CatDog Catcher

CatDog Catcher

Episode	Season 3, Episode 4
Airdate	November 6, 1999
Previous Episode	Remain Seated
Next Episode	Extra! Extra!
Directed by	Chuck Klein, Russ Mooney
Written by	Andy Rheingold
Music by	Denis M. Hannigan

CatDog Catcher is the fourth episode of CatDog from the third season.

Characters Present

Summary

The dogcatcher is on the prowl and even Cat and Dog aren't safe! Will Cat and Dog make a prison break or be forced to sing "Jailhouse Rock" with the Greaser dogs?

Recap

In the Nearburg mayor's office, Rancid Rabbit is seen about to take his daily bath of coins. He discovers the coin amount for his tub is minimum, however, and decides "it's time to fleece the public again" of their money, by arresting them for not having licenses.

Meanwhile, at a Park, CatDog is yet again on the run from the Greaser Dogs to avoid yet another pounding, but when the Greasers corner CatDog at an alley, Rancid arrives in a dogcatcher's van and captures Cliff, arresting him for not having a Dog License. With Cliff being put in the van, Shriek and Lube are next; when she tells him to run for it, Lube runs inside the van unwillingly and unwittingly; as Shriek walks into the van, she begins to suspect Lube is stupid (which, incidentally, he is). Before driving off with the arrested Greasers, Rancid then approaches Cat, demanding to know of there’s any unlicensed dogs. Cat lies and the Rabbit that there's only himself, a cat, while he has Dog hiding in a garbage can (had Rancid found them together, he would have taken them both away). Rancid then leaves, leaving Cat to jump for joy that the Greasers are on their way to jail.

At the pound underneath city hall, the Greasers are thrown in and demand to be let out. Rancid tells them they have to pay to take a dog test if they want to get a license to get out of the pound. At CatDog's House, Cat packs some essentials in a picnic basket as he celebrates the Greasers' incarceration. Dog, however, hides and says they can't leave the house; with the Greasers locked up, he knows he’ll be next when Rancid catches them. Cat doesn't think Rancid will come after him in their home, but that's proven otherwise when they hear him at their front door and demanding entry. Upon barging into the house, ready to take Dog away, Rancid finds Cat disguised as a maid and using Dog as a scrub brush. The two have the greedy rabbit fooled for a while, but as he leaves, he declares he’ll be back, but before doing so, he tells Cat he missed a spot.

Back at city hall, the pound is full of dogs, and all the dogs have paid a fee to take a license test. Lube fails horribly when barking like a dog and Cliff fails after he howls like a wolf instead of a dog. Shriek was successful, but when she was asked a question regarding the MVP 1958 World Series, she was incorrect. As Rancid leaves, he tells the dogs they'll have plenty of time to try again. In Rancid's bathtub, he’s still dissatisfied with the lack amount of gold coins and begins searching for more victims.

At a clearing, Dunglap and Mervis play a game of football. but Rancid ruins their fun by arresting them for not having a Pig or Weasel License. Later, Eddie (who was chewing on a CatDog Dummy), Winslow (who was sunbathing), an Elephant (who was eating some peanuts), a Gopher, a Monkey, a Bird and Mr. Sunshine (who was jogging) become the greedy rabbit's next victims.

As CatDog returns to the park, a scared Dog tells Cat he wants to go back home and hide before Rancid finds them, but an ecstatic Cat wants to continue to bask in the fresh air since the Greasers are off the street. Dog scaredly informs him that nobody's on the street. Finally, Rancid arrives and tells CatDog that they're under arrest for not having a Dog or Cat License. Cat however add that he has a Cat License that he got in the 1970’s, when his friends didn't, labeling him a "loser". Rancid spares Cat, but still arrests Dog.

Outside city hall, Cat relaxes outside the wall, without having to worry about the Greasers pounding him and Dog pestering him. Inside the pound underneath the building, Dog and the incarcerated citizens pay their fees and fail their tests, even Shriek when she was asked a chemistry question. Rancid tells them they’ll all have plenty of time to try again and pass as long as they have plenty of money. The imprisoned citizens decide that they’re fed up with Rancid's selfishness and something needs to be done about it. Eddie tries to escape by biting the bars, but breaks his teeth; Mr. Sunshine, meanwhile, is lifting weights. The Greasers spot Dog and tell him about planning their prison break. Dog then writes a note for help and swallows it, making Cat vomit the same note. Dog asks for help, but after Cat refuses, at first, he finally relents when he realizes Dog is being fed gruel. Cat swallows a nail file and Dog vomits it out, at which point Shriek takes it and uses it to file her nails into the shape of a key. As Dog pulls Cat inside and Shriek tries to open the door, Mr. Sunshine punches it down with his new muscles. Freed from their incarceration, the other imprisoned citizens can escape, while CatDog, Mr. Sunshine, Mervis, Dunglap and the Greasers decide to deal with the greedy rabbit. Making their way through city hall, the mob arrives outside Rancid's master bathroom; Cliff silently informs Lube about a Surveillance Camera, and he then punches it out of commission. As Rancid enjoys his gold coin bath, his relaxed demeanor quickly turns to shock when he sees one of his cameras has been punched out. The mob then bursts into the bathroom and clobbers Rancid.

Rancid, in the end, is once again, defeated and receives a taste of his own medicine when he’s instead locked up in the pound with a grungy rabbit. Rancid is begging to be let out, and Lube, playing the role of the prison guard (apparently since the citizens had incapacitated Rancid's guards), asks him to bark like a Rabbit as he leaves. Rancid may not be getting out for a while, especially with the grungy rabbit beating him up.

Trivia

This episode reveals that no one knows what kind of animal Cornelius Sunshine is. Where Rancid seems to stammer a bit when he captured Mr. Sunshine, he just improvised and said “You’re under arrest for not having a license.”
For some reason, this episode is also known as "Dogcatcher in the Rye" in video releases, a reference to the novel Catcher in the Rye. Comcast calls it this name as well.
When Rancid captures Cliff, Cliff shouts at him with "Get your stinking paws off of me, you darn dirty rabbit!", a reference to the phrase "Get your paws off me you damn dirty ape!" from the 1968 film The Planet of The Apes.
The episode's name in the aforementioned video release is shared with an episode of another Nickelodeon animated series The Mighty B!.
The title of the episode is a reference to the villainous Child Catcher from the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Just like in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, when Caractacus, Truly, Jeremy, and Jemima disguised themselves as Jack-in-the-Boxes to hide from the Child Catcher when he comes in the house to see if there’s any children, Cat disguises himself as a maid and uses Dog as a scrub brush to hide him from Rancid Rabbit.
The script in the story is different than the episode, as since Dog is new to the Greasers's pack he has to help them escape without help from Cat, until Randolph explained to Rancid that no cat together with a dog should be in prison since it's only a Dog Pound. Rancid lets them free and Cliff outraged of this vows revenge on Dog for betraying him. On the bright side, the only territory CatDog will mark is their house and nowhere else outside.
Lola and Randolph were the only recurring/major characters to not appear in this episode or get captured by Rancid Rabbit.
It is implied that up until this episode, Shriek has been unaware of Lube's low intelligence.
When Dog is impounded and Cat is on the other side getting catered to, it can be seen as a parallel to the end of "Neferkitty" where the roles are reversed.

Gallery

The gallery for CatDog Catcher may be viewed here.