Slacker Cats
Slacker Cats | |
---|---|
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Genre | |
Created by | Andy Riley Kevin Cecil |
Starring | Harland Williams Sinbad Nicole Sullivan Allen Covert Kiersten Warren Emo Philips |
Opening theme | Jason Frederick |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No.of seasons | 2 |
No.of episodes | 12(list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Kevin Cecil Andy Riley Seth Kearsley |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Film Roman Laika |
Original release | |
Network | ABC Family(season 1) ABC Family website (season 2) |
Release | August 13, 2007 January 23, 2009 | –
Slacker Catsis an Americanadult animatedsitcomthat aired onABC Familyon August 13, 2007. The series was created by British writers,Andy RileyandKevin Cecil,who also served as executive producers along with animation director Seth Kearsley, who designed the characters. It features the voice talents of comediansHarland WilliamsandSinbadas Buckley and Eddie, twoslackercats who live in the fictional city of Wendell, California. Slacker Cats is produced byFilm RomanalongsideLaika.
When the show was first announced, due to an initial lack of information, and its presence on ABC Family, many outlets erroneously believedSlacker Catswas aimed towards children. However, in later advertising and in press kits issued to the media, it was clearly indicated that the show included a more adult tone and themes.[1]The show's 10PM broadcast time further illustrated that its target was an adult audience. It was the fourth adult animated series produced by Disney, the other three beingThe PJs,which aired onFox,Clerks: The Animated Series,which aired onABC,andClone High,which was a co-production ofMTV,TeletoonandNelvana,and is the only adult animated show from them at the time to not be produced at Touchstone Television, now known asABC Signature.
Slacker Catswas canceled on September 17, 2007, after six episodes. A second season premiered on the ABC Family website on December 19, 2008, and was released oniTunesandXbox LiveMarketplace.[2]The second season was numbered as a continuation of the first season, episodes 7 through 12.
Plot
[edit]Slacker Catsis about Buckley and Eddie, a pair of different cats, and their quotidian, strange and outrageous adventures. Main plots of the show revolve around Buckley and Eddie's schemes to escape the everyday monotony of being house cats by taking advantage of humans (as well as other cats) to freewheel themselves in the fictional city of Wendell, California.
Cast and characters
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Slacker-cats.jpg)
Buckley
[edit]Buckley is a brave, maleMaine coonwho has indigo fur, a white V-shaped mark on the chest, black eyes and a pink snout. He is clever by cat standards, but he thinks he is much more clever than he really is, which causes him and Eddie to encounter a lot of trouble. He secretly wants to be human, feeling that life is limited as a cat. His best friend is Eddie, who is often the cause of his mishaps. Buckley is also the constant nemesis of Mrs. Boots for reasons that remain unknown. He is in love with his owner Louise and plans on marrying her, but she doesn't return his feelings. Despite his unreturned feelings, he still addresses her as if she were his girlfriend. Buckley's personality fluctuates from being lazy and uncaring to being remotely active and feeling guilty. He is notably more ethical than Eddie. Buckley also shows an aggressive side, attacking his friend Tabitha and removing her remaining ear, though it was later reattached. Buckley is one of the two mainprotagonistsof the series alongside Eddie, and he is voiced byHarland Williams.
Eddie
[edit]Eddie is an adventuroustabby catwith orange fur who looks surprisingly like him. Eddie is Buckley's best friend, though he rarely acts like it. Eddie is extremely egotistical about himself, even to the point of kissing a dummy replica of himself. Eddie often speaks of his way with lady cats and past events that involve numerous lady cats at one time, although there is no evidence of this. However, he's stated by other characters to be more of a "tough alley cat" than a normal house cat, hinting Eddie could actually be somewhat of a ladies man. Yet at the same time is also shown to be very desperate, including going far out of his way and hurting himself/friends to get attention from female cats. He resides with his owner, Dan. He knows Buckley is in love with his owner, Louise, and often makes fun of him for it, calling him a "sicko" or an "Ownerphile" whenever he looks at something human related. However, he will still stand up for Buckley, normally against Mrs. Boots asking "Where is Mr. Boots?" which causes her run off angrily every time. He is one of the two main protagonists alongside Buckley, and he is voiced bySinbad.
