Top Cat

source: Top Cat

As a kid I loved the Hanna Barbera TV 'toons, and the limited animation didn't bother me until later. Top Cat (puzzlingly sometimes known as "Boss Cat" in the UK, despite the theme song clearly calling it "Top Cat") was never a favourite, although I definitely saw my share of it. So I went along to see this movie more out of nostalgia than anything else. The plot could have come out of any episode of the series, albeit here it is dragged out to feature length. It features a new character who turns out to be a police chief who intends to a) sideline Officer Dibble and b) frame Top Cat, apparently doing this so that he can install equipment to spy on everyone, everywhere. This is not an adult plot, and should not be judged as such. Unfortunately, while it may be a juvenile plot, it doesn't include much to entertain kids. This film definitely doesn't hold much to interest an adult viewer. There is the initial nostalgia thing - the characters are all on model and the voices are reasonable approximations of the original - and the animation, while hardly ground breaking, is an improvement on the TV series. The 3D is OK. But otherwise, this film has little to recommend it. The villain is irritating - there is a running "joke" about how handsome he thinks he is when he's clearly hideous and the story doesn't sustain a feature film.

Top Cat is by far my favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The humor was clever, especially the verbal stuff between T.C. and...who ever he was tricking at the moment, the gang of cats was fun (my favorite was Cho- cho) and I love the mood it had. It's one of those kids show I actually found myself to appreciate more as adult just for how smart it was. While the first few five-ten minutes made ma go "Meh" , as soon the gang was reintroduce the movie actually become quite good. It's a very basic story but it those an excellent job of recapturing the spirit and the humor of the original show. All characters where… well, in character, and some of the English voice actors where dead-on perfect (especially T.C., Dibble and Benny) There where some great absurd jokes, some good Simpson-style gags that take you off gourd and play with a viewer expectation, as well some small twists and in-jokes for the fans of the original TV show (I especially love the part In the middle where Cho-cho become new leader of the gang and they spoof the opening credits with the gang recapturing all of the Top Cats tricks and felling miserably) Yhe, the animation in this movie is far from cinematic standards but it was it's still enjoyable to watch (to be honest I was having flash-backs from computer game "UFO'S" which had identical bland of 3D and flash animation) What surprise me is the fact I actually liked the villain. When I saw this guy in the trailer for the first time I was sure I will hate this character. He was just so generic… But no! Most the jokes about how vain and angry he was actually worked an I liked how over the top he got with his plot. I only have few nitpicks with the movie : – I wish there where more Top-Cat/Dibble interaction. For me the hate/love relationship between the two was the heath of the show and while here their both 100% in character there's not that much dialog between the two. I wish they would had a longer scene where T.C. somehow tricks or scams Dibble. I guess it doesn't matter if your fan of the show since your already know their history together but if your new to these characters you will won't fell any friendship or relation between this two. – The show had a wonderful New York atmosphere (mainly thanks to the jazzy sound track and great backgrounds) Here It could take place in any other city. I just wish they would kept the background closer to resembling those on the show. – Cho-Cho's voice didn't sound like the original character… I wouldn't even bother to bring this up if not for the fact that they did such a great job of recapturing all other characters voices so well. – Trixie was a very generic/cliché sympathetic girl and a love interest for Top-Cat which makes here very bland comparing to the rest of the cast. This is more of personal pet pea. I just hate when they introduce a main female character and have no idea for her personality other then the fact she's a female, especially since all the feline fame fatal's from the show usually hat a lot of character. Heck! Fancy's girlfriend who appears in two short scenes appear to be way more funny and interesting… – There was one or two grow-out jokes that didn't felt in the spirit of the cartoon; But those are just nitpicks. Over all – if you a Top Cat fan and you would love see those characters again in action then this movie should be good nostalgia trip for you, and to be honest this movie was made ONLY for Top Cat fans and you can sense the passion script writers had for the original show. Heck! I found it better then "Top Cat and Beverly Hills Cats" which felt like 20 minute of plot stretch to hour and a half. Here ad lead they had ideas and jokes to feel this time. However if your not a Top Cat fan… It's just a OK cartoon but It will entertain you . Watching this I actually wish the same guys would do another Top-Cat remake show, as the movie did manage to add some fresh light without making it too modern. 8/10 should be a fair score

"Top Cat" was my favorite Hannah-Barbera cartoon from my childhood, so, when this movie was announced, I wasn't sure about what could expect from this. Then I saw the first trailer, and I thought that this movie was going to be awful: The animation and the designs looked horrible(For me, the worst aspect from this movie is the quality of the animation: The combination of cheap CGI backgrounds with characters done with Flash was incredibly unappealing...I know this is not a Hollywood production made by a Big studio, but seriously, even the animated series of "El Chavo del Ocho" made by Alberto Mar, which is also the director of this movie, looked better.) However, when I finally had the chance to watch this movie, I was glad to see that the personalities of the main characters from the original cartoon were respected. Also, the humor style from this film, despite being somewhat simplistic and predictable, respects the essence from the original series, despite the addition of some modern elements that doesn't work very well. The voice acting was very good (I guess that's because most of the voices were done by the same people who dubbed the original series, but also the voice acting for the new characters were done quite well, even if those character weren't particularly funny or interesting) Eve when this film isn't an extraordinary masterpiece, at least is much better than most of the atrocious live-action adaptations of cartoons done in the recent years by Hollywood.

I loved the original old cartoon of Top Cat, but I also have a low expectedness of the movie adaptation of the old cartoon. Personally I don't like the style of the animation, the animation have portions of 3D (CGI) but, in general looks like a flash animation of a website, also I don't like the sense of humor of the movie, neither like the story. I think that the movie was a great idea, principally for the Mexican people, because the original cartoon was very famous here in Mexico, but was an idea bad implemented. For the good side, the movie has the original voices of the Mexican actor "El Tata", it is the only thing that I like it very much, but in general is a really bad, bad movie, but, please, judge yourselves.

When knowing about this movie being made i had my doubts it could be as much fun as any of the episodes of the series. What a pleasant surprise to find out a story that takes me to a ride through many of those great stories about this curious gang and their leader. From the original Alo Hawaii, through Arabela, the great Maharaja and many other characters that are stuck in our memories and great lines from each character of the gang, Top Cat, Benny, Choo Choo, Spook, Fancy Fancy and my personal favorite in this movie, Brain. Very entertaining for the kids, a fabulous ride to the past for the adults who grew up with Don Gato. A family film everybody will enjoy.

2D isn't dead yet and with lovely characters and classic cartoon humor this movie shows that in a very fun way, keeping the characters in their original place in NY and situations with some of the extra characters of the series make this a step in the right direction to keep this kind of animation alive, reviving a Hanna Barbera cartoon that became the most loved cat in Mexico and Latin America, great idea, i had a really good time with it. From times Square to the alley, the whole gang comes back with a joy of a story, a bunch of phrases that have been with us since the series was aired forever and we as kids never noticed that there were only 30 episodes.

Yesterday was the premiere here in Mexico city and I got the chance to go! and I LOVED it, watching the whole gang on screen! the Voices go great with the characters they are really similar to those from the original cartoon in fact I actually think some of the actors are the same! it reminded me of the good old times when cartoons where the best way to pass time :D besides its great for kids even if they never watched the original Top Cat .. Benny (Benito) its adorable !! all the characters are likable and fun Everyone should check out this movie not matter how old or if they like top cat it's an awesome movie and I highly recommended specially for kids! they will LOVE it! mainly because its impossible not to love Top Cat (Don Gato)!!

Today we got the chance to assist to the premiere in Mexico and i can say it was lots of fun for all the family, from the lovely Benny (Benito) and the personality of each one of the cats, to Top Cat (Don Gato) as the smart leader of the gang, a great classic coming back to life respecting our memories for this show including the original voice of EL Tata as Benny (Benito) and Choo Choo (Cucho). i won't spoil anything but you'll see some of the extra characters of the original series and that will make your mind go back in time. A great movie for adults and kids, don't miss this one 'cause i'm sure you'll love Don Gato too.

Top Cat is a seriously lame and lackadaisical attempt to revive an animated program from the 1960's that is probably a very miniscule pile of nostalgic dust in the minds of those who watched the show in its original run. The film was released in Mexico under Warner Bros., who handed the distribution rights over to Viva Pictures in the US and Vertigo Films in the UK, who wound up seeking out the talents of Rob Schneider and Danny Trejo for the releases outside of Mexico. Quite a lot of effort for an animated film that doesn't look good enough to sit next to the throwaway direct-to-DVD efforts and Asylum releases crowding a lonely Redbox machine at a grocery store near you. Not since the legendary animated disaster Foodfight! has there been such a lazy, affront to the wondrous medium of animation. In such a colorful, limitless medium, Top Cat reduces itself to what looks like characters animated using hand-drawn animation placed over real-life backgrounds and ordered to function normally. However, the backgrounds are indeed animated; they just look blocky and bland enough to be considered real, especially seeing as the film looks like the colorful characters exist on a crystal clear camera lens while the backgrounds appear to be captured on a filthy, damaged lens. To compliment the fourth-rate animation is a story barely fit for a short film. Sadly, it's stretched out to eighty-two minutes, making its narrative slimness make such a short runtime feel astronomically longer than it really is. The story follows Top Cat (Jason Harris Katz) and his gang of other cats that work to take money and power from those who don't deserve it and give it to those who hurt the other common animals of the neighborhood. So this wacky gang of socialist felines get entangled in a messy circumstance involving a controlling villain who tries to take down Top Cat and his buddies. That's as deep as I'm willing to read into the story. The issue here, however, isn't so much the narrative simplicity since it's outshined by the dreary animation. The issue is that the story moves at a glacial pace and the jokes in the film are anything but frequent. They feel as if they're rejected jokes from sitcoms gone past, involving puns, cheap references, and goofy toilet humor with no wit or soul. Top Cat also appears to have a serious identity problem in the regard that it doesn't seem to know who it's catering to. Is this show geared to the adults who grew up watching the show? If so, this film had far too modest of a release - at least in the US and the UK - to even get their attention. If it's catered to the new generation, the film fails to give them something even in the same realm as a work by Pixar or Dreamworks, rendering this film even further down the later of bottom-barrel fare. It's a film that effectively pleases few and irritates many. Voiced by: Jason Harris Katz, Rob Schneider, and Danny Trejo. Directed by: Alberto Mar.