Heathcliff (1980-1987): Starring Mel Blanc, Donna Christie, Henry Corden, June Foray, Stan Jones, Marilyn Lightstone, Danny Mann, Derke McGrath, Don Messick, Russi Taylor, Frank Welker, Danny Wells...Director Bruno Bianchi, Based On The Comics By Brand Anderson A flood of hazy memories assaulted my brain when I discovered that Heathcliff was on the IMDb. If this cartoon series was on from 1980-1987, I was approximately 1-7 years old! It must have been the first cartoon I ever saw. I had never read the comic books (it wouldn't be till the 90's when I started picking up a newspaper). Heathcliff (Mel Blanc) seemed to be on twice in one day, for I recall waking up as early as 7am to get ready for school, turning on the TV and Heathcliff would be on. Then there was another episode immediately following school around 2pm. Heathcliff was a male alley cat who was dirty, gruff, macho, a bully, poor and street-smart. He was in love with Sonja (Marilyn Lightstone) who was upscale, pretty and cleaner than him. There were various mean alley cats, dogs and other creatures lurking about but Heathcliff always protected his territory. I don't quite remember much of it because quite frankly I still had bed-head when I would see this cartoon. But this was one of the many morning cartoons and afternoon cartoons that I recall fondly. The children of the 80's were blessed by having experienced better cartoons. Many of the voice-over actors were quite talented and even famous, the cartoons were far better-written and didn't depend on the "Anime/computer graphics" cartoons do today. Lost is the magic of these types of cartoons. Other successful 80's cartoons included Garfield, Care Bears, My Little Ponies and Rainbow Bright. Ah, to be a child of the 80's once again!
Review of Heathcliff
