Planet Kate

[Misanthropic Monster™]

I was inspired to post about this based on a question I had from a member here called Cobra who asked about this pic from my signature

For anyone who might be interested it's a screenshot from an obscure little pilot from the '90s called Planet Kate. It was a segment on the Oh Yeah! Cartoons anthology series that aired on Nickelodeon back then. It was similar to Random! Cartoons (Nicktoons), Disney's Raw Toonage (CBS), What a Cartoon! (Cartoon Network) Shorty McShorts' Shorts (Disney Channel) and KaBlam! (Nickelodeon) so part of that ilk of programming.

Planet Kate was something that stood out to me A LOT back then, even though it (very sadly) never made it beyond the initial pilot episode. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere, characters, environments, art style and selection of voice actors.  It had, in my opinion, every ingredient to be a masterpiece... but for some reason it was never picked up and so I will never know what happens beyond the pilot - which ended on a cliff-hanger.

Back in 2001-ish I made an E-Group (which later became Yahoo Groups) fan page reviving the franchise and inviting other artists to come along and write possible continuations of the pilot. It ended up turning into a Planet Kate RPG forum where people made their own characters and we sort of made our own stories and fanons etc. But I've spent 30 years or so pining over where the story was truly supposed to go.

I even reached out to Jamie Mitchell back in 2010 but there was no information or any storyboards/concepts that existed to share. 

You can watch the entire thing HERE on YouTube.

Rothgar is my absolute favourite part of the show... I was and still am hyperfixated on him. The avatar I use for this forum is a drawing I did of him a few years ago. 

Below, if you click into the SPOILER tag, there is a select few images I've drawn of Rothgar, mostly more recent doodles as my art wasn't too great 20 years ago haha.

Spoiler

Artwork of Rothgar based on a dream I had. I've always had a lot of aboriginal dreamtime sort of themed dreams and for some reason Rothgar gets tangled up in that within my subconscious.
Image drawn 2005


This is from a silly little fan story I wrote based on Lilo and Stitch - instead it's Helga Pataki (Hey Arnold) and Rothgar in a similar situation, but it also has Real Monsters characters (hence Ickis being there). The entire premise was a silly spin-off of Hey Arnold that I wrote up and did a bunch of art for and planned on making into a fan comic but never got around to it.
Image drawn 2019


This was a tattoo design I created in 2021. Just a nice little graphic with Rothgar - it's the same image I use for my avatar here 


Two sketches circa 2020

I have sketchpads full of Planet Kate related doodles from as far back as 1999 so I can share more if people are interested but it is mostly Rothgar and my PK OC so a bit cringe probably? 

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Anyways it would be cool to see if anyone else here watched this show, how they felt about it and what they thought the continuation of the pilot would have been like in terms of story progression.

It's utterly devastating that this show never took off.... would have been up there as one of the classics with Real Monsters, Hey Arnold, Ren & Stimpy, etc.
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[CableCat]

Wow, how neat!

I watched Oh Yeah! Cartoons back in the day, but I don't remember this Pilot at all! It looks so cool, my teen self who was super into black and white stripes and patterns would've LOVED this!

[Misanthropic Monster™]

Thank you for the reply! It's strange, a lot of people I've spoken to have said the same thing - that they remember Oh Yeah! Cartoons but don't remember Planet Kate. I've only ever met one other person online who had also seen this, everyone else I've introduced to the short.

Honestly, if I can just get more people perceiving it and knowing it exists, my work on this planet will be done haha. 

[Misanthropic Monster™]

My OC Nebula, with a slight tweak to her design! 



I am WAY happier with her design now! I wanna draw some pics of her and Rothgar interacting and stuff! She's not the type to admit to someone she has a crush on them so she has a sorta boisterous comradery with him despite her inner feelings     

[KatiePla.net]

Woah! I saw this and had to give it watch, especially given the fact my Website's name is Katie Planet!

