Henry's Cat

Henry's Cat is an animated children's television program, written by Stan Hayward and produced by Bob Godfrey, who was also the producer of Roobarb, a similar cartoon series from the 1970s. The show starred a laid-back, ponderous yellow cat, known only as Henry's Cat, and his many friends and enemies.

Henry's Cat was first screened in 1982 and five series were made in total; the series has enjoyed repeated showings since. It developed a cult following and is still very popular along with shows such as Bod, Button Moon, Pigeon Street, The Flumps and Mr Benn.

Henry's Cat's friends

 * Henry's Cat - laid-back, a daydreamer.
 * Chris Rabbit - Henry's Cat's best friend, an ever-enthusiastic, highly energetic blue rabbit.
 * Mosey Mouse - the opposite of Chris Rabbit, Mosey is dour and realistic.
 * Douglas Dog, Sammy Snail, Pansy Pig, Denise Duck, Ted Tortoise, Philippe Frog - miscellaneous friends of Henry's Cat. They all mean well, but often overestimate their own abilities in various ways.

His enemies

 * Farmer Giles - a (human) farmer, frequently inconvenienced by Henry's Cat's adventures.
 * Constable Bulldog - a very stern policeman (or policedog) who takes a very dim view of the gang's well-meaning escapades.
 * Rum Baa Baa - a criminal mastermind, and the most evil sheep in the whole world.

Henry
Henry himself never appeared on screen; the name was an allusion to an earlier one-off Hayward/Godfrey collaboration, Henry 9 To 5 about a bowler-hatted commuter who escaped his boring everyday life by indulging in daydreams, mostly of a sexual nature. Henry's Cat shared the earlier character's tendency toward wild flights of fancy and laid-back approach to life. The name "Henry's Cat" was mostly an in-joke for those few people who remembered the earlier cartoon and did not mean that Henry's Cat had a "master", unseen or otherwise.

Trivia

 * "Reading" down Henry's Cat's face spells "Miiow" (M= ears, II= eyes, O= nose, W=mouth).
 * Although a cat, Henry's Cat has no tail, similar to a real-life Manx cat.
 * Intentional or not, there are similarities between the partnership of Henry's Cat and Chris Rabbit to that of Tony Hancock and Sid James in the classic 1950s radio/TV series Hancock's Half Hour (Henry's Cat/Hancock - the gullible, easily lead, sometimes pompous dreamer; Chris Rabbit/Sid - the crafty chancer, never misses a trick).
 * The companies that released the videos were Castle Vision, Playbox Video, Screen Legends and Pickwick Video. Family Home Entertainment also had a USA release in 1987.
 * The three videos The Case of the Pilfered Pearls, The Computer and Once Upon a Time have a promotional Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends advert before the first story.
 * Bob Godfrey Films' closing logo of this series was Henry meowing. The opening logo seemed to parody the MGM logo.

Series 1 (1982-1984)

 * Created by: Stan Hayward
 * Script: Stan Hayward
 * Narrated by: Bob Godfrey
 * Music and Sound: Peter Shade
 * Animation: Bob Godfrey, Paul Stone, Kevin Baldwin
 * Camera and Editing: Derek Phillips
 * Production: Mike Hayes
 * Produced and Directed by: Bob Godfrey

Series 2 (1984-1986)

 * Created by: Stan Hayward
 * Script: Stan Hayward
 * Narrated by: Bob Godfrey
 * Music: John Hyde / DeWolfe Ltd
 * Animation: Kevin Baldwin, Bob Godfrey, Malcolm Hartley, Drew Mandingo, Paul Stone, Mark Oz
 * Trace and Paint: Tancy Baran, Beryl Godfrey, Louise Unwin
 * Dubbing: John Wood Studios
 * Camera: Derek Phillips
 * Editing: Sean Lenihan, John Daniels
 * Production: Mike Hayes
 * Produced and Directed by: Bob Godfrey

Series 3 (1985-1989)

 * Created by: Stan Hayward
 * Script: Stan Hayward, Kevin Baldwin, Mike Knowles, Bob Godfrey
 * Narrated by: Bob Godfrey
 * Music: Rowland Lee
 * Title Music: Jonathan P. Hodge
 * Animation: Kevin Baldwin
 * Additional Animation: Jeff Goldner, Neil Salmon, Bob Godfrey
 * Storyboard and Layout: Kevin Baldwin
 * Backgrounds: Bob Godfrey
 * Trace and Paint: Denise Hambry, Lisa Smith, Jazvinda Phull, Beryl Godfrey, Ricky Arnold
 * Camera: Heather Reader
 * Editing: Picturehead
 * Production: Mike Hayes
 * Produced and Directed by: Bob Godfrey