Kuckoo Kat is an American multimedia franchise produced and distributed by Gryphon Animation. The franchise centers on the title character and his misadventures with his fellow acquaintances, his feisty girlfriend, Kooky, his nerdy brother, Smarty, and his grouchy friend, Cuckoo. The popularity of Kuckoo Kat has made it a billion-dollar merchandising and media franchise consisting of several animated shorts, six mainline television series, two spinoffs, four animated films, comics, graphic novels, video games, and more.
History[]
1932-1967[]
Conception[]
In 1932, Jeffrey J. Peabody founded a new animation studio by the name of Gryphon Cartoons. Inspired by the success of theatrical animation at the time, such as the works of Walt Disney and Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's Looney Tunes, he created the cartoon series Giggle-Toons, starting on March 19, 1932 with the cartoon Nuts for Mutts, featuring the character Simpleton Squirrel, marking her as the very first character made for the studio. As the years went on, the studio created more iconic characters such as Dexter Dodo (The Loco Dodo, 1933) and Rufus Rat (Rat Trapped, 1934), and would make the transition to Technicolor in 1935.
In 1937, a new director at the studio, Hawley Dalton had an idea for a screwball cat character inspired by the then-unnamed duck character in Porky's Duck Hunt. Originally designed by Owen Crane, the character, known only as "Hawley's Cat" on model sheets, debuted in A Housecat Divided, originally released on September 24, 1938, where the cat dealt in a brawl with a mutt to see who would stay in a warm house during a snowy day. During production, Dalton was nervous that audiences would react negatively to the character. However, he would be proven wrong as audiences howled in laughter at the nutty feline's antics and the cartoon would get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), losing to Walt Disney's Ferdinand the Bull. Originally a silent character, he would become a kooky and talkative troublemaker (voiced by Danny Webb) in his next cartoon, 1939’s Awful Orphan, which saw him get a redesign by animator Charles Fitzpatrick and gain an official name in the form of Kuckoo Kat.
1940-1949[]
The next character to arrive was the polar opposite of Kuckoo, a grouchy cigar-smoking orange pot-bellied cat named Cuckoo (pronounced kuhk-oo), voiced by Mel Blanc. Cuckoo first appeared in director George Pierce's 1940 cartoon My Very Best Fiend as an enemy to the meddling Kuckoo. The cartoon was another hit for the studio, but only a year after he first appeared, America entered World War II. Director Hal Williams took Kuckoo and Cuckoo and had them appear in their own propaganda films such as Cuckoo's 1942 short Navy Nuisance where he dealt with a pesky pigeon while on a Navy ship and Kuckoo's Oscar-nominated 1944 short The Commando Cat.
1944 also introduced Gryphon Cartoons' first big female lead, Kooky Kat (originally voiced by Bea Benaderet), for the Kuckoo Kat short A Corny Casanova. The cartoon was about Kuckoo and a one-shot villain, Jitterbug Jackson, going to the Havana Cabana Club and meeting Kooky. They both fall in love with her and they both try to one-up each other to be her boyfriend with Kuckoo winning at the end. During production, she was originally going to be a bombshell character inspired by Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood, but due to the Hays Code, they decided to downplay her sexiness and introduce her as a jazzy screwball.
But another stable character would come into the spotlight, this time from Hal Williams' unit - Smarty Kat (originally voiced by Walter Tetley), the trying, yet failing mad scientist who first showed up in 1945's Franken-Stymied, where he tried to catch a runaway brain for his Frankenstein experiment. While a solo star at first, he would soon be paired up with Kuckoo, even being retooled to become Kuckoo's brother, always under the direction of Williams up until his departure in 1947. Nicky Halstead took the character and ran with him, while creating a new foe for Kuckoo, the snarky and egotistical Dawson Dawg (voiced by Stan Freberg), for 1949's The Canine Competitor. The pairing would become a winning formula that would go on for dozens of cartoons.
Other characters were making themselves known as well. Basil Washam introduced a slow-witted stray cat named Bingo (originally voiced by Pinto Colvig, later voiced by Blanc) in 1947's Of Mice and Menace where he tries to catch a smart-aleck rodent, another winning formula for the studio. George Pierce created another new foe for Kuckoo. That foe was Fink Fox (voiced by Don Messick) in 1946's Dumb Like A Fox, introduced as a geeky fox who proclaimed himself to be a "genius".
