The Houndcats Cartoon

The Houndcats cartoon is about TV animals spoofing Mission: Impossible.

The hounds walk on their hind legs (anthropomorphised). In other words they are bipedal. The group consists of:

• Musselmutt who is a big sheepdog-type with huge strength.
• Dingdog, a dog in a Confederate uniform and therefore from the Southern states of America.
• Stutz, who is cat (that’s why this article is justified!). He is dressed like an car driver from days gone by – the early 1900s perhaps.
• Puttypuss, “a pudgy cat-master of disguises”.
• Rhubarb, a dog who is an inventor and scientist dressed in an oversized coat and a large, floppy hat.

They travelled in a Stutz Bearcat – an American sports car of the era of the first world war. The car was named: Sparkplug.

The Houndcats were involved in various exploits such as:

• The Double Dealing Diamond Mission
• The Ruckus on the Rails Mission
• The Great Gold Train Mission
• Misbehavin’ Raven Mission

Things always went awry despite careful planning. However, they always end up being triumphant.

The Houndcats had their own NBC show from 1972-1973. There were 13 episodes. It was produced by DePatie-Freleng.

The voices were as follows:

• Aldo Ray for Musselmutt
• Stu Gilliam for Dingdog
• Daws Butler for Stutz
• Joe Besser of the Three Stooges for Puttypuss
• Arte Johnson for Rhubarb