The Extras - TOP CAT's a Cool Cat! PLUS an EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK of Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Vol. 4

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

What makes "Top Cat" a timeless treasure in the realm of classic television animation? Join us as we uncover the magic behind the newly released Blu-ray edition of "Top Cat: The Complete Series," now boasting stunning 4K scans from the original camera negatives. Animation historians George Feltenstein and Jerry Beck guide us through the historical context and significance of this release. We'll explore the sophisticated writing, high-caliber voice cast, and the fascinating connections between "Top Cat" and other Hanna-Barbera classics like "The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons." Additionally, find out how the Phil Silvers show influenced this animated gem and the meticulous effort put into restoring it for future generations.Then we get an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek of what will be included in the upcoming "Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 4." Purchase Link:TOP CAT - The Complete Series (1960-61)  The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm Tom Weaver, author of Universal Horrors, a monster movie audio commentator, and member of the Tim Millard fan club. You're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras. I'm Tim Millard, your host, and joining me today are animation historians, George Feltenstein and Jerry Beck. Hi guys. Hey Tim. our animation historians, George Feltenstein and Jerry Beck. Hi, guys.

Hello. Well, I'm excited to talk some animation with you guys today. And we have some Hannah Barbera to talk about. And I know a lot of people are also excited to hear some updates about the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 4. And just so that the listeners know, we will get to that. But I know that right off the bat, George, you wanted to talk about this brand new Blu-ray release of Top Cat, the complete series, which just came out September 17th. I know I'm excited, haven't gotten my copy yet, but what do you want to talk about here on this release first? These are 4K scans off the camera negatives. They look amazing and I have a tremendous fondness for the series and I know a lot of

people share my enthusiasm for it. I'm just so grateful that we're finally able to bring this to the market because we started out with a goal. We started with Johnny Quest. We mastered that for Blu-ray, I think it was in 2019. And then the Jetsons. And we moved on to various series. And I wanted to get Top Cat. And there were a lot of detours along the way. but to get to the camera negatives and what kind of shape are they in they hadn't been touched since the probably the mid 1960s. The net result is a really beautiful set and I think people are going to be very very pleased

with the improvement in the quality from what they've seen before. People are kind of surprised when they find out it only ran one prime time season on ABC and what everybody saw thereafter were Saturday morning reruns or even before that, it went into regular syndication, I think for a season, like in the evenings. I'm not exactly sure about that, but Jerry will appreciate this. I remember Saturday, early evening broadcasts on WNEW TV before the Saturday morning reruns. Wow. So I was like two, but I remember it.

Maybe I dreamed it, but it was black and white. We didn't have a color TV. The show was broadcast in black and white initially on ABC. I don't think they had color yet, but they made them in color, thankfully. It's very exciting. Every one of these times we do this, it's a victory. And it's a victory for the fans of television animation. We can now say classic television animation because these shows are over 60 years old. Yeah.

As much as we don't want to think so, that is the truth. Jerry, I did want to ask you, Jerry, a little bit about the kind of the lead up. It's the second series in prime time that Hannah Barbera did. But what was kind of the development, do you know, of the series? Well, like the Flintstones was inspired by the Honeymooners, this series of course was inspired by the Phil Silvers Bilko show.

This was a real golden age of hannah barbara is a period between fifty seven and to me sixty five almost ten years where. Where i feel like they almost could do no wrong and it all down they had the artwork they had the animators they had the designs they had the writers. You know it's funny that i think of these hannah barbara cartoons from that period is sophisticated i think that's the word a good word to go with top cat. You know the earliest cartoons the huckleberry hounds the yogi bears the quick drama gross. They're written by people like michael maltese and warren foster these are the great warner brothers cartoon writers and they are smart they're They're funny in that way. They're not just like funny because someone says they're funny or because there's a laugh track. They're actually really clever and really, really funny cartoons. And then they go from that to the Flintstones, which was on in prime time, and Top Cat the following year. And these are not written towards kids, these are written towards adults.

