by Linda Kay
Original Air Date: September 13, 1975
Starring: Waldo Kitty
Directed by: Hal Sutherland
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Waldo (voiced by Howard Morris) and Felicia (voiced by Jane Webb) are playing with a brand new ball when bully bulldog Tyrone (voiced by Allan Melvin) steals it from them, prompting Waldo to wish he were Catzan to save the day.
Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): Waldo Kitty, an orange and white tabby, is playing with a new red ball with his friend Felicia, a white Persian.
Apparently the cat actor playing Felicia wasn’t cooperating as much as the trainer wished. In one shot they have to catapult her next to Waldo. Moments later she starts to wander off screen and a trainer can just be seen entering the shot to retrieve her before they cut to the next clip.
Tyrone shows up and chases them away, taking the ball for himself. Felicia insists Waldo do something about it but, as usual, Waldo is too scared.
Felicia approaches Tyrone but is chased by the dog up a tree.
Waldo wishes he were Catzan of the Apes so that he could save Felicia.
Cartoon Cats: In the animated segment Felicia becomes Lady Vain (replete with snobbish accent) who has been cornered in a tree by an angry lion.
Catzan gives his signature call (albeit a bit drawn out and erratic) as he swings through the jungle.
Scaring the lion away with his yell, Catzan orders Lady Vain to return home and make his dinner.
Tyrone is now Sydney Greenalley (an obvious nod to actor Sydney Greenstreet, whose voice is being imitated for this character), a poacher who is going through the jungle collecting endangered species with his hench dogs. They attempt to escape on their boat, the African King, but Catzan swims after them and starts to drag their boat back.
After chasing the poachers away with his yell, Catzan frees the captured animals.
Lady Vain is cooking dinner for Catzan who tells her to be quiet while he’s eating. Addressing the audience, Lady Vain promises it won’t always be like this for women.
The poachers set a series of trap for Catzan which always seem to backfire. They finally decide to kidnap Lady Vain instead.
Catzan and his chimp companion Cha Cha set out to rescue Lady Vain from a bamboo fortress surrounded by molten lava then manages to also catch the poachers.
Returning to live action, Waldo runs at Tyrone screeching his Catzan yell.
Waldo is chased by Tyrone through a fence. Waldo is able to jump over a mud puddle but Tyrone falls in.
Waldo and Felicia get their ball back.
For more information about this series, check out our Special Feature about cat actor Waldo Kitty.
Final Mewsings: Cats have a ball outwitting dogs.
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