Tabitha
[edit]Tabitha is a light pinkMunchkin cat.Her owner is unknown and it's implied she may be a stray because of her neglected appearance. However, in episode 5 she admits to have once have had an owner but since then had forgotten who it was. She has one ear, which has a bow on it and the other seems to have been mostly bitten off. She is also often shown carrying a small green purse. She is not too bright, but she is cheery and believes she is everyone's friend. Of all the people in Wendell, she enjoys spending time with Buckley and Eddie, much to their annoyance. Whenever she sees them and tries to talk she is given an excuse by Eddie why they are too busy or tells her to wait somewhere for them, often somewhere dangerous. She is willing to forgive anything, including being left in the middle of a highway or having her ear ripped off by Buckley. She often shows characteristics ofbipolar disorder,going from cheery to standing over Louise (whom she duct-taped to her bed) with a scalpel and directions on how to perform a "reverse conjoined twin separation" on her. She is voiced byKiersten Warren.
Dooper
[edit]Dooper is a spoiled and pampered cream-colored, malestray catthat lives in acardboard boxin an alley near Louise's apartment. He is afraid of almost everything and is quite nervous. As a result of this he is constantly coming up with outlandish conspiracy theories and rushes to warn everyone. The closest things to friends he has are Buckley and Eddie, whom he normally tells his theories to first. They usually ignore him, but sometimes use his conspiracy theories to trick him into doing their dirty work. He will often find small, everyday things like a crack in the pavement and use it as proof of his theories. Also it is said that Dooper doesn't have anytesticles,suggesting that he once had an owner who had him neutered. He is voiced byEmo Philips.
Mrs. Boots
[edit]Mrs. Boots is an attractive light purplePersian catwhose owner is unknown but her owner's family is shown to be wealthy as she lives in a mansion. She is Buckley's nemesis and tries to thwart his plans in any way she can. The reason why she hates Buckley remains unknown. Her name derives from the difference in color of her body and her paws. The entire body is all light purple, except for her paws, which are dark brown. She is very self-conscious about them, calling them "deformities" and hiding them in her fur when she sits. She is also self-conscious about her name, always becoming aggravated when Eddie asks "Where's Mr. Boots?". She shows herself as a classy cat, but has a short temper and when angry starts to yell and her voice becomes a little bit hoarse. She is voiced byNiecy Nash.
Ingrid and Latoyah
[edit]Ingrid and Latoyah are a pair of greyBritish Shorthairswho Eddie thinks are hot. They are voiced byMasasa MoyoandAlex Borstein,respectively.
Louise
[edit]She is one of two main human characters. She is Buckley's owner and can speak to and understand Buckley, but she still treats him as a pet most of the time. Buckley has a romantic infatuation with Louise and hopes to one day consummate their relationship, although she is oblivious to the fact. Buckley even said that he onceproposedto her. She is voiced byNicole Sullivan.
Dan
[edit]He is one of the only main human characters. He is Eddie's owner, and is voiced byGreg Pitts.
Production
[edit]The original 2001 pilot was animated inclaymationby Laika's predecessor,Will Vinton StudiosatPortland,done in the same model and animation style asGary & Mike,which Hardland Williams voiced Mike. The series was pitched toThe WB,who turned it down. The pilot has a different art style from the final version. It also has a different voice cast, except for Tabitha.[3]
The series was animated usingAdobe Flash.With the animation being a split betweenBoulder Mediain Ireland, Big Star Enterprise in South Korea andRenegade AnimationinGlendale.