And suddenly, if you think about it, those Hanna-Barbera cartoons from that late 50s period and the 60s prime time are pretty hip for what they are. The Jetsons would continue that, even Johnny Quest would continue that. It wasn't until that period around the, you know, after Top Cat, where they started going back down towards kids cartoons, kids cartoons that we love, you know, the secret squirrels, you know, and the McGilligarillas and things like that. But that all came after. Hanna and Barbera had spent 15 years or more working at MGM, working on cartoons that for adults and all audiences, winning Oscars with Tom and

Jerry. And so they weren't really used to making kids cartoons. It was unusual for them. They had to really, really rethink what they did and how they did it. Top Cat fits perfectly with what they were doing. They had done Ali Katzen and Ali, you know, before with Tom and Jerry, this time due to TV and the way things had changed and the influence of Bilko. They had, in my opinion, an all-star voice cast. I mean, it's just, it's a great show and as George says, and I don't think we want to over say it, but we could the quality of the going back to the original negatives seeing these things as no one has seen the maybe since maybe the original release on ABC primetime way back

when. I saw them then but man, I mean, you know, these things are really, really superior. And I'm just so happy that we're able to release this. And George said, classic TV animation. I want to make it clear, classic television, period. You know, that's what this is. So yeah, because it was prime time. It was prime time TV. That's my opening statement here today. Just, you know, very, very happy to see this.

And I believe I'm on here and doing some audio commentary. Yes, you are. Yes. George, did we, I think, did you say this, that we brought over some of the special features? Everything. Everything. Okay, good. It's a lot of good stuff on here.

And there's a whole feature on Arnold Stang, who I'm a big fan of, who is the voice of Top Cat. What's really funny about Stang, and by the way, stop me because I can talk at length about any of this, but the thing about Stang is he's playing this in-charge Bilko-esque character. His whole career was basically this little nebbish, this bird, right? And he's in a mad, mad world around the same time they're filming that while they're making

Topcat. I mean, it's like, you know, but I think he sees really, really shows, I guess he shows his range here. It is really a showcase for him. Yes. Because he was able to take on a persona he never did in live action. Right. And Top Cat was cool.

I mean he was like he was the leader of the gang, you know. And that ties into, this is kind of very inspired by Bilko, even down to some of the cast members of the voice cast. But also, I think there is definitely an influence from the Eastside Kids slash Bowery Boys movies. You know, I was thinking that, I didn't want to say it, but you're absolutely right. You know, definitely that's, it's funny. Yeah, because those characters, as you know, started as Warner Brothers characters.

Right, with the dead end kids. And then, and now Warner's of course, today has the rights to the Bowery Boys, which you've put out on DVD, which I love. And the, I want to quickly mention, as far as the cast goes, I just don't want to forget it, Alan Jenkins as Officer Dibble. Speaking of Warner Brothers,

I mean, I think he's in every Warner Brothers movie of the late 30s and early 40s. So here he is again, and he's great. With voices, a lot of actors, most actors, you know, the voice is exactly the same. You know, you're not seeing him on camera, but he, you know, he's Alan Jenkins, you know, it's great. And the writing of the show, I think this is really important. Yeah. You didn't have the typical animation writers working on the show. You had sitcom writers. I think one of them, one of the writers, I think was a writer for Bilko, if I'm remembering correctly.

Yeah. And you also, of course, as you said, the cast, we have at least, you know, Maurice Gosfield, Doberman, is, you know, as Ben. And they designed Benny the ball, the character he played to resemble his physical appearance as an actor, short and plump and you know, he was a cute cat. And Marvin Kaplan, Leo DeLion, one person who was a voice member who did a lot of other Hanna-Barbera stuff was John Stevenson. Yes. I was going to say, George, we were kids when this first came on.

I mean, little kids, as you said. I don't know about you, but I used to collect these things called TV Tiny Kins. Do you know what I'm talking about? These little things, these little painted figures. I remember buying all the Top Cat characters because they were like really of a team, you know, of the similar but different cat characters. That was like a major collectible for me at the time when I was whatever age I was. And very few of those survived because kids destroyed them. So they usually didn't survive a childhood.

