FANTOMCAT (1995-1996) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

FANTOMCAT (1995) – This animated adventure series is pretty much the overlooked stepchild of Cosgrove Hall’s much more well-known and longer-lasting series Danger Mouse. No spy antics in Fantomcat, however, but anthropomorphic cartoon animals represent all the characters.

The fun premise of this program involved a 1600s aristocrat, Phillipe L’Entrique Elan de Chanel, Count Givenchy and Duke of Fantom. Phillipe was secretly the costumed and sword-wielding Fantomcat, hero of the downtrodden and vanquisher of evildoers.

Fantomcat’s archenemy was the sword-wielding sorcerer Baron Hugo von Skelter. On the night of December 31st, 1699, a battle between our hero and von Skelter and his henchmen ended with the villains mystically trapping Fantomcat in a painting on the wall in Fantomcat’s castle.

After three hundred years in suspended animation within the portrait, the heroic Fantomcat was accidentally set free by the detectives of the Wildcat Detective Agency, who had pursued two lizard anarchists wanted for bombing into the castle.

Fantomcat learned that during the centuries of his imprisonment, a thriving metropolis called Metro City had sprung up around his abandoned Castle de Fantom. The heroic cat adjusted to the modern world while wielding his sword Touche to help the Wildcat Detective Agency battle the criminal gangs of Metro City. 

The agency is run by the brilliant Tabitha “Tabs” Wildcat, a feline lady and love interest for Fantomcat. Her fellow detectives are the mouse Claude MacDuff, who is insecure about his tiny stature, and the pigeon Lindbergh, who refuses to fly because he is afraid of heights and who communicates purely in gibberish.

The foursome’s deadliest modern foe is the evil woman Marmagora, who runs Metro City’s criminal underworld. Among her evil henchmen are Gloria, an animated Venus Flytrap, Vinnie the Vole, and a fly named Vile the Bluebottle.

Marmagora brings Baron von Skelter into the present day to help against their mutual foe Fantomcat, but they double-cross each other and from then on work to destroy each other along with our heroes. Those good guys sometimes work with Tabitha’s sister Ginger Wildcat, who is called Penny in some foreign language dubs of the series.

Fantomcat’s episodes ran for 26 minutes, not counting commercials, and the show lasted for 2 Seasons of 13 episodes each.

SEASON ONE

I. THE HERO RETURNS (September 7th, 1995) – This debut episode set up the primary situations for the series and saw Marmagora use a magic relic called the Crystal of Malevolence to bring Baron von Skelter into the modern era.

II. THE PRAYING MANTIS (September 14th, 1995) – Marmagora the Black Widow sends the Crab Twins to kill Fantomcat, Tabs and the others. When our heroes survive, the villain sends a hit-man called the Monk, a praying mantis who is the greatest assassin of the underworld, to kill our hero. The Monk kidnaps Tabs to lure Fantomcat into a trap, but he comes out on top.

III. THE SWORDS OF THE SCORPION (September 21st, 1995) – When another sword-wielding masked hero called the Scorpion arrives in Metro City to fight crime, he winds up surpassing Fantomcat, who loses his confidence. It turns out the Scorpion is really a lackey of Marmagora who used him to wipe out her rivals while discrediting Fantomcat with the public. 

IV. THE AEROSHIP (September 28th, 1995) – Marmagora and her minions hijack the massive airship called The Big One. That vessel belongs to local tycoon Hiram “Big” Bucks, and the villains plan to use it to rob the gold reserves from the Metro City Central Bank.   

V. THE ASTEROID ADVENTURE (October 5th, 1995) – The Monitor, an interstellar villain who destroys entire planets with his advanced technology, is on the loose. When the Earth is targeted by the Monitor, Fantomcat leads the team against him on his asteroid headquarters. The cosmic criminal seems to die at the end of the episode, but survives to face Fantomcat again in the future.

VI. THE MIND LEECH (October 12th, 1995) – Marmagora has her thugs abduct Professor Oliphant so she can use a Mind Leech to extract the secrets of his new matter teleporter device. Fantomcat falls to his death during his initial rescue attempt, losing one of his nine lives. The ghost of his father appears to him and coaches him through reviving his body, and our hero then saves the professor.   

VII. LADY GOBBLING’S GEMS (October 26th, 1995) – At Lady Gobbling’s Ball, Hedouni the Hypnotist mesmerizes the attendees and makes off with her jewels. Fantomcat overcomes all obstacles to retrieve the gems for Lady Gobbling.   

VIII. GREAT BALLS OF FIRE (November 2nd, 1995) – The Caractacus Comet makes one of its 400-year flybys of the Earth, thus unleashing the monstrous Mina Tiger from the depths below Castle de Fantom. That creature tries to kill Fantomcat, but he manages to slay it instead, ending its menace forever. 

