Official artwork for the episode.
"CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery" is a special 3-part episode of CatDog, originally aired as a 90-minute (counting commercials) telefilm on November 25, 2000.
Synopsis[]
Part 1[]
It's the big Parents' Day celebration in Nearburg, but CatDog is left out because they don't have any parents, so they watch from a fence. Dog remembers the wonderful times they had with their Mom and Dad but Cat tells him that the only thing he can remember is that they've been on their own and it's been that way since then. Dog tells Cat that the day that they will reunite with their parents has finally come, but Cat tells him that they will never find them. After they got home, Dog told Cat to not be upset because Parents' Day happens every year. Then Dog plays some keys on a piano which leads to his Parents' Theory Room where he stored some balloons that he took from the Parents' Day celebrations. Dog insists that their parents have tried looking for them but they encountered many perils which stopped them from doing so, however, Cat says that they don't care about them anymore, but Dog was still adamant that they do care about them and that they will go looking for them. Later that night, Cat secretly enters a secret room under their bed containing his blankie and pacifier, the only mementos he has of their parents. Later he reenters the room and says that they might be looking for them, but then he says he's kidding himself and goes back to sleep.
The next morning, there is a news bulletin saying that Old Uppenchuck is due to erupt in the next 24 hours. Winslow remarks that the last time Old Uppenchuck erupted was when CatDog came to Nearburg, and then there is a flashback of the day when Winslow first met CatDog, and then Winslow said that it was the best day of his life. Cat asked Winslow why he never told them in the first place, then Winslow said that they never asked him to begin with. Cat ponders this and deduces that he and Dog were from Yonderland, a vast wasteland where Old Uppenchuck is. The minute he mentions that, Dog asks if they're going there to look for their parents and then Cat agrees to go looking for their parents for his sake. As they are driving, Cat explains to Dog that they aren't stopping for anything until they get there. Meanwhile, Winslow has the house all to himself and when the Greaser Dogs show up, Winslow told them that CatDog wasn't home and that they went to Yonderland to look for their parents. The Greasers decide to follow after them so that they can give a pounding to CatDog's whole family.
Back with CatDog, Dog annoys Cat with sock puppet versions of their parents. Afterward, Dog tells Cat he needs to use the bathroom and then they stop at a rest area and then encounter aliens returning everyone they ever abducted, but then get abducted themselves and encounter Winslow and the Greaser Dogs. However, they narrowly escape into a frozen lake, where they encounter a lake monster.
Part 2[]
The second part picks up with Bessie the Lake Monster about to gobble up CatDog and eats them and as they're being digested. Cat comes up with a plan to escape by making a hairball and succeeded. As they escaped, the Greaser Dogs attempt to pursue them but are gobbled up by the monster. As CatDog lands, their fur returns and they landed on a very sharp rock. Dog sniffs around looking for signs that their mother and father may have been there and then Cat, having been getting tired of Dog's theories and detours, tells him that they are going straight to Yonderland, until they come upon a sign for the town of Yokelburg, home of two happy hillbilly clans, the McDogs (a clan of dogs) and the Catfields (a clan of cats), who are celebrating 50 years of peace between each other. CatDog mistake the leaders, Hound Dog McDog and Pussycat Catfield, for their parents, but it turns out that they are actually the parents of Lube. However, during the celebrations, Cat drinks some moonshine and burps in front of Pussycat Catfield's daughter, and soon learns that he has accidentally proposed marriage to her. Cat refuses to marry her, and that re-instigates the feud between the Catfields and McDogs, with even Cat and Dog turning against each other.
Part 3[]
The Catfields and McDogs resume their feud, with the Greaser Dogs watching from the McDogs' side, while Cat and Dog blame each other for the feud. The fighting continues until both the Catfields and McDogs run out of ammo to use against each other, forcing both sides to engage in close combat until the entire town ends up a wreck because of the excess weight on CatDog, who escape on a log. Meanwhile, the Catfields and McDogs continue to blame each other for the destruction their town, but then Cliff tells them that CatDog is to blame for their feuding.
Meanwhile, back with CatDog, they are on a raging river and then they get down a waterfall and finally get to Yonderland, where Dog goes running looking for their parents, but was sad and disappointed in not finding them, and Dog finally agrees with Cat that looking for their parents was silly, and that he wishes he was more like Cat, but then Cat said that he wishes he was more like Dog because Dog was determined to find their parents and never gave up hope looking for them, but then they were taken by a big, blue four-eyed monster into a cave and then the monster says Dog's catchphrase, and Dog immediately recognizes her as their long-lost mother, with the second pair of eyes revealing itself to be a big-nosed frog who is CatDog's father. Dog hugs the frog, but Cat said that they weren't a CatDog, but they were still their parents. Then they flash back to the wonderful times they had together, culminating in that horrific day when they got separated from each other. Then CatDog's mother explains that they were looking for them ever since then, and then CatDog's father proves that most of the theories that Dog had mentioned in the previous two episodes were true. Cat and their father then recognized each other and hugged, and then Cat showed the other half of their pacifier and Cat started to cry, and then they embrace with their mother
Just then, Winslow shows up and Dog introduces him to his and Cat's parents. Winslow makes a fuss about this because he thinks that CatDog won't be around for him to harass anymore. Dog offers to let him stay with them, but he refuses and tells them that the Greaser Dogs, the McDogs and the Catfields have come to pound them and managed to back them into a corner when a tornado showed up and then Cat had no choice but to overcome his fears and then tie himself and Dog to their parents and then they escaped back to Nearburg. The episode ends with CatDog and their parents celebrating their own Parents' Day and their new lives in Nearburg.
Trivia[]
- The Catfields and McDogs are a reference to the Hatfields and McCoys, two real-life hillbilly clans that feuded in the 19th century.
- Old Uppenchuck is a reference to Old Faithful, a geyser in Wyoming.
Home video releases[]
- DVD
- CatDog: The Final Season
Video clips[]
