Western Animation / James the Cat

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James the Cat is a British animated series created by Kate Canning and running from 1984 to 1998. He originally appeared in the 1975 series "Flower Stories". It follows the titular character James, who is left behind at the Cornerhouse when his owners move away. He then makes friends with everyone in the garden, including Rocky The Rabbit, Mrs. Lavender The Snail, Citroen The Frog, Frieda The Kangaroo, and Dennis The Dragon.

The first season aired in the United States from 1989 to 1991 as a segment of Eureeka's Castle on Nick Jr.. PBS Kids Sprout then got the air rights for both seasons from 2005 to 2006.

All was tropey in the garden of the Cornerhouse:

• Alliterative Name: Rocky The Rabbit, Dennis The Dragon, Gladys The Goose, and Bouncer Bee.
• All of the Other Reindeer: In "The Confused Goose", Gladys was made fun of for looking different from other ducks and wearing slippers for her cold feet. Turns out she's actually a goose.
• Back for the Finale: Marty Y. Hamster, Mr. Timbee, PC Arfur Mark, Mr. T.Oad and Gladys the Goose all make one further appearance in the season one finale "The Birthday Party". Gladys' appearance is most notable since her scene confirms she and James have become an Official Couple.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The male residents of the Cornerhouse, bar James, are a rare gender-inverted example:
  • Citroen - Beauty. The politest and most affectionate member of the main cast, even if he isn't the prettiest.
  • Dennis - Brains. Often, he's the one who comes up with the solution to the episode's problem. In Series 2, he built both the Orange Aid computer and the Pyragiro.
  • Rocky - Brawn. The strongest of the group, having put his muscles to good use under the big top and in the boxing ring. His main method of problem solving is to charge forward (which works out great in "Friends", not so much in "The Dentist").
• Big Ball of Violence: Happens in "James V.I.P." when Rocky, Citroen, and Dennis beat up James for not wanting Mrs. Lavender on his V.I.P. team.
• Big Butt Blues: In "The Takeover", as the Cornerhouse residents fall out with each other, Rocky is telling Frieda she has a fat bottom. An offended Frieda whacks Rocky with her tail mid-sentence.
• Break the Cutie:
  • James is a weeping mess when his owners leave him behind in "Friends", breaks down after Marty takes over the Cornerhouse in "The Takeover", and nearly runs away in tears when he thinks everyone forgot his birthday in "The Birthday Party".
  • Dennis is driven to tears when he feels homesick in "The Rock Garden".
  • Mrs. Lavender tearfully blames herself for James going missing in "The Thunderstorm".
• Brief Accent Imitation: James does this with Otto's Welsh accent in "Memories".
• By the Lights of Their Eyes:
  • In "The Cornerhouse", this happens when Rocky eats the for sale sign overnight.
  • In "The Greedy Caterpillar", only James' eyes are visible as he stays up all night to catch whoever ate the vegetables he grew.
• Catchphrase: Frieda exclaims "Strike me purple!" when shocked.
• Cats Are Lazy: James is very fat and spends most of the time dozing in the marigold patch.
• Cats Hate Water: James can't swim and doesn't like getting wet. In "The Seaside", the sight of the ocean is enough to make him scream and jump into Frieda's arms.
  Frieda: Honestly James, you're such a baby. Afraid of a little water?
  • In "Memories", James' cousin Otto reveals he's not a good swimmer either.
• Character Tic: James' eyes or finger will twinkle whenever he gets an idea.
• Delightful Dragon: Dennis is a friendly and clever Chinese dragon who enjoys painting and making rock cakes.
• Didn't Think This Through: In "Water Works", James makes sure his friends know how to swim after Fennimore almost drowns in the pond. However, he himself doesn't know how to swim, which he admits as a bee chases him in.
• Everyone Has Standards: While the Cornerhouse critters can be mean to James sometimes, they take life-or-death situations very seriously. The group searches for James when he goes missing in "The Thunderstorm", Frieda pulls him out of the ocean when a giant fish drags him underwater in "The Seaside", and everyone (except Citroen) is genuinely worried when a bee pushes him into the Cornerhouse pond in "Water Works".
• Flanderization: Season 2 characterizes the Cornerhouse critters as exaggerated versions of themselves, to the point where they actively threaten James with violence.
• Friend to All Children: Out of all the Cornerhouse residents, Frieda is particularly great with kids. She returns Fennimore to his family in "Neighbours", stops James from eating a baby bird in "Sums", gives Fennimore a pouch ride when he misses his mum in "Pa Rat's Problem", and the titular character of "Little Bluey" calls her Auntie Frieda.
• Furry Reminder:
  • "Sums" opens with James almost eating a baby bird before Frieda interferes.
  • In "Indian Summer", a snake V.I.P. from India almost eats James but is stopped by Frieda. Dennis also expresses concern that if he cures the snake's indigestion, they will all get eaten.
• The Gadfly: Frieda loves provoking James, often making fun of his weight or calling him lazy and stupid. She also mocks Dennis for using his wings to slow down his slide in "The Playground" and tells Citroen he should make frog's leg soup in "Lunch".
• Glad I Thought of It: James always takes credit for saving the day, even if he had no part in the solution.
  • Glad You Thought of It: In "Little Bluey", Dennis threatens James into giving him full credit for the eye-test, even though it was an idea James came up himself. He'd even told Dennis to build the equipment.
• Help, I'm Stuck!: In "Slim Chance", James gets stuck in Rocky's rabbit hole. It takes both Rocky and Frieda to pull him out.
• Heroic BSoD: James is distraught and powerless after Marty invades the Cornerhouse and tears apart his friend group in "The Takeover". For once, he can't think of any ideas to get him out of the Cornerhouse and has to turn to Pa Rat for help.
• Interspecies Romance: James, a cat, is dating Gladys, a goose.
  • In many scenes, Mrs. Lavender (snail) is shown to have a crush on Rocky (rabbit).
• It's All About Me: James, especially after he became a diplomat. He initially refuses to let Mrs. Lavender on his team because, as a snail, she'd "spoil his image".
