Heathcliff (1980–1984) User Reviews

DIC's better? Not feeling it.

[BatStarIndyFreak · 8/10 · 9 April 2014]

I'm live-and-let-live when it comes to personal taste. It's just here I feel the need to bring my perspective. I think on the Garfield strips and then the cartoons, and they complement each other well with story lines that gradually build to the big comedic payoff.Not so much with the DIC Heathliff episodes. They follow Garfield episode pacing, and yes, good comedic playoffs, but that doesn't jibe with what we get from Heathcliff comics. They were single picture strips (occasionally an extra panel) with single actions and usually a single line that made it an ingenious running gag. That's the spirit of the Ruby-Spears eps; fast- paced with the comedy running in the whole plot process. I often laughed during the start, sometime in the middle, and at the big payoff. I enjoyed DIC (A biig help that they kept Mel Blanc), but Ruby-Spears' fluidity in their presentation makes it my unquestionable preference.

Playing Pranks on Everyone

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 18 November 2021]

"Heathcliff Heathcliff no one should

Terrify the neighborhood

But Heathcliff just won't be undone

Playing pranks on everyone."

I think the theme song was the best part of the show. For some reason I wasn't a big Heathcliff fan. He got away with too much when other cats like Tom and Sylvester couldn't get away with anything.

fun, close to home adventures cartoon

[mcfly-31 · 15 July 1999]

"Heathcliff" was my fave animated series growing up. In a time (mid 80s) when we were bombarded by violent, mindless action cartoons like "Transformers," "Gobots," and "Thundercats," it was nice to have a pleasant, laid back show like "Heathcliff." The show mostly consisted of the tubby tabby's daily mischief with the owner of the fish market, the milk man, new neighborhood rivals, and the felines and canines he already knew. Other characters were big, dumb dog Spike, Heathy's babe, Sonja, and his family of Iggy, Grandma and Grandpa. After Heathcliff's story we were treated to the adventures of the Cats and Co. led by Riff Raff. It may sound odd, but I actually preferred their tales more than 'Cliffs. They seemed more inventive and fun. Riff Raff's gang consisted of spindly, wannabe tough guy, Hector, constantly rhyming Wordsworth, and brainless, pudgy, Mungo. Those three were also sometimes featured in Heathcliffs stories as well, but for whatever reason Riff Raff and Heathcliff never appeared in the same story. Guess it was to give each their own seperate time on screen. Hey, cartoon characters can have egos too I guess. But all in all, strong writing (especially for a cartoon) and harmless adventures made this a nice half hour after school.

HeathCliff and Riff Raff

[Kerwenus · 10/10 · 3 November 2006]

I quite agree with the comment that lost were the days of magical cartoons. I grew up with G1 transformers and GI Joe - no 3D special effects and lame narratives.

I was delightfully surprised to see there were people in other parts of the world who shared my curiosity on the non-co-existence of HeathCliff and Riff Raff. This is a childhood mystery that I have grown up with up to today. When I was 7 and I started watching the first few airings on HeathCliff and the Catillac Cats, my mind did not distinguish HeathCliff and Riff Raff - you see they were both sort of orange and led the 3 other cats. So I took it they were one in the same essence. But with more airings and on careful inspection, I saw they were entirely different characters. Now, it is common place for writers to bring different comic personalities in the same setting,this habit was not so for earlier generation cartoons. Perhaps a sort of code of discipline in cartoon writing. I do not think their non-co-existence was for aesthetic reasons as per personality lines, but for legal reasons; they were engineered and voiced by two different people who reaped their individual credits. I must say however, in the aftertheme, you could see Riff Raff taking off his hat from HeathCliff's head with a stick, and I was deeply and passionately drawn to that brief scene - it triggered a sort of philosophic hypothesis that although they had a troublemaking essence in common, but when fused in the same time and setting, one respectfully recedes personality to the other to avoid a sort of time-paradox...and this extends beyond mere cartoon drama, because their co-existence was and would have been, in fact, illegal and a breech of contract with respect to the production laws governing that cartoon, and for credit reasons. So formal airing of HeathCliff could never permit co-existence of those characters.

The HeathCliff theme song is very nostalgic to me.

loved it!!!

[pologuy · 16 June 1999]

i grew up watching nickelodeon. and everyday i would watch heathcliff. what an awesome show! heathcliff was the coolest. he would get all the ladies, could beat up any cat, and always did the right things in the right situation. i guess you can call him the arthur fonzarelli of alley cats. and riff raff, haha, riff raff was great!!! i wish the show was still on the air. if you love cartoons, this one is great!!!