1950-1967[]
The 1950s would end up a tumultuous and important decade for the studio. During this decade, they would introduce many iconic characters that would end up being icons in the studio's history, such as Rocko Rabbit, a screwball rabbit (voiced by Tetley) and Frankie Fox, a slow-minded fox (voiced by Webb) in 1950's Rabbit Habit, directed by Nicky Halstead, Percival C. Puss, a cantankerous alley cat (voiced by Blanc) and Perry Pooch, a simple-minded stray dog (voiced by Tetley) in 1952's Food for Thought, directed by Hawley Dalton, and Tuxedo Townsend, a con artist cat (voiced by Blanc) and Terry Tabby, an unknowing victim to Tuxedo's scams (also voiced by Blanc) in 1955's Money Hungry, directed by George Pierce.
The decade also saw plenty of shaking up in the cartoon studio. For years, the formula of Kuckoo Kat cartoons always resulted in the kooky feline being the winner. However, different cartoons in the early-to-mid '50s saw the troublemaker getting trounced (albeit comically) by some indefatigable adversary. The most memorable of these is 1954's City Kitty, in which Kuckoo and Cuckoo have a usual chase in the city, ending with both Kuckoo and Cuckoo crashing into a bakery, marking the first time both Kuckoo and one of his adversaries lose in the end. Directed by newcomer director Dudley Henson in his very first cartoon for the studio, the short was nominated for an Academy Award, losing out to When Magoo Flew and was the first Giggle-Toons cartoon in CinemaScope.
The decade would also see the changing of the guard in terms of the voice actors and actresses. Danny Webb would leave the studio and was replaced by Daws Butler, who first voiced Kuckoo in 1952's Sonic Broom. Bea Benaderet would be replaced by Lucille Bliss in 1955's Lion Around and Walter Tetley would be replaced by the up-and-coming Howard Morris, who would become the permanent voice of Smarty until 2000, starting with 1953's Spaced-Out Scientist.
Meanwhile, Nicky Halstead and his unit introduced another character with Sassy (voiced by June Foray) in 1952's Love's in Despair. The short featured Cuckoo trying to attract Sassy's heart, with Sassy not interested. Though she was going to be a one-shot character, Halstead liked her enough to have her featured in another cartoon in 1954's Looney Lovers. The cartoon was successful enough to start a series featuring the hapless Cuckoo trying in vain to win apathetic Sassy's affections, in locations like a crab-ridden beach (Beach Blanket Bonehead, 1955), an industrial factory (Factory Foibles, 1954), an undersea kingdom (The Mermaid and the Maroon, 1956), and ancient Egypt (Egyptian Conniption, 1958). Halstead even got artistic in 1956's The Maltese Parakeet, a black-and-white film noir parody that earned the studio another Oscar nomination. One cartoon, 1957's Cuckoo's Silly Sweetheart introduced a new character, Molly (voiced by Lucille Bliss), a dog who was madly in love with Cuckoo, making for a hilarious love triangle.
The studio would nab themselves one last Oscar nomination with 1957's Screwball Symphony. Directed by Hawley Dalton, it was an all-musical cartoon where Kuckoo and Cuckoo end up in a stage production of The Barber of Seville as Kuckoo plays barber. Kuckoo sings the famous opera tune while he shaves Cuckoo's fur off and propels him through the ceiling with the barber's chair. At the end, Cuckoo is about to get his revenge, but is too late as the curtain falls on him, ending the cartoon.
The changing of the guard came in 1959, when the cartoon studio’s producer Jeffrey J. Peabody died at the age of 72. Inheriting the animation studio was his son, Johnny O. Peabody, who took a different approach with the cartoon studio. He still had them create new cartoons for theaters, but also create a new series for television, and so, in 1960, Kuckoo Kat’s Cartoon Revue would premiere on ABC. Sponsored by Welch’s, the series was a prime-time animated series that would feature three new animated shorts with Kuckoo and his friends. The series used limited animation and was animated by another studio in Texas, Atomic Productions. The series was very successful and lasted for three seasons until it ended in 1963.
