Counter-clockwise from left to right: Tiny Head, Cutie Snoot, Dander, Yawp, Ird, Mr. Mewser, Smidgeon, Goosers and Sinister Squirrel
Meow, meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow, meow, meow-meow!
Meow-meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow, meow, meow!
(instrumental chorus)
Meow, meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow, meow, meow-meow!
Meow-meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow, meow, meow!
The Twisted Whiskers Show!
The Twisted Whiskers Show is a computer-animated series based off of the eponymous greeting cards from American Greetings. A co-production between American Greetings, Moonscoop, DQ Entertainment and Telegael, it is the first program to air on Discovery Family, once known as The Hub.—Theme song
The series revolves around the zany antics and misadventures of a quirky cast of animals, usually comprised of cats and dogs, among them being the feisty puppy Yawp and his naïve calico cat companion Dander, long-suffering Labrador Goosers, shark-like Von Ripper, mean-streaked Cutie Snoot, food-filching Dine and Dash, high-strung Zippy, sophisticated Mr. Mewser and aptly-named Tiny Head.
Unlike Animaniacs, however, the characters aren't restricted to their own segments and, in fact, are often seen interacting together in numerous episodes, even when said episode focuses on a specific character(s).
The Twisted Whiskers Show provides examples of:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: This being a cartoon, the animals, while still quite freaky to look at with their big eyes and human teeth, are at least adorable-looking compared to the even more grotesque and unsettling greeting cards which the series originated from, which used realistic animals.
- Adaptational Species Change: In the animated shorts that came before the series, Flouncie was not a big dog, but a small orange tabby cat.
- All-CGI Cartoon: Albeit one that uses animation principles that wouldn't look out of place in something like The Ren & Stimpy Show and Looney Tunes.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Compared to most of the other animal characters in the series, Cutie Snoot stands out by having pink fur.
- Angry Guard Dog: Von Ripper, appropriately enough, plays this role in "Fish Market Frenzy", "Love Hurts" and "Don't Fear the Ripper".
- Animal Gender-Bender: Dander is a male calico cat, which, while technically possible and therefore existent, is very few and far between.
- Animal Motifs: Von Ripper has a rather shark-like appearance and an aggressively vicious personality to go with it.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: True to their propensity for stealing food, Dine and Dash have striped markings resembling the uniforms on prisoners.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Mr. Mewser's mouse butler Smidgeon, even if his master's abuse of him is unintentional.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: Von Ripper, natch. At times, his antagonism even extends to the other dog characters, such as Goosers in "Love Hurts".
- Butt-Monkey: Most of the characters (such as Goosers, Dine and Dash) have their fair share of misfortune and humiliation, but the biggest offender is Tiny Head's pet fish Gasper, who is on the receiving end of his friend's well-meaning yet harmful tokens of kindness.
- Canine Companion: Goosers to Claude.
- Captain Oblivious: Tiny Head is one of the nicest characters in the series, but he is also rather oblivious to what is going on and often prone to unintentionally causing bad luck for other characters, including his fish Gasper.
- Cats Are Mean:
- Cutie Snoot deliberately sets up Goosers to make him look bad in front of his owner Claude in her debut episode "Feline Fatale", and tries (unsuccessfully) to sabotage her rival Snootie Cute's efforts to win in "The Good, The Bad and The Cutie".
- Averted with Dander, Mister Mewser and Tiny Head, the latter of whom is the nicest character on the series, if a bit oblivious and insensitive.
- Cats Are Superior: Mr. Mewser acts like a sophisticated gentleman and lives all by himself in a large Victorian mansion.
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: The episode "To Scratch or Not to Scratch" revolves around Dander trying to curb his instincts to scratch his owner's furniture, fearing being declawed if he fails.
- Cute Kitten: Cutie Snoot. It's right there in her name!
- Deliberately Monochrome: The entirety of "The Big Tuna Sausage Heist" is set in grayscale to fit the Film Noir homage.
- The Faceless: Fittingly for a comedic animal-centered series paying homage to the likes of Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, all of the humans, with the exception of a very brief shot near the end of "Mewser Faces Realty", are only ever seen from the neck or waist down.
- Formally-Named Pet: Mr. Mewser, despite not having an owner(s).
- Here We Go Again!:
- At the end of "High Wire High Jinks", the fire hydrant containing Sinister Squirrel which was shot into space earlier comes crashing back down into Goosers' yard, and when Goosers takes a look, a wet Sinister emerges from said hydrant and begins laughing maniacally...
- In the opening skit before "Love Hurts", Cutie Snoot, after successfully getting her head free from the glass she was trying to drink from, makes the mistake of attempting it again, resulting in her head getting stuck in the glass once more.
- "Attack of the Giant Mutant Bunny" ends with Goosers succumbing to the effects of the mutated vegetables Claude gives to him after having dealt with the similarly-mutated titular antagonist.
- At the end of "Dark and Stormy Night", Yawp and Dander manage to flee from Mr. Mewser's manor and drive off in their car, but unfortunately for them, just when they think they're safe, Mewser suddenly pops up in the car behind them, thinking that they're going on a road trip, which sends Yawp and Dander into a screaming panic.
