Top Cat (also known for a while as Boss Cat in the United Kingdom) was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon which premiered in 1961 and ran for 30 episodes.
The show remains one of the studio's most enduring creations.
Its central character, Top Cat - his friends call him TC - is the leader of a gang of Manhattan alley cats: Fancy Fancy, Spook, Benny, Brain, and Choo Choo. There are distinct resemblances to the popular US sit-com The Phil Silvers Show (on which the cartoon is said to be loosely based) in the relationships between the characters.
A frequent plotline revolved around the local patrolman, Officer Dibble, and his ineffective attempts to evict the gang.
In the United Kingdom, the show was renamed Boss Cat when it was first aired on BBC1 because Top Cat was the name of a brand of cat food.
Voice artists
- Top Cat: Arnold Stang
- Benny the Ball: Maurice Grossfeld
- Choo Choo: Marv Kaplan
- Fancy Fancy: John Stephenson
- Spook: Leo De Lyon
- Brain: Leo De Lyon
- Officer Dibble: Allen Jenkins
Lyrics to opening theme
- Top Cat
- The most effectual
- Top Cat
- [Who's or Whose] intellectual
- Close friends get to
- Call him TC
- Providing it's
- With dignity
- Top Cat
- The indisputable
- Leader of the gang
- He's the boss, he's a VIP
- He's a championship
- He's the most tip top
- Top Cat
- Yes, he's the chief, he's the king
- But above everything
- He's the most tip top
- Top Cat
See also: Cartoon Tunes Songbook