The theatrical shorts were doing very well, as Dudley Henson would go on to introduce two new characters with the hillbilly duo of Podunk Possum (voiced by Butler) and Rebecca Raccoon (voiced by Foray) in 1961’s Southern Fried Kuckoo, which follows Kuckoo getting captured by them while dressed up as a chicken for a costume party. However, the cartoons started to decline in quality. The writing was on the wall and eventually the studio closed down in 1967 with the final cartoon they produced and released being the Kuckoo Kat cartoon, A Hard Day’s Knight, directed by Hawley Dalton.
1977-present[]
1977-1989[]
After the studio's closure, the shorts would be shown through different package series on television, from Kuckoo Kat and Friends to The Giggle-Toons Show and the shorts would notably be shown on Ringmaster Rocko’s Cartoon Carnival. Eventually, the studio would be revived as two divisions - Gryphon Animation Productions for theatrical animation and Gryphon Television for television animation in 1977, and with that, Kuckoo and his friends were put back into the spotlight. Johnny O. Peabody was also able to get Hawley Dalton, Nicky Halstead and Basil Washam back to work at the studio, which they were happy to do. He was unfortunately too late to get George Pierce and Dudley Henson, as Pierce passed away from a sudden heart attack at his home in 1973, while Henson passed away from lung cancer in 1976, due to the fact that he was a heavy smoker.
Gryphon Animation Productions' first project was the 1979 short Ride ‘Em, Cowpoke!. The short, which was shown in theaters before The Villain, followed Kuckoo as a cowboy trying to defeat notorious wrangler Wrasslin' Wolfie. The short was a success, which led to Gryphon Animation Productions creating more new theatrical shorts with the classic characters. These include 1980's Yolkin' Around, starring Tuxedo and Terry (shown with Popeye), 1981's Las Vegas Wages, starring Kuckoo and Cuckoo (shown with The Great Muppet Caper), 1982's Hole in Dumb, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Annie), 1983's Picasso Pussycat, starring Kuckoo and Dawson (shown with Twice Upon A Time), 1984's Duct Tape Dummy, starring Kuckoo (shown with The NeverEnding Story), 1985's Flimflammed Film Star, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Explorers), 1986's Every Witch Way But Loose, starring Puss 'N' Pooch (shown with Flight of the Navigator), 1987's Secret Identity Crisis, starring Kuckoo and Cuckoo (shown with Harry and the Hendersons), 1988's Freeze Framed, starring Tuxedo and Terry (shown with Big Top Pee-Wee), and 1989's Louvre It or Hate It, starring Kuckoo and Dawson (shown with Little Monsters).
Gryphon Television's first production would be the first TV special to feature the characters, Kuckoo and Cuckoo’s Christmas Caper, where Kuckoo and Cuckoo travel to the North Pole and help Santa deliver presents. The special premiered on December 25, 1980 on NBC and was a success in the ratings, proving that Kuckoo and his friends were worth coming back. They would do a couple more TV specials during the 1980s, including Kuckoo’s Halloween Hullabaloo, Kuckoo Kat and the Wild West, and The Kuckoo Kat Valentine’s Day Special. The television studio would also create the Saturday morning series, The Kuckoo Kat Comedy Show, which premiered in syndication on September 21, 1982. The show would feature two 11-minute segments: The first was Kuckoo and Bingo: Investigators for Hire, focusing around Kuckoo and Bingo (now voiced by Tony Pope) as they work together as private investigators for hire and foil the dastardly plans of whoever they face. The second was Sassy and Molly: Pesky Privates, focusing around Sassy and Molly as they enlist in the Army and get into several shenanigans, much to the chagrin of their immediate superior, Sgt. Slappy (voiced by Marvin Kaplan), who tries to get them in trouble with his superior, Sgt. Blowhard (voiced by Frank Welker), but always fails. The show would last for two seasons with 26 episodes.
Dalton, Halstead and Washam would leave the studio for retirement in 1983 and would sadly pass away throughout the years. Halstead died in 1984, Washam died in 1986, and Dalton died in 1987. The trio would be succeeded by their respective children, Monique Pratt, Bryce Halstead, and Elliott Washam, along with Pierce and Henson's children, Blake Pierce and Rudy Henson. Gryphon Television would release the TV special Happy Birthday Kuckoo! in September of 1988 to celebrate Kuckoo’s 50th anniversary. The special featured a few classic Kuckoo Kat cartoons alongside interviews with celebrities and the animated characters, ending with a special surprise party for Kuckoo. The special was also dedicated to Hawley Dalton and Daws Butler, marking this as the last time that Butler would voice Kuckoo. The special would also be the last time that Lucille Bliss and Mel Blanc would reprise their roles as Kooky and Cuckoo respectively.
