The Houndcats

The Houndcats is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes were produced.

Plot
Loosely based on the CBS adventure series Mission: Impossible, it was headed by a combined team of (three) dogs and (two) cats, hence the name. The show bears some similarity and may have been inspired by the Western-action-adventure TV series Bearcats, which featured Rod Taylor and Dennis Cole as mercenaries roaming the turn of the century Old West in their Stutz Bearcat in search of fortune and adventure. Each episode begins with the Houndcats receiving their orders from their unseen "Chief", whose message is played on an old-fashioned gramophone, player-piano or other device, parodying the tape recorder scene at the start of most episodes of Mission Impossible. However, the words "this message will self-destruct in five seconds", always takes the Houndcats by surprise, causing them to run away from the explosion.

Members

 * The "Houndcats" were led by cool and confident cat Stutz.
 * Ding Dog was his blue Civil War uniform-wearing right-hand man with bad timing and judgment.
 * Mussel Mutt was the muscle - a large, bulky, and ever hungry herding dog whose eyes were almost always hidden under his hat.
 * Putty Puss was a tiny cat - the disguise expert.
 * Dog Rhubarb was the scientist. He wore a long coat and a large sombrero (you usually just saw his nose sticking out from under it) that hid his gadgets.

The group travelled in a junkheap Stutz Bearcat named Sparkplug.

Voices

 * Michael Bell - Stutz, The Raven
 * Joe Besser - Putty Puss
 * Daws Butler - Rhubarb (three episodes), Dr. Strangeless, Grogan
 * Stu Gilliam - Ding Dog
 * Arte Johnson - Rhubarb, Captain Blight
 * Aldo Ray - Mussel Mutt
 * Joan Gerber - Madame X
 * Bob Holt -
 * John Stephenson - Doctor Doll