Herman and Katnip: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:18, 22 September 2024

Revision as of 22:19, 22 September 2024

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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>{{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.

Due to the series' premise of a cunning and mischevious mouse outsmarting a bumbling tomcat, it has been accused by many of being a [[knock off]] of [[MGM]]'s ''[[Tom and Jerry]]''.

==History==

From February 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]], Herman was later paired with an unnamed black cat in October 1947 with "Naughty But Mice" the black cat would evolve into. Katnip, voiced by [[Sid Raymond]] (occasionally by [[Jack Mercer]]) who, made his first official 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://archive.today/20150412034852/http://toonopedia.com/katnip.htm Archived] from the original on April 11, 2015.</ref>

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==Video==

[[File:Seymour Kneitel - Herman and Katnip - Bicep Built for Two, A (1955) (Harvey Films print).jpg|thumb|Titlecard for ''A Bicep Built for Two'' (1955)]]

All "Herman and Katnip" and some Herman solo shorts have been released on [[public ___domain]] [[VHS|videocassette]]s and [[DVD]]s. Some prints have the [[U.M. & M. TV Corporation|U.M. & M.]] or [[National Telefilm Associates|NTA]] logo at the start and end, masking the old [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] title, but the [[UCLA Film and Television Archive]] restored these shorts to their original Paramount titles.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}