1990-1999[]
In 1990, Gryphon Animation Productions (which would be renamed to simply Gryphon Animation in 1995) continued to create more theatrical shorts featuring Kuckoo and the gang including 1990's Hip Hop Bop, starring Kuckoo (shown with Jetsons: The Movie), 1991's I've Got A Slush On You, starring Cuckoo and Sassy (shown with Oscar), 1992's Dumbstruck Doggy, starring Kooky (shown with Beethoven), 1993's Beach Bully Bash, starring Kuckoo and Kooky (shown with Dennis the Menace), 1994's Chrome Bio-Dome, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Getting Even with Dad), 1995's Kookier by the Dozen, starring Kuckoo, Kooky, Smarty, and Cuckoo (shown with Jumanji), 1997's Sam Spayed in A Date with Danger, starring Kuckoo (shown with Buddy), 1998's Doctor's Orders, starring Smarty and Cuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Road Trip Ruckus), and 1999's Westward Whirl, starring Kuckoo and Cuckoo (shown with Stuart Little).
In 1992, Gryphon Animation started production on a Kuckoo Kat movie, with many concepts including an animated musical that would've been a parody of Oliver!, one that would've had the characters in a road comedy similar to the Road to... movies, and one concept where the characters would've participated in either the American Revolution or World War II before eventually deciding on a plot focusing around the characters venturing into the real world. Starring the voices of Michael J. Fox, Sandra Bullock, Jim Belushi, and Martin Short, Kuckoo Kat and the Ink Splatter would release on July 24, 1996 with the Smarty and Cuckoo short, Stamped and Stumped to glowing reviews and box-office success, grossing over $324.3 million worldwide against a $33 million budget. The film would also become the first time Thom Adcox-Hernandez, Candi Milo, and Hank Azaria would become the voices of Kuckoo, Kooky, and Cuckoo respectively.
On the television side, Kuckoo and the gang notably appeared in commercials for companies and products such as Hershey's, RadioShack, Pepsi, and McDonald's. On September 18, 1993, a new series from Gryphon Television, Puss 'N' Pooch premiered on ABC. The show focused around the new modern-day hijinks of Percival C. Puss and Perry Pooch (now voiced by Charlie Adler and Kevin McDonald) as they get themselves into several silly situations, from dealing with a wild mouse from Africa to getting into many jobs held by Gerald Generic (voiced by Eddie Deezen). The show lasted its first two seasons on ABC until December 3, 1994. Afterwards, the show would move over to cable and air its lengthy third season in syndication from 1995 to 1996. Most importantly, on August 12, 1997, The Adventures of Kuckoo Kat premiered in first-run syndication. The show was given acclaim from critics and audiences and was given high ratings for affiliates, ending after a run of four seasons and 52 episodes. Both series would also go on to spawn merchandise such as toys. videos games, such as 1994's Puss 'N' Pooch: Halfwits for Hire for the Sega Genesis and 1999's The Adventures of Kuckoo Kat: Television of Terror for the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Sega Dreamcast, and comic books.
2000-2009[]
As the new millennium arrived, Gryphon Animation continued to create more theatrical shorts featuring Kuckoo and the gang including 2000's Highway Robbery, starring Kuckoo and Cuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Unleashed), 2001's Open House Season, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Dr. Dolittle 2), 2002's The Pirates of Picosepulveda, starring Kuckoo and Kooky (shown with Big Fat Liar), 2003's Pranks, But No Pranks, starring Kuckoo, Kooky, Smarty, and Cuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Houseghosts and notable for being the first time Tom Kenny voices Smarty), 2004's Test Pilot Pests, starring Puss 'N' Pooch (shown with Catch That Kid), 2006's Baseball Boobs, starring Kuckoo and Dawson (shown with Everybody's Hero), 2007's He Drives Me Crazy, starring Tuxedo and Terry (shown with Firehouse Dog), 2008's My Club Runneth Over, starring Kuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own The Intergalactic Idiots), and 2009's Fun Fest Pests, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Hotel for Dogs).