Cartoons Of The 80's: Heathcliff

[FloatingOpera7 · 18 April 2006]

Heathcliff (1980-1987): Starring Mel Blanc, Donna Christie, Henry Corden, June Foray, Stan Jones, Marilyn Lightstone, Danny Mann, Derke McGrath, Don Messick, Russi Taylor, Frank Welker, Danny Wells...Director Bruno Bianchi, Based On The Comics By Brand Anderson A flood of hazy memories assaulted my brain when I discovered that Heathcliff was on the IMDb. If this cartoon series was on from 1980-1987, I was approximately 1-7 years old! It must have been the first cartoon I ever saw. I had never read the comic books (it wouldn't be till the 90's when I started picking up a newspaper). Heathcliff (Mel Blanc) seemed to be on twice in one day, for I recall waking up as early as 7am to get ready for school, turning on the TV and Heathcliff would be on. Then there was another episode immediately following school around 2pm. Heathcliff was a male alley cat who was dirty, gruff, macho, a bully, poor and street-smart. He was in love with Sonja (Marilyn Lightstone) who was upscale, pretty and cleaner than him. There were various mean alley cats, dogs and other creatures lurking about but Heathcliff always protected his territory. I don't quite remember much of it because quite frankly I still had bed-head when I would see this cartoon. But this was one of the many morning cartoons and afternoon cartoons that I recall fondly. The children of the 80's were blessed by having experienced better cartoons. Many of the voice-over actors were quite talented and even famous, the cartoons were far better-written and didn't depend on the "Anime/computer graphics" cartoons do today. Lost is the magic of these types of cartoons. Other successful 80's cartoons included Garfield, Care Bears, My Little Ponies and Rainbow Bright. Ah, to be a child of the 80's once again!

Mel's television swan song

[stephen0684 · 22 October 2005]

Heathcliff was Mel Blanc's final original character and starring role before he continued to reprise Barney Rubble and Mr. Spacely for Hanna Babera and the Looney Tunes for Warner Brothers. It was my favorite series in the late 80's to early 90's. Today it's out on DVD which is good so many others can enjoy Heathcliff and his friends as many times as you want. This was last scene on Bommerang. Even though it was the Ruby/Spears effort their version wasn't bad. But, DIC's effort was and still is far better. therefore if you had to choose only one, the DIC series is your best bet. But the Ruby/Spears series I can also recommend just to see Heathcliff only. Overall, this is an classic series. With one of the highest vote I could give, it's get an 9 out of 10.

Fond memories.

[magellan333 · 5 November 2001]

Heathcliff Heathcliff no one should, terrorize their neighborhood.... This cartoon came on everyday after school. The first half would be an adventure involving the comic strip cat Heathcliff, the second half would be about the much cooler and more happening cat, Riff Raff. Heathcliff lived in a house with a family, and Riff Raff had a much more happening pad in the junk yard. There were also three alley cats, one named Hector, one named Mongo and Wordsworth who always spoke in rhyme. They were the trouble makers and would show up and terrorize both Heathcliff and Riff Raff. Because Riff Raff's cartoon was always so much cooler, that is the reason it was shown second. It made children have to wait an extra fifteen minutes before going out to play and force them to see more toy commercials.

3 cartoons in one?

[shapeshifter42 · 23 October 2004]

I remember this as 3 cartoons in one (a bit like the pink panther show) and was shown by the BBC in the mid-80s.

The first was Heathcliffe of course, who was a bit too much of a smartarse for my liking.

The third was Marmaduke. The opening theme tune was kind of sung by both and referred to them as a "team" I'm sure, but I don't recall them ever appearing together.

In between(?) was a cartoon about a family of dogs. Can't for the life of me think of the title, but it had a great theme tune.

Maybe I've confused the middle bit with another cartoon altogether, but they all seem related in my mind.

fiendish plot to brainwash children

[morpheus-17 · 25 May 2000]

first off, riff-raff had the much hotter girlfriend. with that said, let me go on my tirade about this show. i am convinced that this show contained subliminal messages. i, too, used to watch this show almost every day. however, i cannot recall ever thinking it was good. i'd watch it from start to finish, without turning the channel, & the whole time i'd be thinking, 'wow, this show really sucks.' it is my theory that this show was used as an experiment on the under 13 demographic by a syndicate of advertisers simply known as 'the angry mob'.