intended for comedic effect, often reached a level of brutality that surpassed both ''
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 ...
'', '' Mighty Mouse'', and Warner Bros.' Sylvester the Cat. All of Herman's battles with Katnip ended with Herman victorious. Only two cartoons, "You Said a Mouseful" and "Katnip's Big Day", had Katnip sharing in Herman's victory. Frequently Herman and his mouse companions would sing a victory song as they observed Katnip being brutally tortured; e.g. being eaten by sharks, killed in a rockslide while mountain climbing, strung up with Christmas lights and plugged into an electric socket, getting electrocuted by a "shock tester" machine, then flattened by it; or even dying and his ghost being warned about "the fiery furnace" in "Of Mice and Menace". It had been originally intended that Herman and Katnip would make a cameo appearance in the film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
'' in the scene called "Acme's Funeral", but the scene was cut out of the film. Katnip later appeared in the episode "Self Help Huey" of the animated series ''
The Baby Huey Show ''The Baby Huey Show'' is an animated television series that ran in syndication during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 TV seasons. The show featured the Harvey Comics character Baby Huey. 26 episodes were produced by combining old theatrical Famous S ...
'' as a cat redeemed by his persecutions of the past and tries to teach a Fox to follow the same path with
Baby Huey Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Huey first appeared in ''Quack-a-Doodle-Doo'', a Paramount ...
. ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' writer/producer Mike Reiss insists that ''
The Itchy & Scratchy Show ''The Itchy & Scratchy Show'' (often shortened as ''Itchy & Scratchy'') is a Story within a story, fictional animated series featured on ''The Simpsons''. The cartoon depicts a Sadistic personality disorder, sadistic mouse named Itchy who repeat ...
'' is based on ''Herman and Katnip'', which he calls a "cheap, ultra-violent knockoff" of ''Tom and Jerry''. Director David Silverman supports this, stating ''Herman and Katnip'' "is hilarious because it's just bad".


Supporting characters


Henry

Prior to his pairing with Katnip, Herman teamed up in several cartoons with the henpecked rooster Henry. Henry's nemesis is his domineering wife, Bertha (a.k.a. Chicken Pie), who makes him do all the work around the house. Bertha is deathly afraid of mice, however: always "bawking" in shock every time Herman scares her. With Herman's help, Henry tries to manipulate Bertha into treating him more fairly. The title cards for the team-up shorts read "Featuring Herman and Henry"; the first such short was ''Henpecked Rooster'' (1944), and the last ''Sudden Fried Chicken'' (1946). Under the new name Hector, the rooster was featured in Dell Publishing's ''Animal Comics'' #7-17 (1944–1945), with Herman as ongoing co-star, and artist Walt Kelly ('' Pogo'') drawing several of the later stories. In ''Sudden Fried Chicken'', the cartoons also adopted the name Hector, though the "Featuring Herman and Henry" title card remained unchanged for unknown reasons.


Buzzy

Katnip also had his share of running battles with Buzzy, a singing black
crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
in a flat straw hat, who spoke in stereotypical "black dialect" and per historian Don Markstein was "a take-off on the gravely voice of
character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...
Eddie Anderson, who played Rochester on Jack Benny's show, with id/nowiki> Raymond (Baby Huey) as Katnip, sounding like Benny himself".Buzzy the Crow
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 5, 2015.
Katnip's battle with Buzzy was usually based on Katnip trying to kick an ailment. He would read a rhyming verse from a medical book that suggested crow meat as the sure cure. Once confronted by Katnip, however, Buzzy would propose another solution in an attempt to save his own skin, to which the cat usually replied, "Hmmmm, that sounds logical", but these solutions usually "failed" at the expense of Katnip, who would finally lose his patience and say, "This time, I'm doing what the book says!" This would result in a chase between the two characters—with Buzzy making occasional puns at Katnip's expense along the way—and end with Buzzy victorious and Katnip nowhere near the road to recovery. Buzzy the Crow was introduced in the 1946
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
cartoon, produced by
Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
, '' The Stupidstitious Cat''. Buzzy's mannerisms and voice were based on what are now considered the offensive stereotypes of African-Americans of the time. Jackson Beck voiced Buzzy. There were censorship issues related to Buzzy as a black stereotype. On the television series ''Casper and Friends'', Buzzy's voice is redubbed to remove any offending content. Buzzy also frequently appeared in Harvey Comics' ''
Baby Huey Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Huey first appeared in ''Quack-a-Doodle-Doo'', a Paramount ...
'' comic books in the 1960s and 1970s, in a rivalry with a cat resembling Katnip but of a different color. Sometimes, this cat was named Katsy Cat.


Video

All "Herman and Katnip" and some Herman solo shorts have been released on
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
videocassettes and DVDs. Some prints have the U.M. & M. or NTA logo at the start and end, masking the old
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
title, but the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored these shorts to their original Paramount titles. In 2011, Classic Media issued ''Herman and Katnip: The Complete Series'', a DVD collecting all of Herman and Katnip's appearances together. Also included were two Katnip solo shorts, ''Feast and Furious'' and ''City Kitty''. The cartoons were presented in shortened TV prints from the anthology series '' The Harveytoons Show'', with abbreviated opening titles, no end titles, and (in the case of ''Drinks on the Mouse'') some censorship. Prints of ''Mice Meeting You'' and ''Mice Paradise'' bear the "Featuring Herman" card as seen on Herman's solo shorts, even though these two shorts also feature Katnip.


See also

* List of Herman and Katnip cartoons *
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 ...
* List of Tom And Jerry cartoons * Itchy and Scratchy * Squeak the Mouse * Sylvester the Cat * Little Roquefort * Dingbat and Sylvester the Fox * Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks * Motormouse and Autocat * Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse * Krazy Kat


References


External links

* {{Famous Studios Film characters introduced in 1944 Film series introduced in 1944 Famous Studios series and characters Harvey Comics series and characters Animated duos Herman Herman Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation Fiction about rivalry Animated films about talking animals DreamWorks Classics Male characters in animation DreamWorks Classics franchises Film characters introduced in 1950 Fictional cats Katnip Animated characters introduced in 1950 Animated characters introduced in 1944 1958 comics debuts Humor comics Comics about anthropomorphic cats Comics about anthropomorphic mice and rats Comics about talking animals Slapstick comedy