If you can find them, they'd probably go for a fortune. Yeah. I don't think they would sell them anymore. I thought you were going to say that you can't find them because a lot of kids swallowed them. That's very possible. They really were small. They were tiny. Yeah. Well, George and Jerry, the show only went for one year. So was it considered kind of a disappointment that it didn't go any further by Joe and Bill?

I've never read... Jerry, correct me if you know differently. I've never read anything about disappointment. I'm sure they would have wanted to probably continue and have it be a big hit like the Flintstones, which ran for six seasons. But they just moved on to the next thing, which was the Jetsons. Right. Yeah.

I don't think it was a big disappointment. I mean, like you said also that it went almost immediately. I didn't know about that interim WNEW thing, but it went almost immediately to, I think it went on Saturday morning for a season. It did. Yeah, and then I think it was syndicated in some way, but it went to Saturday morning when Saturday morning wasn't really producing that kind of material yet.

Right. That would come later. And so it was a big treat for the kids. I love that a year later, after what I consider a sophisticated adult cartoon show is suddenly for kids on Saturday morning. I find that fascinating.

I'm almost insulted when people tell me, oh, I used to watch that on Saturday morning when they talk about any of the prime time shows because I have to point it out to them that the writing is really good on this. It's not just a piece of Saturday morning something, you know, it's a very good show that just happens to have run on Saturday morning. And to that point, I think my memory of seeing it like an early weekend evening syndication as a child.

Yeah. I think it may have been one of those situations where they did a combination syndication deal for the reruns as well as Saturday mornings. I know that happened with the Flintstones early on. Yeah. Or it was running on NBC on Saturday mornings. And it also ran as a daytime syndicated strip after the network run.

They had a lot of episodes, of course. Joe Barbera was such a great salesman, he would find any way to get the shows seen in any other possible way of monetizing them. And an interesting thing that also should be raised up is that when Top Cat headed to other countries and was dubbed in other languages, in Mexico, apparently very famous voice actors,

or I should say very famous actors did the voices and there is still a huge popularity for Top Cat more in Latin American countries than here. Oh yeah, there was two theatrical CG Top Cat features that were made in the last, sometime in the last 15 years. They're hard to find but they were put out on video somewhere. I mean, it just this just a big deal. You know, the Top Cat. Oh, by the way, it reminds you of another piece of trivia. I'm just getting into trivia here about Top Cat, which was in England. You probably know this.

Well, I know what you're going to say. Yeah. They had had a comic strip or something that was called Top Cat and it was well known in England. Oh no, no, no. It was a cat food. I think it was. I think it was something like a cat food called cat Top Cat. So they couldn't call it Top Cat. Boss Cat.

Yeah. They called it Boss Cat instead. Now my question is, are there any Boss Cat opening titles where it says that? That's what I want to see. I don't actually don't think there is. I think they- We don't have them. Yeah.

They must have left them in London. I don't know. If they made them, I kind of think that might be. I think they might have ran them and just had the, I don't know, they might have had some singers re-sing the title and have them say, boss cat, you know, that kind of thing. I'm going to guess this is not anything I know factually. And I bet there are a lot of people listening to this who know the factual answer. I think they probably left the theme song alone and just changed.

That's my hypothesis. But someone with a little more education in the subject than I can give us a definitive answer. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of the Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers. catalog physical media releases.

So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. My understanding is it was pretty popular in England as well, right? It's popular everywhere. The shows are entertaining and they're very well written. You know, I remember, and I think probably other people who are listening to this podcast may, if they grew up during that era,

there was actually an LP of two Top Cat episodes, one on each side of a record, that was basically the soundtrack of an episode. It had been probably pared down a little bit in terms of time. But I remember as a kid just listening to the record, because in those days, we didn't have home video. We didn't have a way of seeing things over and over again. You could look at your pieces of still photography on a Viewmaster or a Givishow projector or something, but we couldn't see these things.

