Hot Rod Dogs
  & Cool Car Cats
  
   producers: Scottish Television Enterprises /
                     Dave Edwards Studio / Mike
                     Young Prods / Rainbow Main
                     studio
   animation: 2D animation
     episodes: 10mins duration

  
   "You wanna stay on the high road,
    you've gotta move fast!"
 

   Hot Rod is a bright red animal hybrid. He's part car, part canine, and he's just
   one of a collection of dog-cars and cat-cars found on the anthropomorphic
   automotive world of Autopia. And this place would be something of a car utopia,
   if it wasn't for the fact that Hot Rod has fallen foul of the Autopia police force,
   who come in the bulldogged shape of the Gridlockers. He's also caught the eye
   of the all-powerful, megalomaniac machine known as the Crusher, who has a
   variety of bounty hunters and mean machines at his disposal. And that's our cue
   for lots of freewheelin' action as Hot Rod and his miss-matched pals in the
   resistance attempt to dodge the constabulary and tackle the bad guys
   head-on in a bid to rid the land of tyranny for ever!

      

   Created and directed by Dave Edwards, and co-produced with his former Siriol
   colleague Mike Young, "Hot Rod Dogs and Cool Car Cats" is a nippy 90's series
   that's acquired something of a cult following over the years. It has some very smart
   Siriol design meshed with an All-American Saturday Morning Cartoon sensibility.
   The car-animal hybrid concept makes for some memorable characters that are
   ripe for a bit of nostalgic licensing. Even the second-tier machines and one-off
   guests are great. You could say they're really quite "cool"... er-hum...

   "You'll always be my little Hot Rod!"

   The first episode sets the scene. Hot Rod says goodbye to his Mum and
   Dad, before heading off to camp, on the other side of Motoropolis. But it's
   taking too long to get there, so he skips his map and heads off on his own
   route, only to get lost in a spooky swamp. And here, he stumbles upon
   the cool cat Carbs being pursued by a gang of hoodlums known as the
   Choppers. Plucky Hot Rod intervenes to save her. But then, the Gridlockers turn
   up and accuse our duo of stealing stolen parts left behind by Carb's marauders.
   They're tossed in to a a great big transporter where they meet wiley old
   Dog-Gone, who reveals that they're all bound for the Crusher.

  "The Crusher was built to recycle the junk,
   but something went terribly wrong, and he
   became a power-hungry monster!"

   Dog-Gone introduces them to Benz, and the gang cause the transporter
   to crash, setting them free. Now the four of them are on the run together!

   We meet the Crusher in episode two, and his mega-minion bounty hunter
   Scarhood when the gang head to Catatonia, the spare-part desert town so
   they can repair poor old Benz, who's falling apart.

   Eventually, in the third episode Hot Rod encounters another vital dog-car
   in the shape of Gus. He's the highly-skilled engineer who built the Crusher,
   only to see his creation seize control of the world. Now he lives in self-proclaimed
   exile. But something about Hot Rod piques his interest, so he gives the fellow
   some special customisation. Now Hot Rod has the weapons to match his
   adversaries and can even fly, when required. And Carbs gets an upgrade too, in
   the very next episode. Gus sees something special in Hot Rod. And so does
   the Crusher. That's why our bad guy will do anything he can to capture that
   car and crush him out of existence!
   
 

   

   Look at them go!
   
   • We never actually get to see The Crusher. He is merely a disembodied voice
     in an evil, metal abode...

   • Hot Rod regularly back-farts when he gets over-excited, or when Carbs gives
     him a teasing peck on the cheek...

   • We like to snack on peanuts. But the dog-cars and cat-cars of Autopia
     like nothing better than snacking on a big bowl of lugnuts...

   • Keep your ears tuned on the opening credits. Ben Heneghan and Ian Lawson
     furnished the show with its original theme song, but this was replaced with a
     new song from Stephen Marston in the second series...

   • And with that change came a new title card, depicting Autopia, which is
     shaped just like Hot Rod!...

   • Oh, and whilst we're using our ears, listen out for Frank Welker voicing Benz.
     He's a near-legendary voice artiste in the States, probably best-known for
     bringing Megatron to life in the "Transformers" series. His CV of credits is
     really quite extraordinary...

 

    Hot & Cool
   Hot Rod (red-hot dog #5)
   Carbs (cool pink cat - Hot Rod's feisty beau)
   Dog-Gone (old timey dog-car)
   Benz (his collapsing friend)
   Gus (engineer extraordinare)

   Crush them!
   The Crusher (pure evil)
   Scarhood (fang-toothed bounty hunter)

   The Choppers
   Gadget
   Firefur
   Car-Poon
   One-Eye
   Socket (Gadget's spunky son)

   The Gridlockers
   Number One (leader)
   Number Two
   Number Six
   Prison truck 124

   Other cats and dogs...
   Spare-Parts (carbs' older engineer sister)
   Baby Bumper (a baby dog-car)
   Sandcat (cat-car from Catatonia)
   Bentley Mercedes (annoying news reporter)
   McWatt (solar powered pooch)
   Big Momma (bad cat store owner, with two bad sons)
   Tow-Head (deceptive young ne'erdowell)
   Jag (a hypnotic evil cat-car)
   Mum & Dad (Hot Rod's parents)

  
 

   Episode titles (partial list)

Rocket Dog
Homage to Catatonia
Twin Carbs
Custom Road
Toon Up
Look What the Cat's Brought in
Hot Rod Rival
Robo Guard Dog
Demolition Dog
Rod on the Rampage
Baby Bumper's in Bumper Trouble
New Chopper in Town
Back to School
Hiccups
Dog Fight at the K9 Corral
Slick as Oil
Gus Gets Grabbed

 

     Hot Rod Dogs on DVD

     Alas, the series hasn't yet had a UK DVD release...