This is such a unique idea for a show, and I think it really could have taken off if given the chance. The idea of alien dog archaeologists is really inventive - I wish they did more with it!

Did you ever end up getting the Rothgar tattoo? Thats such a cool conversation piece! Thanks for sharing this pilot gem! 

[Misanthropic Monster™]

Hah it's funny cos everytime I see you posting around my mind instantly goes to the pilot!

I am really glad you gave it a watch and love the concept - the more people get to experience this little gem the better imo.

I totally agree that the concept is really unique and innovative and could have really taken off as a show, would have been up there with Real Monsters and Hey Arnold as the greats!

I have not yet got the tat, though that will be the plan next Jan! I ended up getting a tattoo of Oblina from real Monsters last December which was paid for as a xmas present 

[Marchy]

Watched this the other night after seeing your thread, I love stuff like this!

I couldn't place at first why the voice cast was ringing so many bells - Billy West and Nancy Cartwright? 

[Misanthropic Monster™]

Watched this the other night after seeing your thread, I love stuff like this!

I couldn't place at first why the voice cast was ringing so many bells - Billy West and Nancy Cartwright? 

EEEE! I am SO thrilled more people are watching and actually enjoying this pilot! It is my life mission to get this pilot out to more people 

I am a bit of a VA nerd, and I always felt the voice-casting for this short was simply AMAZING, Ya got Billy West, Cree Summer, Maurice LaMarche, Nancy Cartwright, Shayna Fox, Christopher Walberg to name a few... I can't wrap my brain around how this show never made it big with the wonderfully whimsical art style, the unique and interesting story and the VAs... just blows my mind this never got voted in for a full show.

[MrsMoe]

This was pretty charming! The character designs are pretty ugly, but I think that's what makes them stand out so much. Gives me a lot of Klasky Csupo vibes. I think it'd be interesting for a show with this sort of art style and vibe having a serialized continuity.

I gotta ask you though, what is it about this pilot and Rothgar that's captured your brain for this long (and with so little content)? I feel like if I only had ten minutes of something I love to go off of, I'd start to go insane. That's not an insult in any way btw. I am GREATLY envious of your strength and passion.

[Misanthropic Monster™]

This was pretty charming! The character designs are pretty ugly, but I think that's what makes them stand out so much. Gives me a lot of Klasky Csupo vibes. I think it'd be interesting for a show with this sort of art style and vibe having a serialized continuity.

I gotta ask you though, what is it about this pilot and Rothgar that's captured your brain for this long (and with so little content)? I feel like if I only had ten minutes of something I love to go off of, I'd start to go insane. That's not an insult in any way btw. I am GREATLY envious of your strength and passion.

Ya know, it's funny because for a long time I felt a sort of despair that I'd never see beyond this pilot - I will never truly know what happens to the space dogs or their mission or Kate... or anything! I'll never see other space dogs that exist in the universe.

But I think what's kept me going is my hyperfixation with the designs, the atmosphere, the nostalgia... all of that! 

I've written so many possible continuations of what I think happens or how the show would have gone, I've made countless fan characters and drawn so many scenes from possible outcomes. It just feels like such an injustice that this show never got a chance.

I can see the Klasky-Csupo vibes, for sure, I feel like this show could fit in really nice into the Real Monsters universe for example. Though mostly I think this show could have crossed-over with Hey Arnold, as a lot of the same creators/designers behind that show were involved in the creation of Planet Kate... and the style is vaguely similar I feel.

It's awesome you found it charming,  and I agree the character designs are definitely 'ugly' but I think that abstract ugliness is what appeals to me so much.

As for Rothgar, I just sort of fell inlove with his design when I was a kid - he's so much like Beetlejuice, but if he were an alien canid as opposed to a ghost/demon! I am very partial to his design and color scheme too, which I feel has some similarities to Oblina (Real Monsters)


I appreciate your kind words too thank you!