13 Famous Cats from the 80s
As they are a beloved pet and even considered part of the family, cats have made their way into fame quite easily. With the number of cats starring in movies and TV shows today, they have more money than they know exists! Surely some of the cats are fictional, like Garfield and Tom from Tom & Jerry, but their creators have made millions.
I also wanted to note that this list doesn’t just include cats from movies and TV shows CREATED in the 80s, but ALL of the characters that were popular during this time.
Many fans of these famous cats have picked out these names for their cats, such as Simba, Garfield, Milo and so many more. Personally I’m a dog person (you might want to check out my list of famous dogs from the 80s if you are too), but I know how much you all love your fur babies. So I hope this list brings back some nostalgia from the 80s and possibly even consider them when picking out names for your furry friend!
Here are all the famous cats from the 80s!
1. Garfield
I don’t know about you, but Garfield is the very first feline that comes to my mind when I think from cats from the past. He started out as a small comic strip in the small town of Pendleton, IN created by Jim Davis in 1978. He thought since dogs were already popular, he didn’t see many cats that made the headlines. So he illustrated a lazy, orange tabby cat with a personality similar to his “large, cankerous” grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis.
I recommend checking out my blog on How Garfield Was Created for more information, but it was his personality that made him popular. I remember flipping through the morning newspaper as a kid to read the newest Garfield comic in the morning as that certainly was the humor back then instead of scrolling through Facebook memes and videos nowadays.
2. Tom from Tom and Jerry
I know Tom and Jerry came WAY before the 80s, but it was still on every Saturday morning during the 80s, right? How could you resist the entertaining show of cat and mouse, except when the cat continuously fails in his endeavors to catch the rodent. My favorite episodes were when the big guard dog would club Tom (probably because I’m a dog person) for waking him up when chasing Jerry around outside.
But ultimately, the show is popular because of the creativity used when Jerry continuously weaseled his way out of Tom’s diabolical traps. There have also been a number of friendships on the shows that keep kids inspired and wanting more. Unfortunately, the show was banned around the world due to smoking, alcohol, substance abuse and violence. *Sigh…
3. Sylvester
One of my favorite Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies characters, poor Sylvester was another character who took a lot of heat for going after Tweety, Speedy Gonzales and Hippety Hopper. He may not have been as popular as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck or Porky Pig, but he’s easily recognizable by most adults today. He’s also been in cartoons that won a number of Academy Awards, including Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales and Birds Anonymous.
One of my personal favorite traits from Sylvester was his famous lisp and how he always had his tongue sticking out. And then there’s the trademarked exclamation “Sufferin’ succotash!” which was considered to be a minced oath of “Suffering Savior”.
Again, while the majority Sylvester’s shows came out in the 1940’s and 50’s, they were wildly popular in the 80s, along with a number of Looney Tunes, Merry Melodies, and Disney cartoons.
4. Azrael from The Smurfs
Another character from an 80s popular TV show, Azrael is one of the main characters who belongs to Garamel, whose job is to deliver the surfs to his master. Although his efforts were never really appreciated as he tends to get in Gargamel’s way, looking at him as incompetent. In the The Smurfs movie, Azrael did get revenge on his master for abusing him and throwing him into strange places. But in other movies and TV shows, he simply does as he’s told.
5. M.A.D. Cat from Inspector Gadget
I personally loved Inspector Gadget, but didn’t pay too much attention to Dr. Claw’s pet M.A.D. Cat until now. But when you think about it, with their mischievous personality, cats make excellent evil companions. Particularly in this series, M.A.D. Cat was used to reinforce Dr. Claw’s emotions; when he was pleased, he snickered along with him or when Dr. Claw was annoyed or pounded his desk, the cat would also have an angry look on his face or would yell out. To add to his evil personality, M.A.D. Cat would toy around with a little Inspector Gadget doll.
There was also a remake of Inspector Gadget in 2015, in which the cat was named Sniffy, who played the same role as mad cat, but had a computer animated appearance instead of being a cartoon.
6. Snarf from Thundercats
From those who watched Thundercats growing up, Snarf (short for Sneeze Barf), whose real name was Osbert but didn’t explain why, was a nursemaid and protector for Lion-O when he was a boy. But after he grew up, Snarf was no longer need as Lion-O didn’t want a protector anymore. Regardless, Snarf was still loyal to him and the other ThunderCats. He was very agile and could communicate with other animals when he needed help. He even tricked the Ancient Spirits of Evil into giving him power to become Snarf-Ra as he used the catch phrase “SNARF!” and referred to himself in 3rd person.
7. Jess from Postman Pat
If you grew up in the 80s, you might recognize Jess the cat from Postman Pat, which is the story of a postman who works for the Royal Mail postal service in the fictional town of Greendale. Jess was Pat’s faithful companion, adopted by him as a kitten. He is a good pet, but sometimes runs away or becomes mischievous (like most cats). But he is always happy to join Pat on his rounds to give him companionship.
For the most part, he’s an adventurous cat who loves to climb trees and other high places to catch birds or even other things that humans can’t reach.
