''Heathcliff'' is a half-hour Saturday morning animated series based on the '' Heathcliff'' comic strip created by

George Gately George Gately Gallagher (December 21, 1928 – September 30, 2001), better known as George Gately, was an American cartoonist, notable as the creator of the '' Heathcliff'' comic strip. Born in Queens Village, Queens, Gately came from a family of ...

and produced by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vet ...

. It premiered on ABC on October 4, 1980, with a total of 26 episodes produced under the titles ''Heathcliff and Dingbat'' and ''Heathcliff and Marmaduke''.

History

The series began production on November 10, 1979. 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. ''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 A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...

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 ''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson from June 1954 to 2015. Publication history The strip was created by Anderson, and sold to the John F. Dille ...

(although the Marmaduke segments are actually the first to be seen in each half-hour show). Reruns of the second season (''Heathcliff and Marmaduke'') were seen occasionally on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

. In 1983, NBC reran the show as a segment on ''

Thundarr the Barbarian ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' is an American Saturday morning animated series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran for two seasons on ABC from October 4, 1980, to October 31, 1981, and was rerun on NBC ...

'' reruns. Two years after this show ended, another one based on ''Heathcliff'' was produced by

DiC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

, which was called simply '' Heathcliff'', although for distinction this series is usually referred to by the expanded title of ''Heathcliff and

the Catillac Cats The Catillac Cats is the name of a group of characters that starred in the secondary segment (officially billed ''Cats & Co.'' on the end credits) of the 1984 animated series of '' Heathcliff''. Most episodes revolve around Riff-Raff's get-rich-qui ...

''. Dingbat has appeared as a cameo in a

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

comic with many

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

animal characters captured. He was the only Ruby-Spears character there.

Cast

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy r ...

as Heathcliff, Spike, Mr. Nutmeg, Mr. Schultz, Milkman *

Henry Corden Henry Corden (born Henry Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in the 1 ...

as Clem, Digby, Dogcatcher, Officer Casey *

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney' ...

as Iggy, Muggsy, Mrs. Nutmeg, Sonja, Marcy *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

as Sparerib, Nobody, Mr. Post, Mr. Snyder *

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until h ...

as Barbie Winslow, Billy Winslow, Dottie Winslow *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Dingbat * Paul Winchell as Marmaduke, Phil Winslow

Additional voices

* Takayo Doran - (Season 1) * Clare Peck - (Season 1) * Marilyn Schreffler - (Season 1 & 2) *

Judy Strangis Judy Ann Strangis (born December 23, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in two ABC television series ''Room 222'' (1969–1974) and ''Electra Woman and Dyna Girl'' (1976–1977). __TOC__ Early years Strangis is a nat ...

- (Season 1) *

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' ...

- (Season 1) *

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

- (Season 2) *

Avery Schreiber Avery Lawrence Schreiber (April 9, 1935 – January 7, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. He was a veteran of stage, television, and movies who came to prominence in the 1960s in a comedy duo with Jack Burns. He acted in an array of roles ...

- (Season 2) * Hal Smith - (Season 2)

Episodes

Season 1: ''Heathcliff and Dingbat'' (1980–81)

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

Season 2: ''Heathcliff and Marmaduke'' (1981–82)

Each episode consists of a 6-minute Heathcliff cartoon sandwiched between two 6-minute Marmaduke cartoons.

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show '' Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hal ...

sang its theme song. It competed with ''The Smurfs'' on NBC.

Home media

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

released ''The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show'' on DVD in region 1 via their

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...

in August 2012. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively in the US and only through Warner's online store or Amazon.com.

References

External links

Heathcliff official website
*

planete-jeunesse (French)

Retroland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heathcliff (1980 Tv Series) 1980 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series American children's animated comedy television series Television series by Ruby-Spears American Broadcasting Company original programming Heathcliff (comics) Television shows based on comic strips Animated television series about cats Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears