Herman and Katnip: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Famous Studios. theatrical cartoon characters}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Herman and Katnip

| image = Hermanandkatnip.jpg

| caption = Title card

| starring = [[Arnold Stang]]<br>[[Sid Raymond]]<br>[[Allen Swift]]

| studio = [[Famous Studios]]

| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]

| released = FebruaryNovember 1810, 19441950 –<br>October 30, 1959

| runtime = 6 minutes

| country = United States

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}}

[[File:Mice-Capades_1952.ogg|thumb|''Mice-Capades'', the first episode in the series.]]

'''''Herman and Katnip''''' is a series of theatrical [[cartoons]] featuring Herman the Mouse and Katnip the Cat, produced by [[Famous Studios]] in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/90/mode/2up |pages=91–92}}</ref> [[Arnold Stang]] and [[Allen Swift]] were the regular voices of Herman,<ref name="Herman voice">{{cite web|title=Famous Studios 1954-55|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/famous-studios-1954-55/|website=cartoonresearch.com|access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> while [[Sid Raymond]] was the regular actor for Katnip, although one or both of the characters would occasionally be voiced by [[Jackson Beck]] and [[Jack Mercer]], respectively.

==History==

From 1944 to September 1950, Herman, voiced by [[Arnold Stang]] and [[Allen Swift]],<ref name="Herman voice"/> (occasionally by [[Jackson Beck]]) was a solo star of theatrical animation shorts produced by [[Famous Studios]] and distributed by [[Paramount Pictures]]. Katnip, voiced by [[Sid Raymond]] (occasionally by [[Jack Mercer]]), made his first appearance in November 1950 with "Mice Meeting You".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crump |first1=William D. |title=Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476672939 |page=191}}</ref> The two characters continued to star in animated cartoons until 1959.

In 1958, they and the other original Famous Studios characters were purchased by [[comic-book]] publisher [[Harvey Comics]], which continued to promote the characters under the name [[Harvey Films|Harveytoons]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Becattini |first1=Alberto |title=American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume Two |date=2019 |publisher=Theme Park Press |isbn=978-1683902218 |chapter=From Famous to Harvey}}</ref> The 1944 to 1950 Herman and the 1947 to 1950 pre-Katnip cartoons (originally released as part of the [[Noveltoons]] series) were sold by Paramount in 1955 to [[U.M. & M. TV Corporation]] for television distribution.<ref name="toonopedia-herman">[http://www.toonopedia.com/katnip.htm Herman and Katnip] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://wwwarchive.webcitation.orgtoday/20150412034852/6XizWyzor?url=http://toonopedia.com/katnip.htm Archived] from the original on April 11, 2015.</ref>

==Filmography==

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Animation historian [[Leonard Maltin]] described the ''Herman and Katnip'' series as a prime stereotype of the "violent cat versus mouse" battles that were commonplace among Hollywood cartoons of the 1920s through the 1960s.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} The violence in this series, while intended for comedic effect, often reached a level of brutality that surpassed both ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'', ''[[Mighty Mouse]]'', and [[Warner Bros.]]' [[Sylvester the Cat]].{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

All of Herman's battles with Katnip ended with Herman victorious. Only two cartoons, "''You Said a Mouseful''" and "''Katnip's Big Day''", had Katnip sharing in Herman's victory. Frequently Herman and his mouse companions would sing a victory song as they observed Katnip being brutally tortured; e.g. being eaten by sharks, killed in a rockslide while mountain climbing, strung up with Christmas lights and plugged into an electric socket, getting electrocuted by a "shock tester" machine, then flattened by it; or even dying and his ghost being warned about "the fiery furnace" in "Of Mice and Menace". It had been originally intended that Herman and Katnip would make a cameo appearance in the film ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' in the scene called "Acme's Funeral", but the scene was cut out of the film.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Jim |title=Storyboards reveal what Marvin Acme's funeral in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" would have looked like |url=http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2014/05/08/storyboards-reveal-what-marvin-acme-s-funeral-in-quot-who-framed-roger-rabbit-quot-would-have-looked-like.aspx |website=jimhillmedia.com |date=8 May 2014 |language=en}}</ref> Katnip later appeared in the episode "Self Help Huey" of the animated series ''[[The Baby Huey Show]]'' as a cat redeemed by his persecutions of the past and tries to teach a Fox to follow the same path with [[Baby Huey]].