Around the same time after the release of Houseghosts, the team at Gryphon Animation tried thinking of different concepts for another movie starring Kuckoo, including an adventure comedy that would've been a spoof on the Indiana Jones movies, one where Kuckoo and his friends would've traveled to Hollywood in the 1930s to become famous movie stars, or one that would be a true sequel to Ink Splatter. Eventually, they approved of a movie concept focused around a spy movie spoof inspired by screenwriter Jeffrey Armstrong's love of James Bond. Originally known as Spy, Spy Again during production and starring the voice of Adcox-Hernandez, along with Grey DeLisle, Seth Green, Patrick Stewart, Rachael MacFarlane, and Kelsey Grammer, the film, renamed to Diamonds Are Whatever, was officially released into theaters on March 24, 2005 with the Kuckoo Kat short, Beauty and the Fleeced. The film got positive reviews from critics and grossed $580 million worldwide against a $70 million budget, making this Gryphon Animation's third highest-grossing film of all time. The film would later lead to a spin-off series, The S.T.R.E.T.C.H. Files, which premiered on Cartoon Network on June 17, 2006 and lasted for three seasons and sixty episodes.
Around this time, more merchandise would be made of Kuckoo and his friends: most notably video games, which were published by Gryphon Interactive and developed by Level Up! Software. These included 2005's Diamonds Are Whatever, a 3D platformer based on the movie, 2006's Kuckoo Kat: Them’s Fightin’ Words!, a 3D fighting game and 2008's Kuckoo Kat's Turbo Toon Tournament, a racing game. The most iconic (and rather infamous) game featuring the characters to come out around this time was 2008's Kuckoo Kat: The Quest For The Golden Plunger. The game was critically acclaimed for its cartoony graphics and fun gameplay, but what made it stand out were the animated cutscenes done in-house at Gryphon Animation. The cutscenes, written by Monique Pratt and her husband, Thomas Baldwin, were well-known for their usage of more adult humor than you would expect in a usual Kuckoo Kat project. This would eventually lead to it becoming the only Kuckoo Kat game with a T rating by the ESRB. While Level Up! Software was originally its own separate company, Gryphon Interactive would purchase the studio in 2007.
Another notable project premiered on September 24, 2009, when Cartoon Network aired the first episode of Kango and Kuckoo, "When Kango Met Kuckoo/The First Day". Developed by Ashley Atkins and Cecil Crawford, the show took place in an alternate universe, where Kuckoo was depicted as a runaway experiment from the League of Super Evil Roguish Scientists (L.O.S.E.R.S.), and who meets a lanky, level-headed teen named Kango Kyobi. The two face through comical situations at home with Kango's simplistic yet eccentric parents and at school with Kango's best friend, Melody, along with the school snob, Veronica. The show was successful with critics and audiences and lasted five seasons with 65 episodes. This series also marked the first and only time Kuckoo was voiced by a female, as Candi Milo took over the role for this specific iteration.
2010-present[]
As a new decade arrived, Gryphon Animation continued to create more theatrical shorts featuring Kuckoo and the gang including 2010's Army-Nervy Game, starring Kuckoo, Kooky, Smarty, and Sassy (shown with Gryphon's own The Intergalactic Idiots 2), 2011's Hole Lotta Trouble, starring Kuckoo, Smarty, and Sassy (shown with Mr. Popper's Penguins), 2013's Tired Retirement, starring Kuckoo, Smarty and Cuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Way Out West), 2014's Comic Conned, starring Commander Cat (shown with Earth to Echo), 2015's Night Fright, starring Smarty (shown with Gryphon's own A Screwball Romance), 2016's Tango Tussle, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with Gryphon's own Meet the Medinas), 2017's Stupidman Rides Again!, starring Kuckoo (shown with Paddington 2), and 2019's Robot Rampage, starring Commander Cat (shown with Gryphon's own Imaginary Fiends).
