TOP CAT FICTIONAL MOVIE POSTER
Was bored during the COVID-19 outbreak and gotten the inspiration from Don Gato: El Inicio de la Pandilla movie, and finally decided to post this here. Created under Illustrator and Photoshop, I'm not sure why I wanted to do this but decided to create a fictitious movie after learning there's been two theatrical movies from a different country. I'd say it took me about a month to create, and this is just one of the few fictitious movie posters I had in mind and will probably be updating this as well. For the names, they are amalgamation of actors who portrayed each character.
TOP CAT - I decided to blend both Top Cat's original voice actor Arnold Stang and the English dub voice of Top Cat in the theatrical movie and it's CGI sequel, Jason Harris Katz, hence the former sounds remarkably like the latter. It's interesting to note the voice Stang delivered for Top Cat in later media (Purina Superbowl XXX Commercial,
Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, Yogi's Treasure Hunt) sounds completely different from how the yellow feline originally sounded in both the series and that Kellogg's Commercial. Nonetheless, Harris is a good replacement.
BENNY "THE BALL" - This name is a blend of multiple actors who've voiced Benny over the years. First name "Maurice" is not only from the character's original voice actor Maurice Gosfield, but from Maurice LaMarche, who voiced the character in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Mind Games."Â Last name "Schredgerson" is from Avery Schreiber, Chris Edgerly and John Stephenson. Though not a particular fan of how Benny's voice sounded in Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, I just really like the name "Avery Schreiber," though there were a couple of instances Schreiber sounded like Gosfield. Much like the aforementioned Maurice LaMarche, Chris Edgerly does a decent job sounding like Gosfield when voicing the character in Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat: Begins. I originally wasn't considering incorporating John Stephenson's name in there but I felt "Schredger" didn't sound right, so I simply added the "son" in the last name. John Stephenon voiced Benny in Yogi's Ark Lark, but sadly, Fancy remains silent, so Stephenson doesn't voice him like he did in the Top Cat series.
SPOOK - There's something about the beatnik personality Leo De Lyon provides the character in both Top Cat and Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats I love and hope he retains that if there ever is a movie or show about these characters. I originally wasn't going to add Benjamin Diskin, who gives Spook a surfer dude accent in both Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat: Begins, in the 'actor' who voices the olive furred feline in this fictional movie, but seeing I have composited the actors who portrayed the respective character, I decided to incorporate his name anyways. Besides, I kinda liked the idea of the being a biker in the CGI animated movie.
CHOO-CHOO "CHOOCH" - The "M. Kaplan" part is a reference to Marvin Kaplan, who not only voiced Choo-Choo in Top Cat, but reprises the role in Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, Fender Bender 500, and Wake, Rattle & Roll. Despite giving Chooch a higher pitched Brooklyn accent, there's something I liked how Jason Harris Katz voiced him in Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat: Begins, which is what the "J" stands for.
FANCY-FANCY - For some reason, I really like the last name "Piazzi" from Matthew Piazzi, who provided Fancy's voice in Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat: Begins. First name "Stephen" is taken from John Stephenson, who voiced this Casanova in Top Cat and Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats. As an interesting side note, Chris Edgerly, who voices Benny the Ball in the aforementioned theatrical films, is credited as voicing Fancy in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, alongside Maurice LaMarche.
(THE) BRAIN - When it came to doing Brain, I tried hard not to have him being 'attached' to the bottom of TC's cane akin to his shadow in the Don Gato: El Inicio de la Pandilla poster, but when I tried aligning the other characters under Top Cat's cane, the other five didn't look right, so I had to use Brain in order to make the characters' silhouettes to be connected under Top Cat. And if you look closely, you can see his whiskers are bent, compared to the others. That's how Ănima Estudios portrayed Brain not only in their promotional materials but their respective films, Top Cat: The Movie and Top Cat: Begins. Liking that, I decided to give Brain bent whiskers, feeling it suits him. As for the name, apparently, as I learned not long ago, "Leo De Lyon" is a stage name Irving Levin is professionally known by. With that tidbit, I decided to use Leo's real name for 'actor' to play the orange cat, giving the feel of different people playing an individual character. And "Harris" is, of course, from Jason Harris Katz.