Henry's Cat

"Henry's Cat" is an animated children's television programme, written by Stan Hayward and produced by Bob Godfrey, who was also the producer of "Roobarb", a similar cartoon series from the 1970s. The show starred a laid-back, ponderous yellow cat, known only as Henry's Cat, and his many friends and enemies.

"Henry's Cat" was first screened in 1982 and five series were made in total; the series has enjoyed repeated showings since. It developed a cult following and is still very popular along with shows such as "Bod", "Button Moon", "Pigeon Street", "The Flumps" and "Mr Benn".

Characters

Henry's Cat and his friends

*Henry's Cat - laid-back, a daydreamer.
*Chris Rabbit - Henry's Cat's best friend, an ever-enthusiastic, highly energetic blue rabbit.
*Mosey Mouse - the opposite of Chris Rabbit, Mosey is dour and realistic.
*Douglas Dog, Sammy Snail, Pansy Pig, Denise Duck, Ted Tortoise, Philippe Frog - miscellaneous friends of Henry's Cat. They all mean well, but often overestimate their own abilities in various ways.

His enemies

*Farmer Giles - a (human) farmer, frequently inconvenienced by Henry's Cat's adventures.
*Constable Bulldog - a very stern policeman (or policedog) who takes a very dim view of the gang's well-meaning escapades.
*Rum Baa Baa - a criminal mastermind, and the most evil sheep in the whole world.

Henry

Henry himself never appeared on screen; the name was an allusion to an earlier one-off Hayward/Godfrey collaboration, "Henry 9 To 5" about a bowler-hatted commuter who escaped his boring everyday life by indulging in daydreams, mostly of a sexual nature. Henry's Cat shared the earlier character's tendency toward wild flights of fancy and laid-back approach to life. The name "Henry's Cat" was mostly an in-joke for those few people who remembered the earlier cartoon and did not mean that Henry's Cat had a "master", unseen or otherwise.

Episode list

eries 1

Each episode in this series is 5 minutes long.

* The Hobby
* The Race
* The Circus
* The Competition
* The Moon Trip
* The Hypnotist
* The Holiday
* The Treasure
* The Ill Wind
* The Diet
* The Fortune Teller
* The Explorer
* The Whale
* The Invention
* The Dream
* The Robbery
* The Christmas Dinner
* The Film
* The Disco Dance
* The Artist

eries 2

Each episode in this series is 5 minutes long.

* The Magic Tummy Button
* The Secret Weapon
* The New Year's Resolution
* The Good News Day
* The Cat's Eye Kid
* The Hot Day
* The Merry Men And Women
* The Actor
* The Weatherman
* The Invitation
* The Ventriloquist
* The Clever Trick
* The Hero
* Caveman Cat
* The Abominable Snowman

eries 3

Each episode in this series is 15 minutes long.

* The Treasure Hunt
* The Day of Terrible Jokes
* The Case of the Pilfered Pearls
* The Lost World
* The Computer
* The Correspondence Course

eries 4

Each episode in this series is 15 minutes long.

* Out for the Count
* The Birthday Caper
* The Funny Feeling
* Once Upon a Time
* The Jingle
* The Great Adventure

eries 5

Each episode in this series is 13 minutes long.

* The Mystery of the Missing Santa
* When Time Went Wrong
* The New President
* Valentine's Day

Trivia

*"Reading" down Henry's Cat's face spells "Miiow" (M= ears, II= eyes, O= nose, W=mouth).
*The companies that released the videos were Castle Vision, Playbox Video, Screen Legends and Pickwick Video. Family Home Entertainment also had a USA release in 1987.
*Bob Godfrey Films' closing logo of this series was Henry's Cat meowing. The opening logo seemed to parody the MGM logo.
*In the United States, episodes from the first two series (i.e., the five-minute cartoons) were sometimes shown on PBS right after "Zoobilee Zoo", to round out the half-hour time slot.

Credits

eries 1

*Created by: Stan Hayward
*Script: Stan Hayward
*Animation: Bob Godfrey, Paul Stone, Kevin Baldwin
*Music & Sound: Peter Shade
*Narrated by: Bob Godfrey
*Camera & Editing: Derek Phillips
*Production: Mike Hayes
*Produced and Directed by: Bob Godfrey

eries 2

*Created by: Stan Hayward
*Script: Stan Hayward
*Animation: Kevin Baldwin, Bob Godfrey, Malcolm Hartley, Drew Mandigo, Paul Stone
*Music: John Hyde / DeWolfe Ltd
*Dubbing: John Wood Studios
*Editing: Sean Lenihan
*Camera: Derek Phillips
*Production: Mike Hayes
*Produced, Directed and Narrated by: Bob Godfrey

eries 3

See Series 2 for details.

eries 4

*Created by: Stan Hayward
*Script: Stan Hayward
*Animation: Kevin Baldwin, Bob Godfrey, Neil Salmon
*Music: Jonathan P. Hodge
*Trace and Paint: Beryl Godfrey, Louise Unwin
*Camera: Heather Reader
*Editing: Picture Head
*Production: Mike Hayes
*Narrated, Directed and Produced by: Bob Godfrey

eries 5

*Created by: Stan Hayward
*Script: Stan Hayward, Kevin Baldwin, Mike Knowles, Bob Godfrey
*Animation, Storyboard and Layout: Kevin Baldwin
*Additional Animation: Jeff Goldner, Neil Salmon, Bob Godfrey
*Backgrounds: Bob Godfrey
*Trace and Paint: Denise Hambry, Lisa Smith, Jazvinda Phull, Beryl Godfrey, Ricky Arnold
*Music: Rowland Lee
*Title Music: Jonathan P. Hodge
*Camera: Heather Reader
*Editing: Picture Head
*Production: Mike Hayes
*Produced, Directed and Narrated by: Bob Godfrey

External links

* [http://www.henryscat.com Official website]
* [http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4314/main.htm The Henry's Cat Page]
* [http://www.toonhound.com/henryscat.htm Toonhound: "Henry's Cat"]
* [http://www.jedisparadise.co.uk/childrenstv/Henrys_Cat/Henrys_Cat.htm Jedi's Paradise: "Henry's Cat"]