The Adventures of Periwinkle and Stinky

 

Periwinkle groomed her furs and waited by the Teleportation Tunnel for Stinky's arrival.  She had something different planned for today's Adventure, and she hoped he would like it.  The Tunnel started to shake and, with the familiar WOOSH, Stinky flew out, almost knocking her down.  The tabbies giggled, whisker kissed, and exchanged paw pats.  Soon, Stinky asked, "So, what are we doing today?"  Periwinkle replied, "I was thinking about the fact that you and I are cartoon cats and wondered about other cartoon cats.  I thought we might research to learn more about them.   "That's a cool idea.  I often wonder about the others," said Stinky.

They headed to the table where Periwinkle's Mom had set up the laptop for them.

Periwinkle and Stinky both agreed the list should start with the big orange tabby cat named Garfield. Periwinkle read aloud, “Garfield was created in 1978. He loves lasagna and taking naps.”Stinky’s eyes lit up. “He sounds like my kind of cat! But… maybe too much lasagna. I think I would prefer Temptations.” They both laughed and agreed that Garfield’s favorite hobby was definitely eating.  Periwinkle continued, "He is usually seen eating, sleeping, or trying to avoid work. He often appears with two other characters, John Arbuckle, his human owner, and Odie, the dog. Garfield is always getting into some type of trouble in his comics and always manages to get out of it. Garfield, the comic strip, was first published in 1978 and has been a hit with people ever since. A few years after Garfield was initially published, it became a TV show. The series ran for nine seasons and is still being aired to this day on various channels around the world. They found a video showing how Garfield's lasgna eating has evolved over the years.

Stinky reminded Periwinkle that the oldest cartoon cat was Felix. Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. A young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he is often considered one of the most recognized cartoon characters in history. Felix was the first fully realized recurring animal character in the history of American film animation.  They spent some time watching Felix's first movie.

Periwinkle asked Stinky, "Do you know who the other famous tuxie cartoon cat is?"  "Suffering succotash, I sure do," he replied.  Periwinkle rolled her eyes but laughed since he was right. It was Sylvester the cat.  She continued, "Sylvestor is a tuxedo cat known for its black and white features. He's most recognized by his lisp and is usually shown speaking with his tongue out. He will often spray people when he is talking and loves to go on long rants. He is most known for his role in the Looney Tunes cartoons and chasing Speedy Gonzales, Hippety Hopper, or Tweety. He has had some of the best catchphrases of all animated cats because, while trying to eat Tweety Bird, it usually backfires on him like "I'll get you next time, birdie," "Gee, I'm hungry," or "I'm just one bad kitty, huh?" He was voiced by Mel Blanc and made his debut on November 18, 1950, with A Tale of Two Kitties. He has been seen in a total of 47 cartoons during his career from 1951-1966 before being retired after completing The Jet" Cage.

Reesie heard the tabbies giggling as they watched the videos and came over to see if she could help.  

Periwinkle and Stinky said she was welcome to help with their research.  Together, they found more famous cartoon cats.

"Hey, I found one," exclaimed Reesie.  She went on to say, "The world's most famous cat and mouse duo dates back to the 1940s. Their claim to fame is a series of shorts that feature Tom the cat chasing Jerry the mouse, and Jerry chasing Tom right back. This routine never fares well for either of them. Tom Cat, also known as Thomas "Tom" Cat, is one of the two main characters of the popular show.  Tom is a domestic short-haired cat who has blue and gray furs. He is usually depicted as an antagonist of Jerry, who is a mouse. In the show, he's continually after him but always ends up with bad luck for himself. Yet, he still manages to seem likable enough that it doesn't really matter if they are friends or not, because we know we cats don't get along well with mice.

They all agreed that one of the most famous cartoon kitties was Hello Kitty. Stinky read from the laptop, "Hello Kitty was created by Japanese company Sanrio in 1974.  She first appeared on a small coin purse.  Her full name is Kitty White, and she has a twin sister named Mimmy who wears a yellow bow.  Even though she doesn’t have a mouth, people imagine her feelings through her eyes and actions—she represents kindness and friendship everywhere. She even has her own theme parks in Japan! She celebrated her 50th Anniversary last year."

Reesie left to go take a nap and Periwinkle and Stinky realized they were both starving.  They decided to stop their research and have a snack. 

While they enjoyed their snack, they talked about all the other famous cartoon cats they wanted to share.  They decided that they needed to have another Adventure to do more research since there was so much to read and learn. After they finished their snack, the tabbies curled up side by side for a quick nap before Stinky had to leave. They whisker kissed and paw patted. “You know what I learned?” Stinky whispered sleepily. “What’s that?” Periwinkle asked. "That no matter how many famous cartoon cats there are, none of them could ever be as fun as you and me.”Periwinkle gave him a gentle paw pat. “I was just about to say the same thing.” And with that, they drifted into a cozy nap, dreaming of Garfield’s lasagna, Tom’s chases, Hello Kitty’s coin purse, and Felix’s bag of tricks.

When they woke up, Stinky visited with Periwinkle's Mom and fursibs.  He thanked Reesie for her help and told her they planned to do this again since there were so many great cartoon cats.  Reesie promised to help again.  With one last whisker kiss, he entered the Tunnel and, with a WOOSH, headed home.

To be continued.  Do you have a favorite cartoon cat you would like them to check out?