Trivia / Top Cat

• Baby Name Trend Killer: In the Spanish dub, Benny is named "Benito". Due to this, the name became unpopular in Mexico as it began to mean 'fat', relating to Benny's shape.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Don Gato (kinda like Mr. Cat) in Latin America.^note While most English-speaking tropers only hear the term Don in the context of a stereotypical mafia boss, the term as used in Mexico has nothing to do with criminals. It's more a term of respect and endearment for the topmost authoritative figure in a community, although usually only used in rural or low-income communities. It's a very fitting translation to the name Top Cat, that even better portrays how his followers feel about him.
  • In Brazil is Manda-Chuva, which is an old informal term (think "head honcho" or "big cheese") for leaders (its literal meaning is "Rainmaker").
• Dueling Dubs: The series was dubbed twice in Polish. The first was for VHS releases by Polskie Nagrania, and was called Kot Tip Top (lit. Tip Top Cat). Because the first dub was incomplete, a new dub called Kocia Ferajna (lit. Catfellas) was made for Cartoon Network's Poland feed.
• The Other Darrin:
  • All of the original cast reprised their roles for Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, with the exceptions of Maurice Gosfield and Allen Jenkins, who had died in the interim. In the film, Avery Schreiber replaced Gosfield, and John Stephenson (who did Fancy-Fancy's voice) did double duty as Dibble.
  • For the 1972 TV movie Yogi's Ark Lark, Top Cat was voiced by Daws Butler, while Benny was voiced by John Stephenson.
• The Other Marty: Mike O'Shea was selected to voice Top Cat at first, but he took too long to record the episodes, so he was replaced with Arnold Stang mid-production.
• Recycled Script: Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats is a feature length remake of "The Missing Heir".
• Referenced by...: Bindy from Being Bindy watches Top Cat with Janey.
• Technology Marches On: One of the Running Gags of the show is Dibble catching T.C. in the act of using his police call box to make personal phone calls. With the introduction of portable two-way radios and mobile phones, beat officers relied on call boxes less and less until they were eventually discontinued and dismantled, which can lead to some confusion among modern viewers as to why Dibble was making such a big deal about Top Cat using a random phone in an alleyway.
• What Could Have Been:
  • It's rumored that the show was going to get a second season, but it was scrapped due to Maurice Gosfield passing away and Hanna-Barbera not being able to find a replacement actor who could match his voice.
  • When a second round of Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 movies was in the planning stages, one of them was a second Top Cat movie.
  • Aside from the 2011 movie, there was an earlier Top Cat reboot that almost came to be, but it never got past the development stages. Judging from the concept art that has been posted online, it looks like it would have been in a similar vein to Yo Yogi!.
  • Before Arnold Stang was selected to voice TC, the likes of Andy Devine, Mickey Rooney, Jerry Lester, Larry Storch, Mike O'Shea, and Max Rosenbloom auditioned for the role, as said here.
  • The late actress Barbara Nichols was supposed to play a character, but it was scrapped. Daws Butler was also slated to voice a member of TC's gang, but Joe Barbera said no, since he was already voicing too many characters for the studio.

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