by Linda Kay
Synopsis: TVNZ channel 2’s classic animated sign off clip featuring their national bird, a kiwi, with a grey cat companion.
Cartoon Cat: In the past, television stations did not run 24 hours a day. They usually signed off at night, sometimes playing a video clip featuring the national anthem (as in the U.S.) or some other quiet announcement, piece of poetry, affirmation reading or short film to end their broadcast day. In 1975, New Zealand launched TVZN, then on channel 2, and introduced the country to their own sign-off animated segment featuring a kiwi bird and his grey cat (who was never given a name) as they shut down the station for the night.
It’s a shame that in this first version Kiwi has to throttle grey cat to put him outside, but fortunately there is no harm and the cat darts back inside before Kiwi even notices.
This original version, animated by former Disney animator Sam Harvey, was only used for one year before being replaced by another animated short featuring the kiwi but no cat. Fortunately the cat returned in yet another new version of the sign-off short which ran from 1980 until 1994.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the characters of Kiwi and Cat were also used for short channel identification segments.
A series of these station IDs from 1989 included narration by actor Robert Stack:
These station IDs sometimes tied in to topical themes, such as the Commonwealth games which took place in New Zealand in 1990:
In 2007 the popular Kiwi and Cat sign-off would return in a wider format on TVNZ 6 before also being added to the close of TVNZ 7 in 2008. That same year the characters also returned in a series of special Christmas greetings:
The beloved characters still hold a place in the hearts of New Zealanders to this day and even star in their own animated series for KIDOGO Junior which began in the summer of 2025 in which they explore different aspects of New Zealand nature and culture.
Final Mewsings: This is either the world’s largest kiwi or the world’s smallest cat.
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