In 2006, new ideas were thrown around for a new Kuckoo Kat movie, including one that would've been a science fiction comedy where Kuckoo and his friends would fight against evil aliens and another that would've been a Wizard of Oz parody. However, the one idea that got approved was one that was inspired by both classic adventure films and road comedies. Featuring the voices of "Weird Al" Yankovic, Amy Poehler, and Mark Hamill as the new voices for Kuckoo, Kooky, and Cuckoo respectively, along with Tom Kenny, Aurelio Voltaire, Matt Frewer, Eddie Deezen, and Noël Wells in her film debut, Kuckoo Kat: All Hell Breaks Loose was released in theaters on June 22, 2012 with Home Sweet Homewrecker. The film got critical acclaim from audiences and critics and grossed $992.8 million worldwide against a $85 million budget, making this the highest-grossing animated film of 2012 and Gryphon Animation's highest-grossing film of all time.
After All Hell Breaks Loose, a concept for a new Kuckoo Kat series would be pitched around Gryphon Television, where it would be picked up by Netflix, marking it as the first Kuckoo Kat series for a streaming service. The new series went through many working titles, such as Kuckoo Kat's Laugh-And-A-Half Half Hour Show, Kuckoo Kat's Screwball Showcase and Kuckoo Kat's Animated Anthology, before eventually settling on the title of Kuckoo Kat's Wacky Cartoon Cabaret. Premiering on August 16, 2013, the show went back to the anthology format that Kuckoo Kat's Cartoon Revue featured, most episodes focused around three seven-minute shorts featuring different characters. On certain occasions, a few episodes would also serve as 22-minute specials telling one full story. The series garnered critical praise and would last until April 24, 2016, with four seasons and 84 episodes, with four episodes exclusive to the Blu-ray season sets.
The series would officially end with the feature film, The Great Whatzitville Race: A Kuckoo Kat Movie, which focused around three teams, The Whatzitville Wackos (Kuckoo, Kooky, Smarty, and Cuckoo), The Not-So-Terrific Three (Bingo, Sassy, and Molly), and The Dimwit Duo (Puss N' Pooch) who face off together in a chaotic and kooky cross country race in order to win the grand prize from kajillionaire television executives Sir Vincent Von Viscount III & Sebastian and Buffy Rockefeller. Released on July 17, 2018 with the Kuckoo Kat's Wacky Cartoon Cabaret segment, Ice to Meet Ya, the film received critical acclaim for the humor and story and would gross $832.8 million worldwide against a $87 million budget, making it Gryphon Animation's second highest-grossing film of all time. The film would get nominated at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature, but would end up losing to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
As the 2020s came, things became turbulent as many animators started to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would lead to the first Kuckoo Kat short of the decade, Pyramid Schemer, to be released video-on-demand with Gryphon's own Sadie Monroe's Guide to the Wasteland. More shorts, such as 2021's Extremely Sporty, starring Kuckoo and Dawson (shown with Clifford the Big Red Dog), 2022's Basket Brawl, starring Cuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Abducted), 2023's Criminal Mischief, starring Kuckoo (shown with Gryphon's own Petey Loves Cynthia), 2024's Dental Mental Case, starring Rocko and Frankie (shown with The Garfield Movie), and 2025's A Commander In Every Pot!, starring Commander Cat (shown with Gryphon's own The Intergalactic Idiots 3) were released, with more to be released soon.
Earlier in 2019, it was announced a new prime-time Kuckoo Kat series would be produced by Gryphon Television, Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television (with Gryphon retaining the rights) for the television channel, Fox. The series, entitled The Kuckoo Kat Show, ditches the anthology format from Kuckoo Kat's Wacky Cartoon Cabaret (though still utilizing the same voice cast), and this time features the characters in a situational comedy with a mature and adult edge, marking it as the first Kuckoo Kat series made for adults. The series would premiere on the channel on September 27, 2020 as a part of Animation Domination. The show garnered praise for its humor and art style, making it stand out from many other adult animated series at the time and the show continues to run to this day. In January of 2025, it was announced The Kuckoo Kat Show would move from Fox to Hulu for its sixth season, which would premiere on September 28, 2025.