  • Marty Y Hamster from "The Takeover", until James tricked him into doing manual labour for the Rats.
• Jerkass: Marty. In "The Takeover", he invades the Cornerhouse garden and forces everyone to cater to his every whim. It isn't long before the garden is a complete mess, with everyone falling out with each other.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • James may be a pretentious slacker, but his heart is still in the right place. Whenever anyone needs help, he's always the first to step up.
  • The Rat family initially starts off as Jerkasses who refuse to give back Mrs. Lavender's hat in their debut episode, but warm up to their new neighbours after they return their baby. From then on, they help each other out when needed.
• Kangaroos Represent Australia: Frieda The Kangaroo has an Australian accent. In "Friends", it's stated that she's visiting from Australia, but she's seemed to take up permanent residence in the Cornerhouse garden.
• Karma Houdini: In "Water Works", Citroen gets away with yanking James' stilts from under him and making him sink to the bottom of the pond, potentially drowning him since he can't swim.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: James usually gets some form of punishment whenever he's being arrogant, ranging from slapstick to humiliation. Mrs. Lavender punches him in the eye for trying to pass off his fear of water as hers in "The Seaside", Dennis sends him flying away after he takes credit for his kite-flying lessons in "Kites", and the bees give him an empty honey jar after calling him out for constantly stealing their honey in "Treasure".
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • In "Tea For Toad", Citroen's cousin patronizes everyone with his talent scouting, so Dennis makes rock cakes to give him gas so bad he flies away with it.
  • In "The Takeover", after moving himself into the garden and disrupting the Cornerhouse critters, Marty is invited to the Rats' residence and subsequently forced to work for them.
• Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!!: Besides James' owners, several human characters are present in Season 1. One episode even involves James and the others trying to stop their house being sold to a human couple. However, no humans are present in Season 2, resulting in a World of Funny Animals.
• Mixed Animal Species Team: The main cast consists of a cat, a rabbit, a snail, a frog, a kangaroo, and a dragon.
• Motherly Marsupials: Frieda Kangaroo is the Team Mom of the Cornerhouse. In "Neighbours" she returns Fennimore Rat to his parents, in "Bee Bop" she knits a 'bee cosy' for Mr. Timby, and in "Little Bluey" the titular character considers her an Honourary Aunt.
• National Animal Stereotypes: Played straight by Citroen and Frieda, who are a French frog and Australian kangaroo respectively. Dennis is a dual nationality example, being a Chinese dragon who spent most of his life in Wales.
  • In "James V.I.P", James is invited to an audience with His Majesty, who is a corgi.
  • In "Betsy Purplebottom", the audience for Frieda's first cancan performance consists of koalas, then a later audience consists of sheep.
• Never My Fault: When Marty invades the Cornerhouse in "The Takeover", James tries to fix his broken friend group, only for Frieda to blame him for "letting Marty stay". Even though the other Cornerhouse critters stand with her, no one else tried to fight back when Marty sent James into a Heroic BSoD and moved himself in.
• Not-So-Forgotten Birthday: The season 1 finale "The Birthday Party" starts with James noticing nobody's wished him a happy birthday, but when he tries reminding them, they all ignore him. Turns out, they were preparing a surprise party for him.
• Pet the Dog: Although James is normally rude and condescending towards Mrs. Lavender, he treats her nicely in "James G.P." after she reveals she wanted to be a nurse but was forced to work as a cleaning lady to provide for her family.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Inverted. Dennis is the Pink Boy to Mrs. Lavender's Blue Girl.
• Pink Means Feminine: Gladys is a gentle and sensitive goose who wears a pink pearl necklace and pink slippers.
• Ship Tease: Mrs. Lavender appears to have a crush on Rocky, constantly referring to him as her hero and in one episode fantasizing about him being the Prince to her Sleeping Beauty. Season 2 continues this, as hearts will float around her head whenever she and Rocky interact.
• Stray Animal Story: The first episode begins with James being left behind when his owners move away. He plans to move into his Auntie Maude's castle, but decides to stay after befriending the garden's other residents.
• Terms of Endangerment: James calls the baby bird he captured (and almost ate) Little One in "Sums".
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In "Lunch", after James tries to make his own food and fails, Citroen gives him his spare lunch, having made enough for two.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Frieda and Mrs. Lavender. Frieda is a blunt and brash Genki Girl while Mrs. Lavender is more formal, owns a fancy hat collection, and wears makeup.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • James initially was characterized as lazy and prideful, but still good-hearted and always the first to call to action whenever someone needed help. In season 2, his appointment as a V.I.P. makes him obsessed with self-image, to the point where when a guest is kidnapped in "Painted Lady", he's more worried about his reputation than the victim's safety.
  • The Rats were hit especially hard by this in season 2, turning into petty Jerkasses who constantly cause trouble for James and his friends.
• True Blue Femininity: Mrs. Lavender wears a blue shell and owns a fancy blue hat as part of her spare hat collection.
• You Are Not Alone: In "The Confused Goose", James and Frieda meet Gladys when they hear her crying. After she tells them she's been made fun of her whole life, James hugs her and takes her in.
  James: You poor thing, you must stay here with us. We'll help you.
• You Dirty Rat!: Zigzagged regarding the Rats. Their debut episode initially portrays them as slovenly Jerkasses, but by the end they warm up to their new neighbours, offering to help them when needed.