Although there were little eight millimeter movies that were five minutes long or that kind of thing. Top Cat stayed popular and the reruns on Saturday mornings helped to keep it that way. that stayed popular and the reruns on Saturday mornings helped to keep it that way. Yeah, I mean, that's how most of us saw it was Saturday morning. And that's kind of what you think of, but going back to the writing that you guys were talking

about, that's why I think when you watch it now, as an older adult, you can still laugh and totally enjoy it just as much, maybe even more, because you understand certain things and you read into it the more adult nuances or so. But that's why you can enjoy it so much now at an older age. And I think that to be able to see it now also in the high definition, I'm really looking forward to that because of just everything you've done in HD, George, all that the Warner Archive has released this year. You've released a lot of Hanna-Barbera. It's looked terrific.

And we wanted to be able to achieve the same thing and we never know how it's going to turn out. It's much more difficult with the segmented shows like Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bearer because they were absolutely torn to ribbons to remove sponsorships and they were a mess that we're still in the middle right now of trying to put back together. But in this case, this was a complete scenario of 20 minutes or so in length and we found that the main and end titles were a little, were not taken the best care of. There's only one end title in color that survives and that's why we have a special summary of all credits. As was done on the DVD, the Blu- why we have a special summary of all credits.

As was done on the DVD, the Blu-ray will have a summary of all credits of everyone who worked on this series. But the reason when you see the end credits, if it all looks the same, it's because they only saved one. And it wasn't even an original negative. It's our only color source. We have black and white, but we don't have color. So the amount of archival archaeology that goes into something like this is enormous and it took a great deal of time and it's very expensive, but the net result is something that people can cherish.

It's cross-generational because multiple generations grew up loving this show. Hey, Jerry, where does this rank in terms of popularity of all that golden era of Hanover? I don't think we have rankings like that. But the reality though of just hearsay, people I know, I mean, the fandom of this show, I know people who aren't interested in animation at all. And they would they'll tell me, you know, the only show I liked was Top Cat. You know, I mean, there's definitely a fandom for this particular character. I don't know, you know, it's hard for me to explain. I just love the character design.

I love the, what I call the situation of it, that Bowery Boise situation of it. And there really is no other show like that. Most of the other ones have a more of a high concept, you know, the Flintstones, Stone Age, you know, family, that kind of thing. This is a cooler show and he's a character we all aspire to be kind of in that Bugs Bunny mold in that he's got the answers. He figures out the problems. He's calm, he's confident. I mean, obviously sometimes he flips out.

But he's a cool character and that's what we like because we want characters like that. We either want them to be something we can identify with or something we want to be. And Top Cat's one of those, something we want to be. So I anticipate that it'll find new success in new fans, especially in this new restored version. That's the thing. Let's repeat it again. Restored cartoons like this. I mean, if you don't know it's from 1961, you know, or if you're just

a kid and somehow, you know, you're watching, you're binge watching this with your, your, your family, it plays and is like new. There's really nothing 1961 about it now that I think about it. I mean, maybe they use telephones that are on wires. Yeah, the police telephone. Police telephone, yeah. That's about it. It's fresh. It has a fresh feel and it's artistically valid, as I like to say, meaning it's just a good looking show. I mean, I can go on and on about all that. I love when they use the old ink line. This is hand-inked, hand-painted. They're using a big thick brush for the outlines because they want to make sure you'll be able

to see it. They wanted to make sure you'll be able to see it with your bad reception on antenna television back in black and white back in 1961. So really, we're really seeing it like we haven't before. And it really completes, I mean, George, you've put out, yeah, you've put out Flintstones and the Jetsons. And so this to me and Johnny Quest, this is, unless I'm forgetting something, this is the completion of the, you know, the prime time set. Yeah, I mean, there are things like New Adventures of Huck Finn, which we only did on DVD, but

we still did new masters for it, albeit for DVD. I'm thinking that early 60s. Yeah, from the early 60s period, this fills a major gap. And Flintstones was done by the mothership. That was not one archive, but Top Cat is most definitely one archive. And we're very proud of how it turned out. And we hope that the fans really enjoy it when they get it at their doorstep. Well, I am hoping that people are, you know, supporting it.

