Fraidy Cat (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Fraidy Cat is a 1975 comical children's cartoon show that originally appeared as a segment on Filmation
's short-lived ABC
series Uncle Croc's Block
.
), an unlucky and miserable cat
who like all cats has nine lives, but has used up eight of them and is on his ninth and last life. The main joke of the series is that as if Fraidy's life wasn't miserable enough, every time Fraidy inadvertently or accidentally says any single-digit number (from one to eight) or any word that sounds like the number, a ghost
from one of his former lives will appear and tend to make things even worse for the hopeless cat.
The ghosts are:
Each short begins with all 8 ghosts appearing around Fraidy, who talks about his life: "Every kitty has nine lives. But eight of mine went fast. Now there's only one life left, and I want to make it last!" The nine cloud appears and he starts running. Then the nine cloud morphs into "Fraidy Cat", whose name can be heard at the end of the intro.
as part of the Groovie Goolies and Friends
series.
as part of a double bill with Waldo Kitty
; however, chances of its release is unknown, as the company has since ceased operations. Some Fraidy Cat episodes were released by BCI on a compilation DVD called Frightfully Funny: Volume Two, which also included episodes of Groovie Goolies
and Filmation's Ghostbusters.
In 2008, all nine episodes were released as part of Mill Creek Entertainment
's compilation, 200 Classical Cartoons.
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
's short-lived ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series Uncle Croc's Block
Uncle Croc's Block
Uncle Croc's Block was a short-lived, hour-long live-action/animated series on ABC, produced by Filmation Associates.-History:A spoof of kid shows, Charles Nelson Reilly played the titular Uncle Croc, who hated his job as the show's host. Also featured were Alfie Wise as his sidekick Mr...
.
Plot
It stars Fraidy Cat (voiced by Alan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
), an unlucky and miserable cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
who like all cats has nine lives, but has used up eight of them and is on his ninth and last life. The main joke of the series is that as if Fraidy's life wasn't miserable enough, every time Fraidy inadvertently or accidentally says any single-digit number (from one to eight) or any word that sounds like the number, a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
from one of his former lives will appear and tend to make things even worse for the hopeless cat.
The ghosts are:
- Cave Cat: A prehistoric Saber-Toothed TigerSmilodonSmilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...
with his huge pet ApatosaurusApatosaurusApatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
named Ann. - Kitty Wizard (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): A befuddled magicianMagician (fantasy)A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
whose wand was often on the wrong setting. - Captain Kitt (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): A PiratePiracyPiracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
who is the self-proclaimed "buccaneer's buccaneer". - Sir Walter Cat (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): A foppish ElizabethanElizabethan eraThe Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
noblemanNobilityNobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
who is also an expert swordsmanSwordsmanshipSwordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...
. - Billy the Kit (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): A western cowboyCowboyA cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
. He is a small guy with big ("Yee-haw!") voice. - Jasper Catdaver (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): An undertakerFuneral directorA funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...
who actually prefers to expedite Fraidy's passing to "The Other Side" though not out of spite. - Captain Eddie Cattenbakker (voiced by Lennie WeinribLennie WeinribLennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
): A pilotAviatorAn aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
who is a very erratic flier. - Hep Cat: A zoot-suitedZoot suitA zoot suit is a suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing was popularized by African Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Italian Americans during the late 1930s and the 1940s...
, jive-talking street cat. - Cloud Nine: As saying a number from one to eight gets Fraidy a ghost, as if to fill the void towards his last life, saying "nine" calls forth an ominous, malevolent storm cloud (shaped like a number nine) which immediately gives chase after Fraidy, attempting to blast him with bolts of lightningLightningLightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
until Fraidy manages to either outrun the cloud, or its (supposedly) limited time it can stay expires.
Each short begins with all 8 ghosts appearing around Fraidy, who talks about his life: "Every kitty has nine lives. But eight of mine went fast. Now there's only one life left, and I want to make it last!" The nine cloud appears and he starts running. Then the nine cloud morphs into "Fraidy Cat", whose name can be heard at the end of the intro.
Episode list
| № | Title | Original airdate | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Choo-Choo Fraidy" | 1975 November 8 | |
| 2 | "Magic Numbers" | 1975 November 15 | |
| 3 | "A Small Star Is Born" | 1975 November 22 | |
| 4 | "Fraidy Gone Fishing" | 1975 November 29 | |
| 5 | "Fraidy Come Home" | 1975 December 6 | |
| 6 | "Double Trouble" | 1975 December 13 | |
| 7 | "Unlucky Fraidy" | 1975 December 20 | |
| 8 | "This Cat for Hire" | 1975 December 27 | |
| 9 | "Culture Schlock" | 1976 January 3 |
Production
One of the few original series (outside of an adaptation) to be produced by Filmation; Fraidy was later syndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
as part of the Groovie Goolies and Friends
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...
series.
DVD release
A DVD has been planned by BCINavarre Corporation
Navarre Corp. is a public distribution and publishing company founded in 1983 by Eric H. Paulson. The company is headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota...
as part of a double bill with Waldo Kitty
The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty
The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty was a children's television show alternating animation and live footage segments. It took the concept of James Thurber's popular short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and parodied it with anthropomorphised dogs and cats.-Plot:Waldo Kitty and his girlfriend...
; however, chances of its release is unknown, as the company has since ceased operations. Some Fraidy Cat episodes were released by BCI on a compilation DVD called Frightfully Funny: Volume Two, which also included episodes of Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...
and Filmation's Ghostbusters.
In 2008, all nine episodes were released as part of Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
's compilation, 200 Classical Cartoons.