(AfroGamers.com) When it comes to classic cartoons, the cat is a popular character. Actually, cats and dogs are the animals you’re going to see more often than not. Maybe throw a bird in there for good measure. Let’s get into the five greatest cartoon cats. Where does your favorite fall?
5. Garfield
Listen folks, I really don’t want Garfield on the list. He’s my least favorite cartoon cat and if I could put Snagglepuss at fifth with a straight face, I would. However, I know I’d be chuckling to put Garfield at number 11 and pad the list with cat teams.
However, along with a few other cats on this list, he’s one of the most recognizable cartoon cats. Actually, Garfield might be the most popular unless you prefer Sylvester or Tom to Garfield—as you should.
4. Heathcliff
My personal favorite cartoon cat and the superior orange tabby, Heathcliff was a neighborhood terror who are of garbage cans and fought dogs. He wasn’t regularly fleeing them like Tom, Sylvester, and so on—Heathcliff wanted all the smoke, got active, and even had a cool theme for his show. Garfield harassed Odie and Nermal and tricked Jon out to make lasagna. I don’t even think Garfield catches the mouse in Jon’s house. It’s all very concerning.
I’d say that Heathcliff is far less known than Garfield while also being far less annoying. He basically Garfield if Top Cat and Popeye were the inspiration for him.
3. SWAT Kats
Listen, this was the Radical Squadron, alright? This was the SWAT F’N Kats! They had a jet that shot missiles and constantly did the police’s job for them. They were vigilantes but they made all of their gear from city scrap—and still show up to do their co-workers’ jobs for them.
Razor and T-bone were Megakat City’s greatest defenders when villains came along giving the cops are hard time. That’s what always boggled me about SWAT Kats—they booted their two best pilots from the Enforcers and sent them separate scrap at the junkyard.
Fabulous. Not only that, these two made a new jet and weapons to continue fighting for justice. Listen, the Enforcers had to get a lot of city funding to keep everyone safe. Then the villain of the episode shows up starts clapping people, the police are overwhelmed—it’s a scene—and who saves the day? Two cats in a repurposed jet.
It’s like Batman where a handful of vigilantes are tackling a city’s issues. The difference here is that the cops have advanced enough weaponry to deal with them. Of course, they’re also dealing with the hard-nosed, achievement-chasing Commander Feral.
2. ThunderCats
Leaving the dystopian city of Megakat City, we go to Thundera—home of the ThunderCats. These are the second team of cool cats on the list. I had to put ThunderCats higher than SWAT Cats mainly because this cartoon made more progress storyline-wise. Then it actually picked up a reboot. That’s the weight of an 80s cult classic: it will have a following for a few seasons, end abruptly and most likely on a cliffhanger, and remain in syndication.
Now, syndication is what keeps these series on our minds. In most cases, syndication lasts longer than the broadcast run of the cartoon itself. But the ThunderCats were made of sterner stuff than the Radical Squadron or the Street Sharks—they simply didn’t have Ninja Turtle longevity.
However, they could’ve had that longevity if they had a studio and a network that felt “ThunderCats is the lynchpin of our Saturday line-up!” Probably the coolest cats on this list as you had a variety of Mumm-Ra-stomping cats on this team.
The Greatest Cartoon Cat: Tom
Tom Cat’s battles with Jerry Mouse made for some the funniest six-to-nine-minute shorts not involving Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In all honesty, Jerry gave Tom a rough time all though the Greatest Cartoon Cat did mess with Jerry as well. I mean, once Tom knew that Jerry was in the wall and spared no expense to kill Jerry.
If you’ve seen Tom and Jerry, you’d know that Tom failed miserably each time. I mean, he used everything to deal with this mouse. I’ve seen these cartoons several times over and I still pull for an episode where Jerry gets comeuppance.
What makes Tom the greatest cartoon cat is that throughout the decades Tom—like the unlisted Sylvester—was able to see the reboot treatment more than once. Tom did it all and didn’t have to speak the majority of the time. While he was a lazy cat who laid around most of the time—as a cat is wont to do—he has talent. Tom can sing and play double bass among other instruments.
Movies, video games, comics—Tom has done it all along with enemy and occasional friend, Jerry. They form one of the strongest fremenyships in animation not named Bugs and Daffy or Popeye and Bluto.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.