Top Cat not top cat

Tom and Jerry tip-toed gingerly across the piano keys to the top of a poll of cartoon stars adults most enjoyed as children.

16:51 27 September 2004

Tom and Jerry tip-toed gingerly across the piano keys to the top of a poll of cartoon stars adults most enjoyed as children.

The terrible twosome who brought a new and frequently brutal dimension to the already strained relationship between cat and mouse - feline Tom was thwarted at virtually every turn by the industriously plucky, undoubtedly dastardly and some might argue borderline sadistic mouse Jerry - were created by animation forefathers Hanna-Barbera in 1940 and have remained much-loved figures within the cartoon industry ever since.

The poll, carried out on behalf of the children's TV channel Boomerang, surveyed some 1,000 adults aged between 25 and 54, with results showing a number of familiar, colourful faces.

In a top ten that includes such hallowed figures as Top Cat, The Flintstones, everyone's favourite pooch Scooby-Doo and Wiley Coyote's unassailable adversary Road Runner, their was space for at least one all English creation in the form of diminutive superspy Dangermouse.

Created in 1981 and boasting the distinctive vocal charms of revered actor David Jason as the wise cracking, one-eyed secret agent rodent with sidekick mole-mate Penfold in tow (voiced by Terry Scott), the show is the only UK product to make a top ten dominated by the Hanna-Barbera pairing.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of entries have gone on to figure in remake form in some capacity, with Popeye, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny all featuring in big screen nods to their cartoon originals, albeit with varying critical and commercial success.

Top Ten Cartoon Characters for Adults:

1) Tom and Jerry (1940)
2) Scooby-Doo (1969)
3) Dangermouse (1981)
4) Top Cat (1961)
5) The Flintstones (1960)
6) Bugs Bunny (1940)
7) Popeye (1933)
8) Road Runner (1964)
9) Wacky Races (1968)
10) Hong Kong Phooey (1974)