IX. THE CHAMELEONS OF DEATH (November 9th, 1995) – Marmagora sends the Chameleon Brothers to steal our hero’s Ring of the Fantoms to power her Spectro-Vac. That device will cause a citywide blackout in Metro City so her underlings can go on a looting spree. 

X. THE CRYSTAL OF NEMESIS (November 16th, 1995) – A magical relic stolen from the Metro City Museum is used to conjure up the demonic warrior called Nemesis. That being is unleashed on Fantomcat and the Wildcat Detective Agency. 

XI. THE EYE OF HARAKTI (November 23rd, 1995) – At the Blue Sphinx Club, Marmagora hires Rahr the Egyptian. The pair join forces to rob vehicles carrying gold for Hiram “Big” Bucks.

XII. WHERE THE HEART IS (November 30th, 1995) – At a ski resort, Baron von Skelter disguises himself as a Yeti as part of his plan for revenge on Fantomcat and Marmagora. 

XIII. THE WEB OF DOOM (December 7th, 1995) – Marmagora uses a machine to cover all of Metro City in a web so she can launch a reign of terror. Fantomcat, Tabs, MacDuff and Lindbergh break up into separate pairs – one trying to locate and destroy the web-spinning machine and the other fighting the army of spider-bots that Marmagora has unleashed. 

SEASON TWO

I. ONCE UPON A TIME MACHINE (October 23rd, 1996) – A time machine accident strands Fantomcat and MacDuff in the 1600s. They must complete a quest in order to manage a return to the present day. 

II. THE MANHATTAN INCIDENT (October 30th, 1996) – Ginger Wildcat, Tabs’ sister and the Chief of the New York City Police Department, calls in Fantomcat and the Wildcat Detective Agency for help. A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-style villain called Dr. Butyrik plans to wipe out New York with a Protogen 6 Rocket Bomb.

III. CINEMA PURRADISO (November 6th, 1996) – Don Ratzo of the Rat Mafia tries to force the owners of Cinema Purradiso to sell him the theater. Fantomcat goes into action and learns that Ratzo is after the secret oil supply under the building.

IV. MACFLASH! WARRIOR OF THE SKIES (November 13th, 1996) – Tired of being considered the least important member of the Wildcat Detective Agency, MacDuff the Mouse has his brother build him a suit of high-tech armor which he uses to fight crime under the secret identity MacFlash. He winds up as a pawn in Marmagora’s plan to use spider-tanks to take over Metro City.

V. TOMB OF THE FANTOMS (November 20th, 1996) – When Fantomcat gets radiation poisoning and lies near death, Tabs and the others take him to the Tomb of the Fantoms. Once there, the ghosts of his ancestors come forth to help him. 

VI. REVENGE OF THE MONITOR (November 27th, 1996) – The villainous Monitor shows up alive. His new plan is to destroy the Earth with a giant laser. Fantomcat devises a plan to stop him.

VII. THE TREASURE OF THE BELEROPHON (December 4th, 1996) – Hiram “Big” Bucks takes Fantomcat, Tabs and the others on a journey aboard his submarine The Leviathan. He uses them in an attempt to retrieve the treasure in the sunken S.S. Belerophon, which lies at the bottom of an underwater volcano. Vile and the Crab Twins try to claim the treasure for themselves.   

VIII. THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB (December 11th, 1996) – Baron von Skelter manages to trap Tabs in a painting like he once did to Fantomcat. Lindbergh sees this happen and lets our hero know about it.

IX. THE CURSE OF EVILLIA (December 18th, 1996) – Marmagora hires the witch Evillia Spiritus to kill Fantomcat. She places a curse on the hero which will cause him to die in two weeks’ time. Fantomcat and his friends try to get Evillia to undo the curse by invading her deathtrap-laden lair.

X. MACDUFF, PRIVATE EYE (December ?, 1996) – Sultry actress Mary Ann Manroo suspects her manager of being the Spectre, a villain who just stole her valuable necklace. Nemesis also gets involved.

XI. THE MIRROR MONSTER (December ?, 1996) – Marmagora sends a shape-shifting creature called the Mirror Monster AND an android called Deadeye to kill Fantomcat. 

XII. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING FANTOMCAT (December ?, 1996) – An invention of MacDuff’s brother causes Fantomcat and MacDuff to shrink. They try to get restored to normal size while dodging the spiders of Castle de Fantom.

XIII. ONE GOOD DEED (December ?, 1996) – The Metro City Council plans to demolish Castle de Fantom and build commercial properties. Fantomcat must descend into the labyrinth beneath the castle to recover a document proving that the cat’s family owns the building in perpetuity. A minotaur stands in his way.

NOTE: The sources I can find all insist that no episodes of Fantomcat carried over into 1997, but they don’t have exact dates in December of 1996 for when the remaining episodes aired. I imagine it would be possible that they played the show multiple times in one week or a similar setup that resulted in all the episodes being over and done with by December 31st, 1996. 

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