Eek! The Cat (retitled Eek! and the Terrible Thunderlizards and eventually Eek! Stravaganza) is an animated series created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp. It was produced by Fox Kids, Savage Studios, Ltd. and Nelvana, with animation being outsourced to Wang Film Productions. Episodes were broadcast from 1992 to 1997 on Fox's former Saturday morning children's block Fox Kids, and in Canada on YTV from 1992 to 1998. It revolves around the titular character – a helpful, yet hapless purple cat named Eek – who attempts to help others in need, but only puts himself into crazy situations while doing so.
Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide.
Premise Eek! the Cat revolves around the misadventures of a jolly purple cat named Eek, who lives in the fictitious city of McTropolis. His motto is "it never hurts to help", an attitude that generally gets him into trouble, from which much of the physical and visual humor of the show is derived. Initially, most of the humor centered around Eek's various injuries during his attempts to help or save another character. Over the course of the series, a far wider variety of humor is utilized and Eek generally has the capacity to unintentionally deal as much, if not more pain to other characters (mainly Sharky the Sharkdog) as he undergoes himself.
Other characters include Eek's human family, with whom he is unable to communicate via spoken language; Sharky the Sharkdog, who despises Eek, something the cat is most of the time oblivious to; and Eek's girlfriend, Annabelle, who he sees as beautiful despite other characters commenting on her weight.
The show featured a guitar riff intro, slapstick humor, and pop culture references. Shows vary from standard cartoon fare to film spoofs (such as Apocalypse Now and A Clockwork Orange). During the second season, a special musical episode titled "Quadrapedia" aired; the first Christmas episode was written almost entirely in rhyme. The show featured many cameos by celebrities, some of whom came back for several episodes.
Episodes
Characters
Main characters
Eek the Cat (voiced by Bill Kopp) – Eek, a purple cat, always puts others' safety, needs, and comfort before his own. Eek can talk with all animals and most humans. However, he is, oddly enough, unable to converse with his owners: Mom, Wendy Elizabeth, and J.B. He often exclaims "Kumbaya!" His motto is "It never hurts to help!", although with Eek this is rarely the case. The major running gag within the show is that Eek's selfless nature usually gets him (and most of the time Sharky) caught up in painful situations such as getting caught in mail and baggage sorters (both of which appear designed to intentionally damage their contents) and being chased by Sharky, upon which he would scream "Oh gosh, it hurts!" while the Sharkdog's acoustic guitar theme played. Despite his misfortunes, episodes usually end with Eek rewarded in a way due to his selfless nature and willingness to face adversity squarely. He has frequently been shown to be a girl magnet, attracting many beautiful females throughout the series while gently turning them down and informing them that he already has Annabelle as a girlfriend. Annabelle (voiced by Tawny Kitaen in 1992–1995, Karen Haber in 1994–1995 and 1997) – A female cat and Eek's girlfriend who appears like a Southern belle with an exaggerated Southern accent. She is extremely fat, although her arms and legs are quite skinny. Eek somehow seems to be unaware of her size and just sees Annabelle as being very beautiful. He is genuinely surprised whenever someone comments on Annabelle's weight, saying that "the more of you there is, the more there is to love". Eek fell in love with Annabelle the first time he saw her, when he was hit by the arrow of a one-winged cupid. Like Wendy Elizabeth, Annabelle is quite emotional and can burst into tears if anything upsets her. Annabelle is implied in many instances to be gluttonous, quickly appearing at buffet tables to scarf down all the food on them and ordering large amounts at restaurants, snack bars and drive-ins. Despite being present in the theme song, Anabelle doesn't appear in the series proper until the episode "Catsanova". Sharky the Sharkdog – Annabelle's pet guard dog who defends her house with the viciousness (and also the overall appearance) of a shark. Sharky does not talk, but more than makes up for it in growls (though other animal characters such as Eek can comprehend what he is saying, and subtitles are sometimes provided). Sharky has a distinctive leitmotif that plays whenever he attacks other characters. Sharky typically terrorizes Eek for fun, although occasionally as a reaction to Eek's incessant trouble-causing helpfulness. There are moments where the two get along and partner in the plot line, but they happen to be rare. He can also show rare moments of friendliness towards Eek, such as in "It's a Wonderful Nine Lives" where he shows up at Eek's house on Christmas with his other friends and family near the end of the special. Sharky loves to bite things, mostly mail-carriers. Sharky also has quite a bit of skill as a craftsman; he is constantly rebuilding his doghouse after Eek accidentally destroys it. Like Snoopy's doghouse, the interior of Sharky's doghouse resembles a cavernous mansion with several floors and a garage. Sharky has a curious affiliation with firearms and explosives, which often backfire on him. In many cases, Sharky and Eek's relationship follows a subtle pattern of karma and catharsis. Similar to Tom from Tom and Jerry, Sharky was drawn in a quadrupedal stance in the earliest episodes, but beginning with "Shark Therapy" in season two, he gradually became almost exclusively bipedal and obtained the same level of anthropomorphism as the other animal characters, albeit without the ability to speak. Elmo the Elk (voiced by Savage Steve Holland) – Elmo (also known as Elmo: The Brown Nosed Reindeer, The Incredible Elmo) is an elk and Eek's extremely inept but loyal friend who typically maintains a courageous façade, but is actually quite cowardly. He is often trying to raise money to pay for some operation on his younger brother Timmy, which often involves him and Eek in dangerous stunts or some form of action adventure. He also believes that there are 31 days in the month of June. In his first appearance, Elmo had a thick Italian accent which proceeded to get more downplayed as the series progressed. Timmy – Elmo's younger brother who apparently suffers from a range of obscure medical ailments and is constantly in need of expensive medical treatments. This results in Elmo trying to raise money, often with Eek's help, although these activities usually involve dangerous stunts which only end in pain for Eek. Mom (voiced by Elinor Donahue) – The apparently single mother of the family that owns Eek. She loves studying foreign languages and a running gag features her absent-mindedly listening to foreign language cassettes, reciting the nonsensical translations of English phrases while cleaning the house, unknowingly causing mayhem in the process - a particular favorite is "Spangalese".Learn to Speak Spangalese Once on a flight to England she listened to a tape of British-accented English, a language she found especially challenging. She is very warm and loving towards Wendy Elizabeth and J.B., often indulging them and giving them their favorite treats. She has an optimistic personality similar to Eek, and always tends to look on the bright side despite the mayhem that arises. Wendy Elizabeth and J.B. (voiced by Elizabeth Daily and Charlie Adler) – The children of the family that owns Eek, Wendy Elizabeth and J.B. are whiny (the latter to a lesser extent) and hyperactive. They watch a lot of television, and often eat strange things like literal bags of sugar or meals such as "their favorite", herring and toothpaste sandwiches. Their favorite show is The Squishy Bearz Rainbow of Enchanted Fun Minute, a spoof of the Care Bears. They have similarities in their personalities, but also differences. J.B. is slightly low on overall intelligence, but has a more even temper and better control of his emotions, while Wendy Elizabeth is a bit smarter, but also very emotionally fragile, crying or sobbing over the slightest bad or undesirable thing that may happen to her (such as getting a defective bicycle bell for her birthday, getting a "D" on a test, or initially getting no treats on Halloween), sometimes causing natural disasters like earthquakes in doing so. Nonetheless, both children are generally shown to be goodhearted and love Eek and their mother very much. Mittens (voiced by Dan Castellaneta in 1992–1994, John Kassir in 1995–1997) – Eek's friend, a fellow cat, has light blue fur, always wears red mittens (owing to his name), and he belongs to an old woman with failing sight. He suffers from extreme paranoia and he always ends a sentence with the word "Man" (e.g. "Look out, man!"). Mittens appears to have been based on Dennis Hopper's unnamed photojournalist character from Apocalypse Now, even portraying the equivalent character in the episode "Eekpocalypse Now!"
Supporting characters The Squishy Bearz – Four colorful bears with their own children's TV program called The Squishy Bearz Rainbow of Enchanted Fun Minute set in the land of Toodlesnook in a parody of the Care Bears. Kozy (voiced by Jaid Barrymore in earlier episodes, Elizabeth Daily in later episodes) – A yellow bear who has a happy and friendly attitude. Puffy (voiced by Cam Clarke) – A blue bear who has a happy and friendly attitude. Wuz Wuz (voiced by Cam Clarke) – A pink bear who has a happy and friendly attitude. Pierre (voiced by Bill Kopp) – A green bear who speaks with a French accent, wears a beret, is bitter and cynical, but also carries considerably more intelligence and common-sense than the others and often has to save them from their own naivety and stop disasters in the making. Granny (voiced by Charlie Adler) – An old lady that Eek often encounters. Steven – A squirrel who lives in a nearby tree. Steven and his family are too incredibly boring for even Eek to stand being around them for long. Eek first met them during one of his evasions from Sharky. They even prove to be boring when Sharky finally gets in. Susan – The wife of Steven. Steven Junior – The son of Steven. Hally – The daughter of Steven. Acorn – The son of Steven. Gunter – The son of Steven. Piggy the Penguin (voiced by Cam Clarke) – First appearing in the episode "The Lord of the Fleas" (a parody of Lord of the Flies), Piggy is a small penguin with thick eyeglasses who can often be seen sporting a pig mask. He is often seen in the company of a larger and deeper-voiced penguin as they take part in the bizarre circumstances of the show. Often, in a running gag, Piggy will discover something strange and attempt to inform his larger companion, who then responds by saying "Shut up Piggy!" Piggy has a distinct British accent, another reference to Lord of the Flies. Piggy returns several times in quick cameos and occasionally takes a larger role. Hank and Jib (voiced by Dan Castellaneta and Bill Kopp) – A pair of government scientists working at Cape Carbunkle a ground control station. A running gag has them clutching cups of coffee and conversing in dull tones while in the company of other scientists attempting to get the Hubble Space Telescope operational. However, a character or object from the show's main story usually causes the telescope either malfunction or to point to somewhere on Earth like a beach where Fabio is relaxing. Once one of the outcomes happen, Hank would ask "Who wants lunch?" or a variation of that. On other occasions, Hank and Jib would work on an experiment with drawbacks that the governor had forewarned them about.