Billy the Cat: Difference between revisions

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'''''Billy the Cat''''' is a Franco-Belgian comic book series by the Belgian Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg. Also an animated cartoon version has been produced for broadcast and is ran through American Broadcasting Company, amongst others. Both comic and cartoon deal with the everyday and secret lives of urban animals, and while the characters are largely the same in both versions, the stories and situations are very different.

The Comic follows the story of Billy, a normal schoolboy who often pranks and bullies animals. However, early in the first comic album, [[Mood Whiplash|he is killed when he carelessly runs out in the street and is hit by a car.]] Told that his chances of getting into Heaven are slim due to his misdeeds, he is given a second chance by being returned to earth as a young cat. The comic follows Billy's attempts to adapt to living as a cat and chronicle his misadventures while he interacts with other animals. The comic is notably [[Darker and Edgier|darker and more dramatic]] than the serialized television show.

 

 

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=== Shared tropes: ===

 

* [[Animal Talk]]

* [[Animorphism]]

* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: Given that all animals are sapient and can talk, it potentially causes a few issues. In the show at least, the cats eat mostly garbage or food fed to them by a kindly old lady, and not their pigeon friend.

* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Averted. Cats have different temperaments and personalities, just like humans. In fact, most of them are implausibly friendly with other animals that real life cats consider food, or at least prey. The only cat who can really be considered mean is Sanctifer from the animated series, and even he goes through quite a bit of [[Villain Decay]].

* [[Karmic Transformation]]

* [[Kick the Dog]]: As a human Billy would ''literally'' do this. Cats and other animals were not exempt from being kicked either.

* [[Race Lift]]: The second friend of Billy with whom he used to taunt cats with is white in the cartoon. In the comic, he's black, and in original French can't even pronounce the "R" letter.

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Mr. Hubert

* [[Left Hanging]]: The viewer never finds out what happens to Billy in the end. Does he stay a cat forever? Does he get turned back into a human?

* [[Lighter and Softer]]

* [[Status Quo Is God]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:Animal Title Index]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]