''[[The Simpsons]]'' writer/producer [[Mike Reiss]] insists that ''[[The Itchy & Scratchy Show]]'' is based on ''Herman and Katnip'', which he calls a "cheap, ultra-violent knockoff" of ''Tom and Jerry''.<ref name="sprcon">{{cite book |last1=Reiss |first1=Mike |last2=Klickstein |first2=Mathew |title=Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons |date=2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |isbn=978-0062748034 |page=102|___location=New York City}}</ref> Director [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]] supports this, stating ''Herman and Katnip'' "is hilarious because it's just bad".<ref name="silverman">{{cite web|url=http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp |title=The David Silverman Interview |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |access-date=2008-12-02 |year=2004 |author=Heintjes, Tom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023004901/http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp |archive-date=2008-10-23 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Supporting characters==

=== Henry ===

Prior to his pairing with Katnip, Herman teamed up in several cartoons with the henpecked [[Chicken|rooster]] Henry. Henry's nemesis is his domineering wife, Bertha (a.k.a. Chicken Pie), who makes him do all the work around the house. Bertha is deathly afraid of mice, however: always "bawking" in shock every time Herman scares her. With Herman's help, Henry tries to manipulate Bertha into treating him more fairly. The title cards for the team-up shorts read "Featuring Herman and Henry"; the first such short was ''Henpecked Rooster'' (1944), and the last ''Sudden Fried Chicken'' (1946).

Under the new name Hector, the rooster was featured in Dell Publishing's ''Animal Comics'' #7-17 (1944–1945), with Herman as ongoing co-star, and artist [[Walt Kelly]] (''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]'') drawing several of the later stories.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} In ''Sudden Fried Chicken'', the cartoons also adopted the name Hector, though the "Featuring Herman and Henry" title card remained unchanged for unknown reasons.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

=== Herman’s cousins, nephews ===

Herman the mouse had several identical cousins who appeared in various shorts. These cousins include Reuben, Dubin, and Louie, three grey mice with red shorts. In addition to these, other unnamed mice also appear as Herman's cousins and relatives in earlier shorts. In every plot of the shorts, the mice are shown as victims, trying relaxing in a place, steal food, etc, when their usual nemesis Katnip shows up with intent of making certain that no mouse in the area enjoys anything, only when Herman arrives with the intent of violence against the cat, to protect his cousins. They also frequently appeared in [[Harvey Comics]]’ Herman and Katnip comic books in the 1950s to the 1970s.

Herman also had three nephews introduced in ''Of Mice and Menace'' (1954). In the shorts he takes his nephews to place like a penny arcade, a circus or a museum unaware that Katnip is on patrol. They only appeared in 3 cartoons together. One of the nephews, Murgatroyd made his final appearance in the ''Cat in the Act'' (1957).

=== Spike ===

Spike is a muscular grey cat voiced by [[Jackson Beck]] who first appeared in ''A Bicep Built for Two'' (1955), another nemesis of Katnip. In the short Katnip's serenading of a girl cat is interrupted by Spike that runs him off and takes over. The love-lorn Katnip is determined to best Spike and enlists the aid of Herman.

Spike would make another appearance in the final short ''Katnip’s Big Day'' (1959).

===[[Buzzy the Crow|Buzzy]]===

Katnip also had his share of running battles with Buzzy, a singing black [[crow]] in a flat straw hat, who spoke in stereotypical "black dialect" and per historian [[Don Markstein]] was "a take-off on the gravely voice of [[character actor]] [[Eddie Anderson (comedian)|Eddie Anderson]], who played Rochester on [[Jack Benny]]'s show, with [[Sid Raymond|<nowiki>[Sid]</nowiki> Raymond]] (Baby Huey) as Katnip, sounding like Benny himself".<ref name="toonopedia-buzzy">[http://toonopedia.com/buzzycro.htm Buzzy the Crow] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://wwwarchive.webcitation.orgtoday/20150405221724/6XZWqzrwp?url=http://toonopedia.com/buzzycro.htm Archived] from the original on April 5, 2015.</ref> Katnip's battle with Buzzy was usually based on Katnip trying to kick an ailment. He would read a rhyming verse from a medical book that suggested crow meat as the sure cure. Once confronted by Katnip, however, Buzzy would propose another solution in an attempt to save his own skin, to which the cat usually replied, "Hmmmm, that sounds logical", but these solutions usually "failed" at the expense of Katnip, who would finally lose his patience and say, "This time, I'm doing what the book says!" This would result in a chase between the two characters—with Buzzy making occasional puns at Katnip's expense along the way—and end with Buzzy victorious and Katnip nowhere near the road to recovery.

