Counterfeit Cat is a 2016 British-Canadian animated television series produced by Wildseed Kids and Tricon Kids & Family in association with Teletoon with the participation of Disney XD. The series first aired on Disney XD in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2016. In the United States, the first episode aired on Disney XD as a sneak preview on May 31, 2016 and officially on June 20, 2016. In Canada, it premiered on November 1, 2016. On Disney XD, the show is rated TV-Y7 in the United States. 52 episodes were produced. As of May 2017, Sonar Entertainment has acquired the global rights to distribute the series, replacing its former owner, Tricon Films & Television.
Premise
The series revolves around the exploits of Max, a lazy housecat and Gark an alien who disguised himself as a purple knitted cat. Gark crashed his spaceship on Earth, landing in the laundry room of Betty, a klutzy yet kind old woman who is Max's owner. Gark believes that Max is a tiger, the bravest species on Earth, despite Max's cowardice. The two often find themselves in surreal and dangerous situations due to Gark's unstable, bizarre powers, which Max often uses to his own advantage without thinking of the consequences.
Characters
Main Characters
Max is a self-centered old housecat that lives a cushy life in Betty's home. Max often gets dragged along into dangerous and frightening adventures with Gark—adventures that he hates getting involved in. Despite taking advantage of Gark's powers it is shown several times throughout the series that he still cares for his best friend. His full name is Maximillian Fluffybottom III.
Gark is a young, fearless alien disguised as a purple knitted cat. His dangerous powers and curiosity get him and Max into misadventures because he actually thinks Max is a tiger, the bravest species in the world.
Betty is a kindhearted but klutzy elderly old woman who owns Max and Gark. In "Jackson 5", She is revealed that she had Jackson and Max when she was younger. She has a daughter named Jeanette and several deceased husbands as revealed in the episode, "Humanoid".
Throckmorton is the artificial intelligence of Gark's ship, he is overprotective of Gark and acts like a father-figure to him, though when it comes to Max their attitudes clash.
Recurring Characters
Staring Dog is a dog with big eyes and greyish brown fur, he constantly stares at Max which makes him uncomfortable and frightened. He made his debut in "Bin Juice" in the form of a cameo.
Ranceford is a white, odd-eyed cat. Max harbors a crush on her, but like the other animals, she prefers Gark over Max. She is the leader of The Sunshine Circle of Cats and denies Max membership.
The Kid is a squirrel that lives in the park next to Betty's apartment and who is Nelson's best friend.
The Squirrels are the three squirrels that also live next to Betty's apartment.
Nelson is a dumb and overweight green pigeon who is The Kid's best friend.
Cutter is a light green-blue cat with a yellow eyes and purple hair. His voice is freakishly campy. His name is revealed in "Cat Box of Fear".
Anton is a green dog with black hair. In his first appearance he is a bully to Max, but in later episodes isn't a threat.
Trash Can Hat Cat is a cat with scruffy fur, he believes in wild conspiracy theories and is homeless.
Chico is a bounty hunter disguised as a puppy. She wants to kidnap Gark because there is a bounty on his head for driving his ship too fast.
Zaxos is a Wartian bounty hunter set out to capture Gark along with Chico. She later appeared in "Zaxos Returns" and claims to have changed her ways, but is actually out to steal Betty's cheeks.
Jackson is a light green, street, ear-torn, one legged cat. He keeps dying and coming back from the dead, he blames Max for his deaths and tries to kill him but, like Anton, isn't a threat in later episodes.
Wilma is an old woman who owns Staring Dog and one of Betty's friends.
Jeanette is Betty's cat-obsessed daughter, she occasionally looks after Max and always brings costumes, something Max hates.
Minor Characters
Flargle is a purple three-eyed alien who posts on a blog about how bad of a planet Earth is, which causes Gark to be mad. He partners with Chico and Zaxos in the episode, "Gark's Got Talent". He made his debut in "Mere Mortals".
Chameleon is a chameleon who turned into a super villain by Gark in "The Gark Night Rises". He paired with Anton and Staring Dog in the episode, "Gark's Got Talent".
Jibbo is a green and yellow alien who one of the saviors of Baa-Boo-Raa. She was introduced in the second part of "Gone Gark".
Baa-Boo-Raa is a Sensei who chose Gark to save the universe by joining the saviors for training. He was introduced in "Gone Gark".
Jock is an alien who is made of meat and from Planet Meathead. He is also one of the saviors. He made his debut in the second part of "Gone Gark".
Production
Development
On December 3, 2010, Aardman Animations originally started the development for the show for Disney. The series is Aardman's first series to use traditional animation. The development was in co-production with Wildseed Studios to complete the development for the project together while Atomic Cartoons was hired to serve animation production and Tricon Films & Television committed to distribute the series until Sonar Entertainment had taken over its distribution. The designs for the show were provided by Antoine Birot and Raphael Chabassol based on original designs by Nick Edwards. The series is directed by Ben Marsaud and produced by Sarah Mattingley. The first season consisted of 52 episodes at ten minutes each and coincided with 11 two-minute shorts. Ben Marsaud was a former storyboard artist of seasons 1–3 of Cartoon Network's original British-American children's animated series, The Amazing World of Gumball and is the current director of Netflix's original animated sitcom, F is for Family. Miles Bullough is also an executive producer on the animated shows, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time, Chop Socky Chooks & the Wallace & Gromit direct-to-video movie, for Aardman.
In the United Kingdom, the series first aired on Disney XD on May 12, 2016, it also premiered on Pop on 1 October 2018. Counterfeit Cat debuted on Teletoon on May 12, 2016, In Latin America, it began airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD on April 6, 2018, In Germany, it began airing on Disney XD on October 17, 2016
