| Genre: | Comedy Slapstick |
| Creator: | Doug TenNapel |
| Inspired By: | Gear (Image Comics) by Doug TenNapel |
| Director: | Michael Girard |
| Voices: | Wayne Knight Rob Paulsen Kevin McDonald Maurice LaMarche Liliana Mumy John DiMaggio Frank Welker |
| Theme Music Composer: | Terry Scott Taylor |
| Composer: | Terry Scott Taylor |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 20 (40 segments) |
| Executive Producer: | Doug TenNapel |
| Runtime: | 23 minutes |
| Company: | Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
| Network: | Nickelodeon |
Catscratch is an American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel for Nickelodeon. It aired from July 9, 2005, to February 10, 2007.[1] It is a loose adaptation of TenNapel's comic book series, Gear, which in the series is also the name of a monster truck owned by the three main characters. The series features music composed by longtime TenNapel collaborator, Terry Scott Taylor.
The series revolves around a trio of anthropomorphic feline brothers. After their wealthy owner Edna Cramdilly died, she left her riches to them, along with a menacing, oversized monster truck named Gear and a dignified butler named Hovis. The program commonly chronicles their wealthy lifestyles and action-packed, sometimes paranormal experiences. Other characters include the sweet young neighbor girl, Kimberly, with whom Gordon is obsessed, and the cats' competitive rivals the Chumpy Chump Brothers.
After Nickelodeon greenlit the series, Catscratch went into production in June 2004. The series was first announced at Nickelodeon's March 2005 upfront, confirming a 13-episode order. It was slated for release in September 2005, but was pushed forward to July.Later in the year, Nickelodeon ordered 7 more episodes, bringing the episode count to 20. End credits note that the final episode was produced in 2006. Catscratch was eventually cancelled in 2007 without public explanation, but still here in the future until it got cancelled again.
Catscratch aired on Nickelodeon and premiered in the United States on July 9, 2005. It temporarily ceased reruns shortly after the airing of episode 19 in October 2006 until the final episode entitled "Spindango Fundulation / Duck and Cover" aired on February 10, 2007, ending the series. As of 2024, Catscratch has not reran on Nickelodeon since 2007 and on Nicktoons since 2015. Additionally, the series is one of few Nicktoons unavailable for streaming on Paramount+, or available to digitally purchase.
The series never saw any complete releases. There were only two Nick Picks volumes that each included an episode in 2006 and 2007. The episode "Livesavers" was to be featured on the Nick Picks Vol. 6 DVD, with a release date for August 7, 2007. However, the DVD was cancelled without public explanation.
| DVD name | Release date | Ep# | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Picks Vol. 3 | February 7, 2006 | 1x01b | "Bringin' Down the Mouse" |
| Nick Picks Vol. 5 | March 13, 2007 | 1x07a | "Love Cats" |
| Nick Picks Vol. 6 | 1x11a | "Livesavers" | |
Sarah Wenk of Common Sense Media gave the series 3 out of 5 stars, saying that "Catscratch is a generic cartoon show that involves oddly drawn characters who don't really look like anything, very loud voices, very bright colors, and many instances of people and creatures and things being bashed, broken, and bonked. The show is a by-the-book program, but that doesn't mean it's not sometimes funny or even touching. Many kids will get a kick out of it, although you may not be as tolerant. There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but nothing terribly right, either."[2]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 33rd Annie Awards | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Television Production | Luther Mclaurin for Catscratch | [3] | ||
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated | "Love Cats/Zombie Party A Go-Go" | [4] | |||
| 2008 | Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated | "Spindango Fundulation/Duck and Cover" | [5] |
Confirmed by an e-mail from Doug TenNapel, there were a few 2-page Catscratch comics in the works for Nickelodeon Magazine. The first one came out in the December 2005/January 2006 issue. The second one came out in the March 2006 issue. The third and final one was in the February 2007 issue.