The Ratties was a 1988 British cartoon consisting of 26 5-minute episodes starring around the lives and misadventures of a small family of rats that lived in the walls of a British country house, emulating (if not parodying) the lives of its human occupants. It was created by Laura Milligan, the daughter of comedian Spike Milligan, and Mike Wallis. It had a very distinct style, with the characters engaging in silent slapstick and comedic actions, whilst a narrator, the series' sole voice actor, provided further context as to what was going on.
The titular rat family consisted of patriarch Uncle Matty, matriarch Aunt Hatty, the mischievous twins known as the Fatty Brothers, the friendly if milquetoast Tatty, and the child genius Baby Batty.
This series includes examples of:
- The Chew Toy: Uncle Matty is always the butt of slapstick comedy, usually in the form of bullying from the Fatty Brothers.
- Child Prodigy: Baby Batty, who is always described as a child genius of improbably high IQ and skills in every episode.
- Coordinated Clothes: Zigzagged with the Fatty Brothers, who wear broadly the same style of outfit (red jacket, shirt, shorts, boots, gloves, and red hats), but there are key differeces between them, notable the color of their shirts and the style of their hates.
- Desperately Craves Affection: Tatty's defining characteristic is that he desperately wants people to like him, causing him to try all manner of random ploys in an attempt to get positive attention from humans.
- Dinner Deformation: Baby Bummer in the episode "Baby Sitting" is fed a whole apple, and promptly swallows it in one bite to end up shaped like an apple.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Aside from having different colored shirts, one yellow and one pink, and different styled hats, the easiest way to tell one Fatty Brother from the other is that only one wears a necklace shaped to resemble as piece of cheese.
- Lemony Narrator: Half the fun of the show is the absurd, often barely related running commentary of the narrator, the only person who actually speaks in the cartoon. The other half is watching the slapstick antics of the Ratties.
- Nephewism: The Ratties' patriarch and matriarch are referred to as Uncle Matty and Aunt Hatty.
- Once per Episode: Tatty daydreams about one of his failed efforts at befriending humans.
- Women Are Wiser: Subverted. Aunt Hatty acts the part of the unflappable matriarch, but gets just as involved with the silly antics as her husband and the younger Ratties.
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The Woobie: Tatty's efforts to earn human friends are so endearing that his constant failures make him the most genuinely sympathetic of the Ratties. - Yank the Dog's Chain: In the episode "Circus Time", Tatty tries to help out a circus clown whose performing dog has run away. Initially, things actually go well for Tatty; the clown is genuinely appreciative of the help, and the audience likes him. Then he is revealed as a rat, an attending health inspector demands he be sacked, and the clown's dog shows back up and takes his job back, leaving Tatty out in the cold and without a friend once more.
