Friday, January 30, 2009

Saturday morning cartoons: Motor Mouse and AutoCat.


(link)
Via: Toonopedia

"MGM's Tom & Jerry series was one of the biggest hits in the history of animated cartoons. Also one of the most frequently imitated — once the simple formula was established, it was no great feat for Famous Studios to put Herman & Katnip out on the market, and for Terrytoons to respond with Little Roquefort. In fact, the most prolific imitator was the Hanna-Barbera Studio itself, after the creators had struck out on their own. They did variants such as twin mice or placing the antagonists in a hillbilly setting, but basic the cat-versus-mouse framework was one of the staples they repeatedly used.


In Motormouse & Autocat, the variant was to place add car race competition, such as had been seen in Jay Ward's Tom Slick, the Japanese import Speed Racer or their own Wacky Races, to the mix. It debuted on September 6, 1969, as one of the back segments to Cattanooga Cats show. Sixteen episodes appeared as part of that show. The following year, the hour-long show was split into two half-hours, and this segment shared one of them with another of the Cattanooga back segments, It's the Wolf. This version began September 12, 1970."




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