Believe it or not, the Hanna-Barbera animated series, “Top Cat”, ran for only one season on ABC, from 1962-63. But fifty years later, the classic cartoon returns with the release of “Top Cat: The Movie”, which is finally available on DVD. However, this big screen version, which was first released in Mexico in 2011, then in the UK last year, isn’t anywhere near as good as “the most tip top” original.
TC, Benny, Choo Choo, Brain, Spook, and Fancy-Fancy still live in that New York City alley with the garbage cans and telephone pole. As voice actor Jason Harris (who plays many of the characters) told me, the style of the film is still very much the 60’s, even though it’s set in modern day.
Officer Dibble is up for a promotion – Chief of Police of NYC. But, instead the job goes to Strickland (voiced by Rob Schneider). He’s obsessed with three things: money, security cameras, and himself. He promises to make the streets of New York safer, but his technological achievements (including creating robots to replace all the police officers) go a little too far, to the point where he’s controlling everything in the entire city.
Meantime, Top Cat is sent to Dog Jail by Strickland for a crime he didn’t commit. There he interacts with many K-9s (including one voiced by Danny Trejo). TC’s old gang (and a possible new love interest) have to come up with a plan to free him and stop Strickland.
One of the strengths of “Top Cat: The Movie” is the interesting style of animation. The characters are hand-drawn and given a bit of an updated look. However, the backgrounds: buildings, cars and surroundings are all CGI. And while the characters’ voices don’t sound the same a half century later, they’re not bad.
The trademark of Top Cat and company was the gang’s hijinks, and we get some of that in the decent first half hour. Unfortunately, the story goes downhill from there. The script has a few laughs, including nods to the TV series, but it’s way too simple and straight-forward. As with other recent animated films, when a memorable team is separated, the story quickly falls apart. That’s exactly what happens about halfway through. Soon, “Top Cat: The Movie” becomes silly and quite average, on the level of most Saturday morning cartoons.
It’s rated PG for some mild cartoon violence. Very young kids might be entertained, but those who fondly remember the TV series may want to pass on this version to avoid having those memories spoiled.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Top Cat: The Movie” gets a C.