And as we've talked about on the podcast before, George, people need to, if they want more Hannah Barbera, people need to step up, they need to show their support, purchase these, these sets. I don't think this set's going to have any problem doing that, hopefully. But just want to remind people to do that so that we can get more Hanna-Barbera out to the fans. But along those notes, George, can people expect hopefully more Hanna-Barbera in the upcoming 2025? Most definitely.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That's up to George to announce. We've got a lot of surprises up our sleeve. A lot of interesting stuff and beautifully newly restored and with extras and things you haven't seen. That's the cool thing about a Blu-ray is that you can include those extra things to make it even more special. If you like what you saw on the Jetsons, and I also want to just, this is a good time to address the Jetsons. We released the original network series of the Jetsons for the 60s.

There were episodes that were rebooted in the 80s. Right. But they were some, but most were not finished to film. They were finished to videotape and they don't look good, even up converted. And we stayed pure to the original network series. And a lot of people who don't know the history, like where's season two and three? Well, that was a different incarnation and we wanted

to stay pure to that original series and it wouldn't have necessarily benefited from the boost to blue when you're coming from a 35 millimeter color negative you do have the boost and the improvement in quality. Well, there's been a lot of excitement for the fourth volume of the Looney Tunes Collectors Choice Series ever since you announced it, George, back some time earlier this summer. And a lot of speculation. People love to speculate about what cartoons will be included. And I know you're not going to give the full list today, but what can you tell us about the upcoming release? Just let us know a little bit more about it.

Well, everything's on target and we're going to have a November 26th street date. And I'm confident that despite the supply chain and production problems that we've been having, which we're still having, although I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I apologize to all of our loyal customers if they're not getting their discs when they hope to. I'm one of the people that's waiting. Yeah, excuse me both. I'm one of the people that's waiting. We see that problem is going to get better, but I'm confident that Looney Tunes volume four will be ready for November 26th.

And since the fans have been really great in their support for the series and we did want to let people know was the volume 4 was happening and we did and so we're not ready to talk about everything today but I did want to indicate one cartoon that a lot of people have been asking for where the quality has been pretty pathetic in the past and where we did go back to the nitrate original negative, the technicolor successive exposure negatives to be precise and remaster and that is Pack Up Your Troubles directed by Fritz Frilling in 1945 with Sylvester. Yes. So that's a little, you heard it here on the extras first, that is going to be one of the

25 cartoons never before on Blu-ray or DVD. Yeah, sure. And you told me there was going to be more than 25. Because there were... Well, but I talked about 25 that fits what we said is the strategy for Looney Tunes Collector's Choice. Yes. Of cartoons that had never been on DVD or Blu-ray before, or if they were on a DVD, it was not sanctioned by certain people, and they were not remastered cartoons and used as bonuses. So we don't count those. But if it had been remastered for a golden

collection or a platinum collection, that's not what Collector's Choice has been about. If it was on only LaserDisc or VHS or not available at all, that's what it's been about. However, Peck Up Your Troubles is one of those cartoons that needed to be redone and so that's the one that I really wanted to pass along as a taste of what's to come. But we did then the rules a little bit. I keeping ourselves at that twenty five but adding two more cartoons twenty seven cartoon seven yeah technically two of these cartoons have been on dvd before. What is the way that was not pleasing to the animation fan.

And there were some cartoons that came out that, as we do with feature films, they were released on DVD in their theatrical aspect ratio. The fan community didn't like that because it cut off the top and the bottom of what they were used to seeing on television and on VHS. So there is a change in strategy to keep all the animation at 1 through 7 point to 1 aspect ratio open matte. And there are two cartoons Open Mat and there are two cartoons which were previously released with their top and bottom cropped to theatrical aspect ratio that will be included on this collection as bonus cartoons in their open mat form where you see the full aperture frame as originally animated. And those cartoons are from 1955, Stork Naked with Daffy Duck, and from 1960, Lighter than

Hair with Bugs Bunny. So those are the little tidbit hints we can provide today on what will be on Looney Tunes, Collector's Choice buying four. But in a couple of weeks, Tim, if you'll have us, Jerry and I would love to come back to the extras and talk about the whole release and all 25 cartoons and the two bonuses and everything in between. Well, the obvious answer, yes, yes, yes.

