Calling Cat-22

Calling Cat 22

Rating
Genre	Animation, Comedy
Rating	TV-Y7
Runtime
Running Time	2 minutes
Run
Series Run	June 1, 2008 - June 1, 2008
Boomerang Run	2008-2015

Calling Cat-22 is a series of shorts used as Wedgies. The series had only five episodes. Unlike some of the Wedgies shorts, all the Calling Cat-22 episodes are available on YouTube.

Plot[]

22 (he is called "Cat-22" once and simply "22" thereafter) is a secret agent sent by Gato Primo to spy on the local dogs. Episodes begin with 22 (usually in some foreign venue) receiving an assignment from Agent Andrew in the form of a briefcase conveying Gato's instructions for a mission investigating some (usually disgusting) aspect of the behavior of dogs. Despite Gato's invariable warning, this briefcase's self-destruction equally invariably causes 22 grave pain.

22 will then be found in disguise (i.e., in a beanie hat with floppy dog ears) in the company of his canine friend Guthrie, attempting to pump the dim-witted canine for details on his mission objective. (As long as he is wearing his disguise, no dog is able to recognize 22 as a cat; conversely, outside of his disguise, Guthrie cannot recognize 22 as his erstwhile friend.) Usually, 22 is forced to take part in the doggy activity, which usually threatens or actually results in grave bodily harm to the hapless cat

Gato, perceiving his plight, will order his retrieval, generally resulting in further injury. The agency then normally sends him to recuperate, while hinting at a new assignment. This prospect ordinarily leads 22 to attempt a violent escape from the agency's oversight altogether.

Theme Song[]

The theme for Calling Cat-22 was written and performed by the two-member techno band, Nova Social, consisting of David Nagler and Thom Soriano.

Lyrics:[]

Who is the cat that wears a disguise
Hidin' from dogs right in front of their eyes?
Calling Cat-22!

Who is the cat that forever dares
To blow himself up or fall down some stairs?
Calling Cat-22!

Who is the cat that you need to call
When the chips are all down and your back's to the wall?
Calling Cat-22!
That's who!

Trivia[]

The name of the series is based on the phrase, "Catch-22" (itself taken from Joseph Heller's novel of the same name), which is defined as "a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules."
Matthew Schwartz, the creator of the series, was also the Content Designer of the online game, Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, and co-wrote the FusionFall manga, Worlds Collide.
In creator Matthew Schwartz's original character sketches, 22 appears as a tabby. Gato Primo has a thick moustache; Andrew is considerably taller and thinner. 22 does not wear any clothing; neither do the dogs, except for their collars.

Matthew Schwartz's Original Character Sketches for Calling Cat-22
Though the protagonist is called "Cat-22" once and "22" thereafter, Agent Andrew is addressed as "Andrew" only once, and Gato Primo is once referred to as "Gato" only on a poster. Character sketches for the show confirm their names. Percy's original name was "Buster."
A convention of this series is that the dogs are all incredibly stupid beings completely driven by their immediate (usually disgusting) impulses, while the cats, though seemingly more intelligent, are also somewhat delusional, needlessly over-thinking and over-complicating everything they do.
The gag about the self-destructing briefcase parodies a convention of the 1966-1973 suspense series, Mission: Impossible, in which the leader of the "Impossible Missions Force" would be similarly briefed by a self-destructing tape, though in the series only the tape received any damage.
Each short begins in a different foreign location. "Hydrant" begins in Scotland (probably St Andrews); "Bones" at a Sphinx (probably near Giza) in Egypt); "Flying Discs" in Paris, France; "Stink" in Venice, Italy; and "Sniff" in some South German, Austrian, or Swiss location.
"Bones" is the only short with something like a happy ending for 22, as he is assigned to extended bed rest, eating tuna and watching TV; "Stink," in which his face is burnt off and wrongly reattached, is perhaps the most unhappy ending.
22 makes a cameo appearance (along with Nacho Bear) on a bulletin board in The Talented Mr. Bixby episode, "The Substitute Bug Man," as "Gato 22" (Mr. Bixby is evidently substituting as a Spanish teacher).