Episodes
[edit]Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First released | Last released | Network | |||
1 | 6 | August 13, 2007 | September 17, 2007 | ABC Family | |
2 | 6 | December 19, 2008 | January 23, 2009 | abcfamily |
Season 1 (2007)
[edit]No. overall | No.in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Mexico" | Seth Kearsley | Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley | August 13, 2007 | |
Buckley and Eddie want to take a vacation in Mexico, but when they are unsuccessful in boarding the airplane, they decide to simply pretend that they are in Mexico. Meanwhile, ignored and in search of a friend, Tabitha brings home the corpse of a cat that died on the freeway. | ||||||
2 | 2 | "The Wood" | Perry Zombolas | Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley | August 20, 2007 | |
Buckley tries to organize the neighborhood against a developer who is going to despoil the natural beauty of the woods. The main problem is that Trevor, the developer, is Louise's new boyfriend. Buckley also tries to find a way to re-attach Tabitha's ear, which he accidentally ripped off in a fight. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "Big Guy" | Niki Yang | Robin FrenchandKieron Quirke | August 27, 2007 | |
Louise asks Buckley to clear the basement of rats. Buckley is too chicken to do so until he meets 'The Big Guy' (who turns out to be a tiger) and tries to copy everything the tiger does. | ||||||
4 | 4 | "Ozymandias" | Seth Kearsley | Andy Bodle | September 3, 2007 | |
Buckley assumes an alias and opts to relocate after finding a man in Louise's bed. | ||||||
5 | 5 | "Casino Miaow" | Jennifer Coyle | Gideon Defoe | September 10, 2007 | |
Buckley needs money to get Louise a birthday present, so he decides to sell Tabitha to a lab and tries to win big in Mrs. Boots's poker game. | ||||||
6 | 6 | "Buckley and Eddie Deceased" | Jennifer Coyle | Gideon Defoe | September 17, 2007 | |
Buckley may regret his hasty course of action when he incorrectly believes that he killed Eddie. |
Season 2 (2008–2009)
[edit]No. overall | No.in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 1 | "Dolenz1b559e" | Perry Zombolas | Roger DrewandWill Smith | December 19, 2008 | |
Dolenz gets out of prison and forces Buckley, Eddie, and Tabitha into a crime spree. | ||||||
8 | 2 | "Sex and the Kitties" | Niki Yang | Sara Smith | December 26, 2008 | |
Dooper becomes possessed by the ghosts of his severed testicles and Eddie is sent to the Vet to beneutered. | ||||||
9 | 3 | "Buckley on the Run" | Nathan Chew | Robin French and Kieron Quirke | January 2, 2009 | |
Trevor comes back into Louise's life and frames Buckley the cat for killing a rabbit named Buckley. This episode guest starsStephen Root,Dave Foley,Bobcat Goldthwait,Vanessa Ruiz andTom Kenny. | ||||||
10 | 4 | "Garage A Trois" | Perry Zombolas | Andy Bodle | January 9, 2009 | |
Buckley, Eddie, and Tabitha get trapped in a garage and go insane. | ||||||
11 | 5 | "Work Work Work" | Jennifer Coyle | David Quanitk,Kevin Cecil, and Andy Riley | January 16, 2009 | |
Louise loses her job, and when Buckley goes to get her job back, he actually gets her job. | ||||||
12 | 6 | "Buckley Versus the Future" | Niki Yang | Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley | January 23, 2009 | |
Buckley turns off the internet to make the world a better place. |
References
[edit]- ^Keating, Gina (August 8, 2007).""Slacker Cats" shake up Disney image ".Reuters. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-12-18.Retrieved2007-09-01.
- ^"Featured Content on Myspace".
- ^Harrod, Paul (19 June 2014)."Slacker Cats (2001)"– via Vimeo.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- 2000s American adult animated television series
- 2000s American animated comedy television series
- 2000s American sitcoms
- 2007 American television series debuts
- 2009 American television series endings
- American adult animated comedy television series
- American animated sitcoms
- American flash adult animated television series
- American television series revived after cancellation
- American English-language television shows
- ABC Family original programming
- Animated television series set in California
- Animated television series about cats
- Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television
- Television series by Film Roman