Buzzy the Crow was introduced in the 1946<ref>{{cite book |title=That's enough, folks: Black images in animated cartoons, 1900-1960 |url=https://archive.org/details/thatsenoughfolks0000samp/page/72 |url-access=registration |author-link=Henry T. Sampson |last=Sampson |first=Henry T. |page=[https://archive.org/details/thatsenoughfolks0000samp/page/72 72 ''ff''] |year=1998 |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-3250-3}}</ref> [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] cartoon, produced by [[Famous Studios]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons And Blacklisted Animators in America |last=Cohen |first=Karl F. |page=58 |year=2004 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-2032-2}}</ref> ''[[The Stupidstitious Cat]]''. Buzzy's mannerisms and voice were based on what are now considered the offensive stereotypes of African-Americans of the time. [[Jackson Beck]] voiced Buzzy.

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Buzzy also frequently appeared in [[Harvey Films|Harvey Comics]]' ''[[Baby Huey]]'' comic books in the 1960s and 1970s, in a rivalry with a cat resembling Katnip but of a different color. Sometimes, this cat was named Katsy Cat.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.all-antique-books.com/book-43000-BUZZY-CROW-KATSY-CAT-1963-Wonder-Books-HARVEY-CARTOON |title=BUZZY CROW & KATSY CAT 1963 Wonder Books HARVEY CARTOON - All antique Books |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117234851/http://www.all-antique-books.com/book-43000-BUZZY-CROW-KATSY-CAT-1963-Wonder-Books-HARVEY-CARTOON |archive-date=2015-01-17 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Kitnip ===

Kitnip is a kitten voiced by [[Mae Questel]] and Katnip’s nephew, he made his first appearance in ''Felineous Assault'' (1959), where Katnip is trying to teach him the facts of feline life, especially the art of catching mice.

Kitnip would appear in various [[Baby Huey|''Baby Huey'']] comic books from the 1960s, illustrated by [[Martin Taras|Marty Taras]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Finny ===

Katnip once had a short lived rivalry with Finny a small yellow [[goldfish]] whose vocal effects were provided by [[Jack Mercer]]. Finny was introduced in the 1952 [[Noveltoons|Noveltoon]], [[Noveltoons|''Feast and Furious'']]. Katnip is determined to make a meal out of Finny the Goldfish, when spied by the cat through the window. Katnip has various plans to catch the fish but fails. He then tries to roast him by focusing the sun's rays through a magnifying glass. Finny jumps into a bottle of [[Cooking Wine|cooking wine]]. Katnip tries to drink him out, and they both end up being intoxicated.

Finny would make appearances and cameos in other shorts like the 1952 Noveltoon, ''As the Crow Lies'' and the 1953 Herman and Katnip short, ''Of Mice and Magic.''

==Video==

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[[Category:Animated duos]]

[[Category:Fictional mice and rats|Herman]]

[[Category:Anthropomorphic mice and rats|Herman]]

[[Category:Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation]]

[[Category:Fiction about rivalry]]

[[Category:Animated films about talking animals]]

[[Category:DreamWorks Classics]]

[[Category:Male characters in animation]]

[[Category:DreamWorks Classics franchises]]

[[Category:Universal Pictures cartoons and characters]]

[[Category:Film characters introduced in 1950]]

[[Category:Fictional cats]]

[[Category:Anthropomorphic cats|Katnip]]

[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1950]]

[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1944]]

[[Category:1958 comics debuts]]

[[Category:Humor comics]]

[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic cats]]

[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic mice and rats]]

[[Category:Comics about talking animals]]

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