Heathcliff

Heathcliff - September 1984 to May 1987

Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats was a popular cartoon loved by many. Heathcliff was a big orange striped cat who went around his neighborhood playing practical jokes on a lot of people. He tormented his owner, Grandpa, but was friendly to Grandma, and Iggy Nutmeg. When he wasn't stealing fish from the fish market, he was out on a romantic evening with his girlfriend Sonja, or outsmarting the neighbor's bulldog Spike.

Heathcliff got his start as a comic strip in the newspaper. He was created by George Gately and the strip continues to this day. Check out the links section to see where you can read the Heathcliff comic strip online.

Even though Heathcliff has been in a few different Saturday morning cartoons, this page focuses on the Monday through Friday syndicated cartoon from 1984 by DiC Entertainment. Each half hour show consists of two 11 minute episodes, and a minute long "pet tips" segment at the end of the show. The first episode stars Heathcliff and the second episode was Cats and Co. about a gang of cats named the Catillac Cats. Although both episodes take place in the town of Westfinster, Heathcliff and family never appeared in the Cats and Co. episodes, and Riff Raff and Cleo never appeared in a Heathcliff episode.

The Catillac Cats starred Riff Raff, a short cat who had a tall girlfriend named Cleo, and a Cadillac car that could change into anything. Riff Raff's friends included Hector, a Himalayan cat who felt that he should be the boss of the gang, not Riff Raff. Wordsworth was a white cat who wore headphone and rollar skates and usually spoke in rhyme, and Mungo, a big dumb purple cat. A dog lived in the junkyard named Leroy, who felt the cats shouldn't live in the junkyard, and was often trying to chase them out. Cleo lived in a music store with a hairy sheepdog named Bush.

Trap Door

Trap Door - January 1984 to December 1984

Somewhere in the dark and nasty regions where nobody goes, stands an ancient castle. Deep within this dank and uninviting place lives Berk, overworked servant of the thing upstairs. But that's nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath The Trap Door. For there is always something down there, in the dark, waiting to come out. The 80's claymation sensation The Trap Door was a rare 5 minute treat. It starred Berk, Boni the skull, and Drutt, the seldom-useful spiderlike pet of 'Im Upstairs. They all lived in a spooky castle in which lay the Trap Door, which led to an unknown place filled with all kinds of strange and surreal creatures.

In a typical episode, something weird escapes from the Trap Door and runs around causing mischief, leaving poor old Berk to clean up the mess while Drutt gets in the way, 'Im Upstairs shouts about the noise, and Boni constantly complains. Simple, but a winning formula.

While it is known that the show originally aired in 1984, unfortunately the exact air dates of the episodes have proved difficult to track down, which is why all of the episodes are marked here as "never aired" (the only way to enter an episode without an air date is to mark it as never having aired at all), and the show's general air dates say January 1 through December 31, which is not precise but serves to show that the year was 1984. However, all 40 episodes of the show are present and accounted for in this guide.

Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons - September 1983 to December 1985

Based on the board game of same title. Hank, Presto, Eric, Diana, Sheila, and her younger brother Bobby all go to an amusement park one night. While there, they go on a ride called 'Dungeons and Dragons.' But while on that ride, they get sucked into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. There they are attacked by various monsters and entities. When all seems lost, they're greeted by a short, mysterious man known as Dungeon Master. He gives each one of them a magical item that they can use to fight monsters and defend themselves.

Hank (the Ranger) is given a bow that creates arrows of energy. Presto (the Magician) is given a hat of magic spells. Eric (the Cavalier) is given a shield that can deflect any attack against it. Diana (the Acrobat) is given a extendable javelin that allows her to do feats of acrobatics. Sheila (the Thief) is given a cloak that when the hood is pulled up, makes her invisible. And Bobby (the Barbarian) is given a club that can crush anything it is struck against.

They're all being pursued by the evil Venger, a man who's history is somehow tied with the Dungeon Master. His ultimate goal is to acquire all six magical items the kids possess. He has a sub-servant known as the shadow demon who spies on the kids and gives reports on their goings-on. Venger has a mortal enemy, a five-headed dragon named Tiamat. The kids are constantly looking for a way back to their home, but also go where the Dungeon Master tells them their presence is required.

Inspector Gadget

Inspector Gadget - September 1983 to February 1986

Inspector Gadget was a cartoon parody of the 1960's television spy parody, Get Smart. Don Adams played the leads in both shows. There are similarities between the two shows. Both agents only had lots of gadgets or devices that they never could use correctly. Both worked for a chief that they invariably infuriated. And of course, both Gadget and Smart were lovable idiots who always won in the end, usually by accident or by someone else's help.

Created by DIC Entertainment, this show was voiced in Canada and Los Angeles, drawn in Korea, edited in Los Angeles and distributed by DIC International. First produced as a 1/2 hour pilot in 1983, it was picked up and produced until 1986 for TV. Years later, Inspector Gadget is seen in 55 countries in 24 languages.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

He-Man - September 1983 to December 1984

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television seriesFilmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the UniverseHe-Man, was one of the most popular animated children's shows of the 1980s and has retained a heavy following to this day. produced by (the toy line actually lasted longer than the television series itself). The show, often referred to as simply.

It made its television debut in 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series. USA aired He-Man until September 1990. The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line have also led to the short-lived sequel series The New Adventures of He-Man in the early 1990s, and an update of the series for a contemporary audience in 2002. following the adventures of He-Man's sister.

In 2009, IGN ranked the series as the 58th greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.

Fraggle Rock

Fraggle Rock - January 1983 to March 1987

Somewhere in the world, there is a workshop owned by a an inventor named Doc and his Dog, Sprocket. While Doc spends his days coming up with new ideas, Sprocket is peering into a large hole in the baseboard. He knows that something lives behind the wall. Through the hole and down the tunnel, hidden from everyday reality, are brightly lit caves filled with wonderful creatures. This land, bound together by Magic, is called Fraggle Rock. The most notable of the creatures who inhabit this beautiful place are the Fraggles.

Fraggles are furry, have tails, and come in all sorts of colors. The Fraggles spend their days laughing, splashing, running, singing, playing games, and telling jokes. They live by a simple care-free code.

Aside from the Fraggles, two other main species of characters are prominent. The Doozers are small, green ant-like creatures who live to work and spend their days building crystalline structures around Fraggle Rock - to which the Fraggles enjoy eating. Outside of Fraggle Rock live a small family of giant Gorgs. Pa and Ma proclaim themselves as King and Queen of the Universe, and their son Junior loves to spend his free time chasing and catching Fraggles, especially since they love to pick the radishes out of his garden.

Beyond the Gorgs' garden lives Marjory the Trash Heap and her two rat buddies, Philo and Gunge. She is considered to be the Fraggles' all-knowing oracle and they seek her out from time to time to gain valuable advice.

Superted

Superted - November 1982 - 1986

SuperTed is a Welsh animated television series about a teddy bear with magical super powers. It first aired on 1 November 1982. It was produced by Siriol Animation for Welsh television channel S4C where it was aired in the Welsh language, and later aired in English throughout the whole of the United Kingdom on BBC1, and dubbed into Irish for RTE. The series won numerous awards, including the 1987 BAFTA for best animation.

SuperTed is the creation of Mike Young and Robin Lyons, who runs his own animation company called Calon in Cardiff, Wales.

Young created SuperTed in stories he told his stepson, before writing over 100 SuperTed books. S4C then approached him about a SuperTed animated series.