Television series[]
Mainline television series[]
| Series | Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||
| Kuckoo Kat's Cartoon Revue | 1 | 26 | September 30, 1960 | March 24, 1961 | ABC | |
| 2 | 26 | September 15, 1961 | March 16, 1962 | |||
| 3 | 26 | September 14, 1962 | March 22, 1963 | |||
| The Kuckoo Kat Comedy Show | 1 | 13 | September 18, 1982 | December 11, 1982 | NBC | |
| 2 | 13 | September 17, 1983 | December 10, 1983 | |||
| The Adventures of Kuckoo Kat | 1 | 13 | August 12, 1997 | November 4, 1997 | First-run syndication | |
| 2 | 13 | September 29, 1998 | December 22, 1998 | |||
| 3 | 13 | April 6, 1999 | June 29, 1999 | |||
| 4 | 13 | August 29, 2000 | November 21, 2000 | |||
| The S.T.R.E.T.C.H. Files | 1 | 20 | June 17, 2006 | October 28, 2006 | Cartoon Network | |
| 2 | 20 | April 14, 2007 | December 22, 2007 | |||
| 3 | 20 | June 7, 2008 | October 18, 2008 | |||
| Kuckoo Kat's Wacky Cartoon Cabaret | 1 | 21 | August 16, 2013 | October 26, 2013 | Netflix | |
| 2 | 21 | November 10, 2014 | January 30, 2015 | |||
| 3 | 20 | May 15, 2015 | June 25, 2015 | |||
| 4 | 22 | October 13, 2015 | April 24, 2016 | |||
| The Kuckoo Kat Show | 1 | 22 | September 27, 2020 | May 23, 2021 | Fox | |
| 2 | 22 | September 26, 2021 | May 22, 2022 | |||
| 3 | 22 | September 25, 2022 | May 21, 2023 | |||
| 4 | 22 | October 1, 2023 | May 19, 2024 | |||
| 5 | 22 | September 29, 2024 | May 18, 2025 | |||
| 6 | 6 | September 28, 2025 | TBA | Hulu | ||
Spinoffs[]
| Series | Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | ||||
| Puss 'n' Pooch | 1 | 13 | September 18, 1993 | December 11, 1993 | ABC | |
| 2 | 13 | September 10, 1994 | December 3, 1994 | |||
| 3 | 39 | October 7, 1995 | June 29, 1996 | First-run syndication | ||
| Kango and Kuckoo | 1 | 13 | September 24, 2009 | December 24, 2009 | Cartoon Network | |
| 2 | 13 | February 11, 2010 | July 1, 2010 | |||
| 3 | 13 | August 25, 2011 | December 20, 2011 | |||
| 4 | 13 | May 17, 2012 | October 25, 2012 | |||
| 5 | 13 | March 28, 2013 | June 27, 2013 | |||
Films[]
Compilation films[]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Executive producer(s) | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Giggle-Toons Anthology | April 17, 1975 | Wraparounds: Nicky Halstead Classic cartoons: Hawley Dalton Nicky Halstead George Pierce |
Nicky Halstead Hawley Dalton |
Wraparounds: Johnny O. Peabody Classic cartoons: Jeffrey J. Peabody |
Wraparounds: Gloria Owen Classic cartoons: Melvin Reeves Jack Granger Freddy Ward |
Feature films[]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Executive producer(s) | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kuckoo Kat and the Ink Splatter | July 24, 1996 | Dexter Sparks | Alvin Horton & Brian Grazer | Monique Pratt | Cecil Moody & Robert Osbourne |
| Diamonds Are Whatever | March 24, 2005 | Maxine Becker | Jeffery Armstrong & Alyssa Schwartz | ||
| Kuckoo Kat: All Hell Breaks Loose | June 22, 2012 | Arnold Lowe | Brian Grazer | Kirk Malone | |
| The Great Whatzitville Race: A Kuckoo Kat Movie | July 17, 2018 | Stephanie Fishman Sylvester T. Marquez |
Monique Pratt Bryce Halstead Elliott Washam Blake Pierce Rudy Henson |
Monique Pratt Thomas Baldwin Melody Sweeney Danielle Hodges Dennis Osbourne |
Kuckoo Kat and the Ink Splatter (1996)[]
- Main article: Kuckoo Kat and the Ink Splatter (1996 film)
Diamonds Are Whatever (2005)[]
- Main article: Diamonds Are Whatever (2005 film)
Kuckoo Kat: All Hell Breaks Loose (2012)[]
- Main article: Kuckoo Kat: All Hell Breaks Loose (2012 film)
The Great Whatzitville Race: A Kuckoo Kat Movie (2018)[]
- Main article: The Great Whatzitville Race: A Kuckoo Kat Movie