The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty |
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Title card
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| Genre | Animation Live action |
| Created by | Lorna Smith |
| Directed by | Don Christensen Rudy Larriva |
| Voices of | Howard Morris Jane Webb Allan Melvin |
| Theme music composer | Yvette Blais Jeff Michael |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lou Scheimer Norm Prescott |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Filmation |
| Distributor | United American Video \NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 6 – November 29, 1975 |
The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty (later called The New Adventures of Waldo Kitty) was a fun American TV show from 1975. It mixed cartoons with real-life scenes. The show was made by Filmation and aired on NBC for one season. Howard Morris, Jane Webb, and Allan Melvin were the voices behind the main characters.
The series is all about a cat named Waldo who loves to daydream. In his dreams, he's a brave superhero who always beats the bad guy, a bulldog named Tyrone. The show was inspired by a short story called "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Because of this, the show's creators were sued. This led to the show being renamed The New Adventures of Waldo Kitty for later airings.
The show was produced by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott. It was directed by Don Christensen and Rudy Larriva. People liked the show's creative stories and how it made fun of popular culture. However, producer Lou Scheimer wasn't happy with how the show turned out. He mentioned problems during filming and the small number of episodes. There were only 13 episodes in total.
What is The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty About?
The show's idea came from a character named Walter Mitty. He was the main character in a 1939 short story by James Thurber. Each episode started with real-life scenes of Waldo and his girlfriend, Felicia. They were often being bothered by Tyrone. Then, Waldo would start daydreaming. In his dreams, he became a superhero who saved the day. The show included a lot of satire, which means it made fun of things in a clever way. It was inspired by shows like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Mad magazine.
Meet the Characters
The series features three main characters:
- Waldo: Voiced by Howard Morris, Waldo is a "fraidy cat" in real life. But in his imagination, he's a brave superhero! He pretends to be different heroes like Robin Cat, Catman, and Catzan.
- Felicia: Voiced by Jane Webb, Felicia is Waldo's girlfriend. She's also his loyal friend. In Waldo's cartoon daydreams, Tyrone often captures or kidnaps her. But Waldo always comes to her rescue!
- Tyrone: Voiced by Allan Melvin, Tyrone is an evil English bulldog. He's the bully of the show. He picks on Waldo and Felicia in both the real-life and cartoon parts of the show. The producer, Lou Scheimer, chose Allan Melvin because he had a "hoarse and very deep voice."
Episode Guide
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
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| 1 | "Cat Man" | September 6, 1975 | |
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Daydreaming as Catman, Waldo learns that Tyrone is holding Felicia captive in a cage in an abandoned barn. Despite being under the watch of Tyrone's friends, Catman tries different methods to come to Felicia's rescue and save her.
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| 2 | "Catzan of the Apes" | September 13, 1975 | |
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Catzan, a protector of the jungle he resides in, learns that Tyrone plans to reutilize space in the jungle to make way for construction. So Tyrone chases Catzan down in hopes that his plan will go through as planned without any interference.
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| 3 | "The Lone Kitty" | September 20, 1975 | |
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A cowboy-version of Tyrone and his crew begin terrorizing the inhabitants of a small rural, desert town with their horses, so the Lone Kitty promises to save the town and lock up Tyrone and his friends for good.
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| 4 | "Robin Cat" | September 27, 1975 | |
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A hungry pig king, who is the ruler of a kingdom, sends Tyrone on a mission to catch the infamous Robin Cat, who has been stealing food and wealth from the queen and distributing it to the poor. Tyrone and his gang vows to track down him and return the food and her goods to her.
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| 5 | "Cat Trek" | October 4, 1975 | |
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In a parody of Star Trek, Waldo and his friends aboard a spaceship which is actively being watched and followed by a spaceship named Tyronious. Tyrone, the leader of this spaceship, threatens Waldo to give up his own ship or face the consequences, but all of Tyrone's attempts to gain his hovercraft are unsuccessful.
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| 6 | "Cat Man Meets the Poochquin" | October 11, 1975 | |
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Tyrone a.k.a. the Poochquin locks Felicia up in a prison, hoping to gain the attention of her uncle, their town's mayor. Catman and his friend Sparrow, a yellow sparrow bird, travel around the city in search of Felicia; the major, impatiently waiting for his niece's return, also becomes locked up in a trap set by Tyrone.
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| 7 | "Catzan or Not Catzan" | October 18, 1975 | |
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While adventuring in the jungle with Sparrow, Catzan comes across Tyrone who has returned to hunt the various species of animals that live there; in order to save the other animals, Catzan cleverly leads Tyrone's gang out of the jungle without them even knowing it.
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| 8 | "The Lone Kitty Rides Again" | October 25, 1975 | |
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The Lone Kitty returns to save Felicia, who was recently captured by Tyrone while wandering in the desert. With his trusty horse Sterling and a rabbit named Pronto, he visits an old jailhouse to save Felicia and lock up Tyrone for good.
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| 9 | "Sheriff of Sherwood" | November 1, 1975 | |
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Awarded as "Sheriff of the Day", Robin Cat patrols Sherwood and finds out that Tyrone is scheming a way to mess with his special award; he decides to stop his plans before anything serious occurs.
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| 10 | "Cat Man Meets the Puzzler" | November 8, 1975 | |
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Tyrone, who has become the super-villain known as the Puzzler, kidnaps Felicia and holds her in his underground lair, so Catman must step in and save the day.
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| 11 | "Dr. Livingstone, I Perfume?" | November 15, 1975 | |
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Tyrone, who overheard about the powerful Dr. Livingstone, is wanting to track him down so he can obtain his secret oil, which is capable of producing large quantities of an expensive perfume. Catzan, on the other hand, vows to stop Tyrone before any harm is done.
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| 12 | "Ping or Pongo" | November 22, 1975 | |
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While traveling throughout the Solar System, Waldo learns that Tyrone is, once again, searching for his spaceship. Tyrone hopes to scare Waldo away by using a hologram to produce an artificial version of him, so Waldo (as Captain Herc) similarly creates an android version of himself which is used to frighten Tyrone and his crew.
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| 13 | "Chaw the Bullet" | November 29, 1975 | |
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The Lone Kitty and his rabbit companion Pronto must work together to stop Tombstone Tyrone and his henchdogs from taking over a settlement of land in the Old West.
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