Fat Cat dances

One of Australia’s best-loved (and most controversial) kitties is Frederick Alphonso Tubsy Cat, or as most of us know him, Fat Cat.  

Fat Cat and Friends premiered in 1972 on Channel 10 in Adelaide and featured the man-sized moggie dancing, learning, telling the time and performing magic, alongside singer Patsy Biscoe and hosts John Oster, Jane Reilly and Lynn Weston. 

This clip from 1988 shows Fat Cat’s unwavering enthusiasm for a boogie as he dances to ‘Three Blind Mice’ in his signature red shorts, bow tie and green bowler hat. The segment goes on for what seems like nine lifetimes by today’s TV standards. 

Fat Cat and Friends caused a commotion in 1991 when it was cancelled after it lost its ‘P’ rating. The Children’s Program Committee (who were later cancelled themselves as a result of the Fat Cat furore) claimed it wasn’t educational enough and that Fat Cat’s character and gender were ‘not clearly defined and might confuse the young’. 

The committee also claimed the show had poor production values – and looking with today’s eyes at the sparse set and lacklustre balloons, they may have had a point.

Fat Cat had a defiant second life as a mascot on Perth’s Channel 7. You can’t keep a good moggie off the dance floor!