- "Last Gasper" ends with Tiny Head finding Gasper at a pet store and deciding to take him in, thinking he is another fish while the latter tries unsuccessfully to convince him that he is Gasper.
- Identity Amnesia: In "Don't Fear the Ripper", Von Ripper lands headfirst after a scuffle with Dine and Dash, changing him from a dangerous guard dog to a friendly pooch who likes the two cats and is even willing to help them gather lots of food. At the end of the episode, though, a bundle of cat food lands on his head after Dine and Dash's food stash lands on top of him, changing him back to his normal self and allowing him to give the two cat burglars what for.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: Yes, there are cats and dogs heard singing along, but otherwise the theme song has no actual lyrics.
- iSophagus: In "Love Hurts", Flouncie's squeaky toy ends up getting swallowed by her, and when she presses her stomach, the toy emits its squeak. At the end of the episode, it finally flies out of Flouncie after she lands on Goosers after tripping and stumbling, and Von Ripper inadvertently swallows the squeaky toy Goosers has been trying to give to her, resulting in him running off in a panic.
- Meaningful Name:
- Dine and Dash's names are a play on the term of the same name, which means to eat at a restaurant and leave without paying. As such, their whole schtick revolves around trying to steal food, usually failing in the process.
- Tiny Head's name is a very blatant giveaway to his appearance.
- Mistaken for Murderer: In "Dark and Stormy Night", Yawp and Dander seek refuge in Mr. Mewser's mansion to get out of the rain, but when they see the broken wooden statue of Edgar Allan Poe Mewser accidentally knocked down earlier, they believe it to be the corpse of an actual person and become paranoid that Mr. Mewser may be a murderer. Their fear is only made worse when they see Mewser feeding the remains of the aforementioned statue through a wood chipper.
- My Instincts Are Showing: At one point in "No Place Like Home", Mr. Mewser finds Ird perched on the banister of the front porch's stairs and looms behind him in a predatory manner. However, just as he is about to eat Ird, he realizes the audience is watching and apologizes for nearly lapsing into a feral state, promising it won't happen again as Ird flies away.
- No Name Given: Goosers' owner Claude does have a name, but the other recurring human characters (the owners of Dander and Von Ripper) do not.
- Pounds Are Animal Prisons: Yawp is captured by a dogcatcher in "Busted" and taken to an animal shelter which is depicted in this manner.
- Prison Episode: "Busted", which revolves around Yawp being mistaken for a stray dog and sent to the pound, leaving it up to Dander to break him out.
- Restaurant-Owning Episode: "Food of the Dogs" centers around Yawp and Dander deciding to set up an impromptu restaurant in a dumpster outside a restaurant they were trying to get food from.
- Say My Name: Claude will often yell Goosers' name whenever the latter has gotten in big trouble.
- Scary Teeth: While the other animal characters in the series have unusually human-like teeth, Von Ripper, on the other hand, has sharp, pointy teeth to give him a more threatening and shark-like appearance.
- Screwball Squirrel: Sinister Squirrel is, true to his name, a crazy squirrel who serves as an antagonist to the other characters, most notably Goosers.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Goosers' owner Claude has a tendency to use sophisticated words in his dialogue.
- Suddenly Speaking:
- In their first appearance in the series, "Fish Market Frenzy", Dine and Dash were completely silent, which also applies to some of their other episodes. By the time of "Bear with Us", however, they started to speak like most of the other animal characters.
- Von Ripper, who usually communicates with barks and snarls, gains a speaking role in "Order of the Raised Leg".
- Cutie Snoot in episodes such as "Dad Blasted Varmints", "The Whistling Ghost", "The Big Tuna Sausage Heist" and "The Masked Amigo".
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Or in this case, Throw the Cats a Fish Bone. On a few rare occasions, Dine and Dash will be on the winning end for once. The opening skit played before "Food of the Dogs" has them successfully eating Von Ripper's food before he comes in, and "Order of the Raised Leg" sees them exit the episode playing with a ball of yarn after escaping being mauled by Von Ripper and the other members of the titular organization.
- Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Tiny Head's name needs no additional explanation, as he's literally a full-grown cat with a comically miniscule noggin. This has not gone uncommented on every now and then, and it's even a plot point in his debut episode "A Tiny Bed for a Tiny Head", where almost everyone is freaked out once they see him and his deformity, making it hard for him to be adopted.
- Title Montage: The title sequence is composed of clips from several episodes, particularly the earlier ones.
- Title Theme Tune: The show's title is uttered at the very end of the theme song.
- Vocal Dissonance: Ird the small bird has an unusually deep voice whenever he speaks.
- The Von Trope Family: Von Ripper.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In "Feline Fatale", Cutie Snoot constantly torments Goosers and then pins the blame on him while putting on a deceptively vulnerable ruse, fooling Claude into thinking that Goosers is being a bully to Cutie Snoot.
- You Don't Look Like You: The versions of Goosers and Flouncie between the original shorts and this series are so drastically different, one can swear that without learning their names, they're basically different characters.
- Goosers in the series proper is a yellow Labrador Retriever, where as in the shorts, he looks more like a deformed Scooby-Doo/Shiba Inu hybrid.
- Flouncie is hit with this harder than Goosers. She was a small, aloof tabby cat in the shorts, but an big, excitable dog in the series.