Anytime you guys want to come, I'll drop everything and fit you in the schedule for sure, for sure. And I'm loving these three previous volumes. I think everybody else is loving them as well. I was curious, I don't know if we talked about this, George, but what was kind of the, you know, two and three kind of came out back to back and then there's been this longer delay before four. Well, what was the reason for that? Well, we needed to see if the sales of volume three would be profitable and it took a little

longer for volume three to be profitable than volumes one and two, but once we hit that point where management knew we were gonna be able to deliver profitability with the volume four, we got the green light to go forward. That was the delay. So the takeaway is if you love this stuff, you help us bring you more by buying at street date when things come out, because that speeds up the process of more and more and more.

Yeah, and I think that's true with all of these releases that the One Art House does. I mean, they're not the huge mass market ones that are coming from the mothership, as you say, and so there needs to be the support from the get-go. If people just sit around and wait and wait and wait, you know, yes, I understand. And, you know, it can be tough times for some people, but if you're a fan of it and you know, you're going to get it, don't wait, get that pre-order in. And usually get that pre-order guarantee on a lot of the sites. And that'll, you know, that'll give you the ammunition, George and Jerry,

to go back to the studio, get in the vaults and get all of these classic films out to the fans because there's so much more there. Also, I still hear from people all the time who didn't buy something when it came out, when we were urging people to get it. And then that particular thing, that may not be the case here, goes out of print.

And then they decide a year later, they're gonna get it. And now the price is triple what it was originally. And then they get it and they look at it. And I get so many people writing to me, Porky 101 is one of those things, but there's others where people will write to me and go, what was all the controversy about this? Because this is fantastic.

People raving about a lot of our releases because they foolishly are listening to people online with negative opinions. I stand behind everything George has put out, the Warner Archive collection with cartoons. This is really outstanding for collectors and there is no hesitation. No one should have hesitation about buying any of these things. It does help us to convince the powers that be to keep going if one orders them. We want to keep doing this. Once you buy the disc, you own it.

It's on your shelf. That's why physical media is so important. Yeah. Because things can come and go and suddenly they're gone, but if it's on your shelf, and especially with Blu-rays, which are very durable, you've got the knowledge that your collection is safe. As long as you keep it properly cooled

and don't let it bake in the back of your car, I think you're going to be fine. And we're really delighted to be able to do more of this as there continues to be support from fans, which we so deeply appreciate. Stig Brodersen And I was just doing a little bit of math, George. 27 on the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Vime 4. I suppose the retail is around $24. So we're talking less than... No, $21.98 list price.

Yeah, I mean, it's less than a dollar for a film, many of which have never seen the light of day in this quality. Less than a dollar a cartoon. It's amazing. And you get such great value on these. And I also want to mention, since we talked about the 27 cartoons, these are on a BD-50 and the bit rate,

which is really important to me, to have a healthy bit rate and lossless audio, a lot of things that were missing from other iterations of animation years earlier these will be at a bitrate of around 28 29 30 which is a very healthy bitrate and they're gonna look fantastic and the content it's almost three hours on the disc. Wow. Yeah. Fantastic. Well, as always, George, Jerry, the time flies when you guys come on talking animation, talking Hanna-Barbera, talking Looney Tunes. And it's great fun to hear all of

your knowledge and everything that you guys have to say about these releases. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tim. For those who would like more information about Top Cat, the complete series Blu-ray release, and the upcoming Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 4 release, be sure to check out our podcast Facebook page and our Warner Archive Facebook group. You can find the links to those and all of our social media sites in the podcast show notes. Facebook is also the best place to get the pre-order link for volume four when it becomes available. If you aren't yet subscribed or following the show at your

favorite podcast provider, you may want to do that so that you don't miss anything that we have coming up, including our future episodes with George and Jerry to talk about the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Vine 4. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed. The Extras is a production of Otaku Media, producers of podcasts, behind the scenes extras, and media that connects creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals at www.otakumedia.tv

or look for the link in the show notes.