Heathcliff (comic strip)
| Heathcliff | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | George Gately (until 2001) Peter Gallagher (2001–present) |
| Website | http://heathcliffcomics.com/ |
| Current status / schedule | Running/Daily |
| Launch date | 1973 |
| Syndicate(s) | Creators Syndicate (since 1988) McNaught Syndicate (former) |
Heathcliff is a comic strip created by George Gately in 1973 featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher, it is distributed to over 1,000 newspapers by Creators Syndicate, who took over the comic from McNaught Syndicate in 1988.
The strip takes place in a town called Westfinster. Heathcliff as seen in the strip is predisposed to annoying Mr. Schultz, the manager of the local fish store, called the Elite Fish Market; tipping over garbage cans to the annoyance of the local sanitation workers, annoying the milkman to get milk, harassing and abusing the dog population; being informant to the local Dog Catchers; and pursuing female cats. His girlfriend is a girl cat named Sonja, but is the target of unrequited affection by another girl cat named Crazy Shirley.
Heathcliff is also involved in a difficult relationship with Mr. Nutmeg, the moustached owner of the house he lives in. He is, however, loved by the young grandson, Iggy, whom he sees as his friend and owner; and Mrs. Nutmeg, Iggy's grandmother, overindulges him. He is also a friend of Iggy's playmates. Willy, Iggy's brainy best friend; and Marcy, a neighborhood girl whom Heathcliff (dressed in baby clothes) will play doll carriage with. Another character is Muggsy Faber, Westfinster's local bully and his bulldog, Spike, whom Heathcliff usually (and very easily) outwits.
He is, overall, an adventurous and fun-loving cartoon character. He is not predisposed towards apologizing for the endless situations he finds himself in the cartoon.
The strip is usually presented in single-panel gag frames on weekdays. On Sundays, though, the strip is expanded to multiple panels and titled Sunday with Heathcliff. A regular feature in the Sunday strips is Kitty Korner, where unusual cats in the real world are described.
Animated series
Two animated TV series based on the strip, both simply named Heathcliff, were created. Although Heathcliff did not speak in the comic strip, both animated versions of him were voiced by Mel Blanc. Heathcliff was the last of Blanc's original characters.
The first Heathcliff was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and debuted in 1980. The first season featured segments with (Dingbat is the vampire dog (Frank Welker) accompanied by Spare Rib the skeleton and Nobody the jack-o-lantern who were both voiced by Don Messick), which were created by Ruby-Spears for the show, and the second season featured fellow comic strip character Marmaduke. This version is sometimes seen on Boomerang.
In 1984, the second Heathcliff debuted, which was produced by DiC Entertainment. This series featured segments with The Catillac Cats, which is why this version is sometimes referred to as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats. In 1986, debuted in theaters; it was released on VHS by Paramount Home Videos in 1988. In 2005, Shout! Factory released a Volume 1 DVD for the show, featuring the first 24 episodes of the series.
all 3 Heathcliff cartoons together ran from 1980-1988.
Heathcliff's female human pal, Marcy, was drawn in the strip as a normal girl with brown hair, a green skirt and has a bow in her hair. In the animated series, Marcy was still drawn as a normal girl, but with blonde hair and a bow and a blue t-shirt and a pink skirt, and instead of white socks, she had purple. Why exactly these character design changes were made is unknown. DiC had also redesigned other characters.
In Australia, Heathcliff was one of Network Ten's last 1980s shows.
Comic books
Starting in 1985, Star Comics, owned by Marvel Comics, began producing comic books titled Heathcliff. The series ran for 56 issues, changing to the Marvel Comics brand with issue #23. Star Comics added an additional spin-off title in 1987 called Heathcliff's Funhouse (which switched over to Marvel with issue #6). It was a combination of new material and reprinted stories that first appeared in the original Heathcliff title. In the comics, Heathcliff had a far better relationship with Mr. Nutmeg, and much of his adventures were done with Mr. Nutmeg's grandson. Heathcliff's reputation for adventurism was even noted by the local police, who recruited him for a sting operation against a gang of cats stealing purses, in exchange for them forgiving the fact Heathcliff swiped shellfish, of course.
Film
In May 2009, it was revealed that Heathcliff will be adapted for a second motion picture. Magic Lantern Entertainment and rights holder FitzRoy Media will work together with a planned release in 2011. The film will star Frank Welker as Heathcliff.
Heathcliff in other languages
References
External links
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathcliff_(comic_strip)#Animated_series
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