Samurai Pizza Cats facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Samurai Pizza Cats |
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Cover art of the Discotek SPC DVD box set
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| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Kunitoshi Okajima |
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| Produced by | Andy Thomas (producer) Winston Richard (executive producer) |
| Music by |
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| Studio | Tatsunoko Productions |
| Licensed by | |
| English network | |
| Original run | February 1, 1990 – February 12, 1991 |
| Episodes | 52 |
Samurai Pizza Cats is a fun animated TV show. It's an American version of a Japanese anime series called Kyatto Ninden Teyandee. The show was made by Tatsunoko Productions and Sotsu Agency.
The original Japanese show aired from 1990 to 1991 with 54 episodes. Later, a company called Saban Entertainment got the rights to show it in North America. They created a new English version with 52 episodes.
When Saban made the English version, they didn't have good translations of the Japanese episodes. So, they decided to write completely new jokes and dialogue. This made the English show very silly and funny, like a cartoon called Animaniacs. Because of its fast-paced jokes and pop culture references, the English version became very popular with anime fans.
Saban's rights to the show ended in 2000. Now, Discotek Media handles the home video releases in North America. Madman Entertainment has the rights for Australia and New Zealand. You can also watch the show online! Crunchyroll started streaming it in 2015. It also became available on Amazon Prime in 2018, Tubi in 2020, and Peacock in 2021.
Contents
Story of the Samurai Pizza Cats
The show takes place in a city called Little Tokyo. It's a mechanical city that mixes old Japanese traditions with modern technology. The city is full of animal-like robots.
Emperor Fred, who is a bit clumsy, is the leader of Little Tokyo. But the real power is held by the city council and the Emperor's daughter, Princess Violet. The head of the council is a rat named Prime Minister Seymour "The Big" Cheese. He is always trying to take over the city. Big Cheese gets help from his not-so-smart helpers: Jerry Atric and Bad Bird. Bad Bird leads an army of ninja crows.
What Big Cheese doesn't know is that "Big Al" Dente, a member of the council and head of the palace guards, knows about his plans. But Al Dente can't prove Big Cheese is a traitor. So, he secretly hires three special heroes.
These heroes are Speedy Cerviche, Polly Esther, and Guido Anchovy. They are cyborg cat samurai who work at a pizza place in the city. Their boss, Francine, helps them with their missions. Together, they are known as the Samurai Pizza Cats! Their job is to stop Big Cheese and his evil plans to take over Little Tokyo.
Characters
How the Show Was Made
When Saban Entertainment got the rights to Kyatto Ninden Teyandee, they translated 52 of the 54 Japanese episodes into English. The two episodes they didn't translate were "clip shows." These shows just reused old scenes and didn't add to the story. Some of the English episodes were never shown in the United States because of rules about what could be on TV.
The music for the English show was new. It was made by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (who was called Kussa Mahchi). The new theme song was very silly, just like the show. It had many jokes and references to American pop culture.
Michael Airington, one of the writers for the show, sang the theme song. He used a voice that sounded a lot like the actor Paul Lynde. He was credited as "Singing Sensation: Googie Gomez".
Where It Was Shown
The English version of Samurai Pizza Cats first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV in August 1991. It was repeated there until 1995. In Canada, the show started in 1992 on YTV. In the United States, it began airing in 1996. Australians could watch it on the Seven Network in 1992.
Where to Watch It Now
Samurai Pizza Cats has been shown in many countries around the world since 1991. These include Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and many more!
Madman Entertainment released the show on DVD in Australia. They first released it in two parts in 2013. Collection 1 had episodes 1-26, and Collection 2 had episodes 27-52. Later, a full box set with all the episodes came out in 2016.
Discotek Media Releases
In 2012, Discotek Media announced they would release the show. They offered both the original Japanese version and the English version by Saban. The Japanese version, called Kyatto-Ninden Teyandee: Complete Uncut Japanese Language Collection, came out on DVD in April 2013. It included all 54 original episodes. The English version, Samurai Pizza Cats: Complete English Language TV Series Collection, came out in July 2013. It had all 52 English episodes.
A French version of the show was also released on DVD in France in 2004. It was called Samouraï Pizza Cats.
A Blu-ray version, Samurai Pizza Cats: The Complete Collection, was released in January 2016. This single disc had every episode in standard definition.
Toys and Games
Many toys and model kits were made for Samurai Pizza Cats in Japan and Europe. These included action figures of the Samurai Pizza Cats and their Rescue Team friends. There were also rubber figures and playsets, like the Great Catatonic and the pizza parlor.
Video Games
In 1991, a company called Tecmo made a video game based on Kyatto Ninden Teyandee. It was a platform game for the Famicom (NES) in Japan. The game was never officially released in other countries. However, fans made their own English version that changed names to match the Samurai Pizza Cats show.
The main characters were almost in a fighting game for the Wii called Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. The game's producer said that many people asked for Samurai Pizza Cats characters. But they couldn't agree to include them.
There's also a fan-made version of the Sega game Streets of Rage 2. In this version, Speedy, the leader of the Samurai Pizza Cats, can be played as a character.
American Comics
Samurai Pizza Cats also appeared in comic books! They were backup stories in a comic series called Saban Powerhouse. This comic was published by Valiant/Acclaim and had two issues in 1997.
See also
In Spanish: Kyatto Ninden Teyandee para niños
