The Maharajah of Pookajee

"The Maharajah of Pookajee" is the thirteenth episode of Top Cat season one. It aired on December 27, 1961 on ABC. It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of the series and the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Top Cat disguises himself as a maharajah, fooling Officer Dibble and an entire fancy hotel.

Memorable quotes
Officer Dibble: Five hundred alleys in New York, I gotta have one with a nut in it.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#clear"| Top Cat
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Arnold Stang
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Man
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Brain
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Leo De Lyon
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Choo Choo
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Marvin Kaplan
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Benny the Ball
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Maurice Gosfield
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Officer Dibble
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Allen Jenkins
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Daniel Webster
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Sergeant Flanagan
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Gregory Peck
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Spook
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Leo De Lyon
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Fancy Fancy
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hotel manager
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Crime boss
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Spike
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Finchley
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah's servant
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Officer Dibble's wife
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Crime boss
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Spike
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Finchley
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah's servant
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Officer Dibble's wife
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Officer Dibble's wife
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Maharajah
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson

Organizations

 * New York City Police Department

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * New York
 * New York City
 * Manhattan
 * Hoagy's Alley
 * Sherry Plaza Hotel
 * Finchley Jewelers (mentioned)
 * Docks
 * Alaska (mentioned)
 * Asia (indirectly mentioned)
 * South Asia (indirectly mentioned)
 * India (mentioned)
 * Pookajee (mentioned)
 * Middle East (indirectly mentioned)
 * Turkey (mentioned)

Objects

 * Academy Award (mentioned)
 * Oysters Rockfeller (mentioned)
 * Crime boss and Spike's guns

Vehicles

 * Officer Dibble's car

Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin, who was credited as musical director.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: December 27, 1961 at 8:30 on ABC
 * United Kingdom & Ireland: July 25, 1962 at 5:10 pm on BBC TV

Behind the scenes

 * Top Cat mentions a TV program called Have Gun - Will Shoot, a parody of Have Gun - Will Travel.
 * Top Cat can't swim.

Everlasting influence

 * Top Cat tries a similar scam with the Maharajah of Peekajoo in Top Cat: The Movie.

Home availability

 * In the United Kingdom & Ireland:
 * July 1, 1985: The Video Collection releases Top Cat: Volume 1 on VHS.
 * November 3, 1986: The Video Collection releases Top Cat: Volume 1 on VHS.
 * June 16, 1997: First Independent Films releases Top Cat: Bumper Edition 2 on VHS.
 * March 27, 2000: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: Volume 1 on VHS.
 * October 8, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (HMV exclusive) on DVD.
 * October 8, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: Volume 1 on DVD.
 * April 1, 2008: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series on DVD.
 * May 28, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat and Friends on DVD.
 * 2019: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
 * In the United States:
 * December 7, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series on DVD.
 * January 10, 2017: Warner Archive Collection releases Top Cat: The Series on DVD.
 * June 6, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Top Cat: The Complete Series (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.