8. Felicia from The Great Mouse Detective
If you’ve seen The Great Mouse Detective, the 1986 Disney movie about the story of a heroic mouse and the tradition of Sherlock Holmes to solve a great mystery. Felicia is Ratigan’s pet cat, who was destined to eat the Queen of the Mice so Ratigan could rule all of Mousedom. But when heroes Basil, Dawson and Olivia save the Queen just in time from Felicia’s claws, Toby chases out the poor kitty.
Felicia didn’t have a major role in the movie, but the supporting character did make the movie a bit more intense.
9. Milo from Milo and Otis
Milo and Otis is a 1986 Japanese adventure-comedy movie about two animals, Milo (an orange tabby cat) and Otis (a pug). The original Japanese version was narrated by Shigeru Tsuyuki and released on July 12, 1986. The English version was written by Mark Saltzman and narrated by Dudley Moore, released on August 25, 1989.
The movie is about the two best friends and their adventures, building their bond as they take on the challenges of Mother Nature. Milo is considered to be the more adventurous one, falling into a river, taking on a bear, escaping from a raven and Deadwood Swamp, stealing a muskrat from a fox, following train tracks called Nippon Bear that leads the way to a deer’s home that provides him shelter, sleeps with an owl in her nest, catches a fish, mobbed by seagulls, avoiding another bear, followed by a snake and even a deep pit. Otis follows suit, tagging along and helping him overcome all of their obstacles.
Milo and Otis was considered to be the No. 1 best Japanese film on the market in 1986, earning over ¥5.4 billion and is the third highest-grossing film to be made in Japan. Only E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Antartica (1983) beat it.
10. Zipper from The Get Along Gang
Created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Muriel Fahrion, Mark Spangler, and Linda Edwards for American Greetings’ toy design and licensing division, “Those Characters from Cleveland”, for a series of greeting cards, The Get Along Gang are a group of 12 young anthropomorphic animal characters who form a club that meets in an abandoned caboose in the fictional town of Green Meadow. The adventurous group engage in a number of escapades that show the morals of a friendship and teamwork. Eventually, the greeting card line’s success grew into a Saturday morning TV series, airing for 13 episodes in the 1984-85 season.
The famous character, Zipper, voiced by Robbie Lee, was an athletic cat who was great a sports. He was also considered the “tough guy” which also showed off a part of his cynical personality, although he was still loyal to the rest of the group. He wore an orange sports jacket with a blue turtleneck with matching orange shorts, white socks and orange sneakers.
11. Pound Purries
There wasn’t ever one famous Pound Purrie per se, but these were an incredibly popular toy, along with the Pound Puppies. The idea was that you had to “adopt” one, or five, from the pound before they were “euthanized”. Of course, the marketing played on your emotions as you felt guilt-tripped into preventing such a horrible thing from happening to an adorable kitten or puppy. This was one of best ways for the famous toy manufacturer, Tonka, to make their millions from the toy.
This marketing scheme was also similar to that of the Cabbage Patch Kids, where kids were drawn to the adorable babies that “came from a nursery”, and when bought would come with their own adoption certificate. It was the craze of 1983’s Black Friday tradition, where parents would intentionally harm others to get one.
12. Henry’s Cat
So interestingly enough, Henry’s Cat was the name of the character, of whom the owner never appeared in the series. But the children’s TV show, created by Stan Hayward and Bob Godfrey, was about a yellow cat, his friends and enemies. There were Henry’s Cat, Chris Rabbit, Mosey Mouse, Douglas Dog, Sammy Snail, Pansy Pig, Denise Duck, Ted Tortoise, and Philippe Frog. The enemies were Farmer Giles, Constable Bulldog and Rum Baa Baa.
The idea of the story was that Henry, who always remained unseen and was the cat’s original owner, had moved away and the cat forgot to go with him. Henry’s Cat had a terrible memory and even forgot his own name, so he stuck with the name “Henry’s Cat”. But overall, he was a laid-back, daydreamer character who also had a passion for eating.
13. Cat from Red Dwarf
If you’ve ever seen the British science fiction franchise Red Dwarf, you might know Cat (played by Danny John-Jules), who is a descendant from Dave Lister’s pregnant pet house cat Frankenstein. Frankenstein’s descendants evolved into human form over three million years while Lister was in stasis (suspended animation). Cat’s personality is vain and aloof and he loves to dress fancy and simply referred to as “Cat.”
Red Dwarf was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor that aired on BBC Two from 1988 and 1999. It was about a low-ranking technician, Dave Lister, who awoke after remaining in suspended animation (stasis) for three million years, discovering that he is the last human being in existence, with nobody on board his ship except for a hologram of his deceased bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer, and Cat.
What Do You Think?
Who is your favorite feline from the 80s? Did you have a Pound Purrie or Pound Puppy? I’d love to see/hear any memories from the ole’ days of the 80s!
If there was also anything I missed, please let me know in the comments and I can definitely add it! Thank you for your input!
