Officer Dibble

Officer Dibble
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Top Cat Benny the Ball Brain Spook Choo Choo Fancy Fancy
Occupation	Police officer
Works for	New York Police Department
Goals	Keep Top Cat and his gang from trouble Keep Hoagy's Alley clean and orderly
Marital status	Married to unnamed wife
First appearance	TC: "The $1,000,000 Derby" (1961)
Played by	Allen Jenkins (1961-62) John Stephenson (1988) Bill Lobley (2013, 2015)
Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
Top Cat: The Movie
Top Cat Begins

Officer Charlie Dibble is a police officer and the main human character in the Top Cat animated television series, which is about a gang of anthropomorphized street smart cats in New York City. His voice was originated by Allen Jenkins.

Officer Dibble's goal in life is to keep Top Cat and his gang under control in his beat. Though he tries his best to have them clean their alley and stay off his police telephone, Dibble is T.C.'s foil due to becoming the one who falls under his schemes.

Character description

Often referred to as a "by-the-book cop," Dibble is committed to his job and is usually found trying to help civilians out in New York, or patroling Hoagy's Alley at the 13th Precinct of Manhattan. Despite this, the meddlesome cop is somewhat unlucky to be the victim of Top Cat's shenanigans, being easily tricked by both his smooth talk and wild antics. Dibble's superior is Sergeant Murphy, who is considered to be as more serious and competent than the former.

The recurring gags related to Dibble are him ordering Top Cat and his gang to clean up the alley, and warning Top Cat of using his telephone for personal reasons. However, T.C. manages to find a way to bypass his orders, but Dibble never stops him from trying. Top Cat would also mock or mispronounce Dibble's name as "Dribble."

Though his strict attitude grumpily resents T.C. and the gang, he has a heart of gold and is respectful of their presence on rare occasions. In the episode "Dibble's Birthday," Top Cat tries to sell the gifts meant for Dibble's birthday, but has a change of heart when his gang refuse to cooperate, and instead cheers Dibble up in a moment of his depression by handing in the gifts. Dibble is also quite emotional, as he can be quite sensitive at times.

Dibble is a tall, stout man with fair skin who is sharply dressed in the blue police uniform. His black hair is slicked back to maintain a professional appearance, though it tends to be hidden by the blue cap of his uniform.

Appearances

TV series

• Top Cat
  • 1.1 "The $1,000,000 Derby"
  • 1.2 "The Missing Heir"
  • 1.3 "Hawaii, Here We Come"
  • 1.4 "Top Cat Falls in Love"
  • 1.5 "The Violin Player"
  • 1.6 "The Unscratchables"
  • 1.7 "All That Jazz"
  • 1.8 "Choo Choo's Romance"
  • 1.9 "A Visit from Mother"
  • 1.10 "Rafeefleas"
  • 1.11 "Sergeant Top Cat"
  • 1.12 "Naked Town"
  • 1.13 "The Maharajah of Pookajee"
  • 1.14 "The Long Hot Winter"
  • 1.15 "The Tycoon"
  • 1.16 "The Grand Tour"
  • 1.17 "Space Monkey"
  • 1.18 "T.C. Minds the Baby"
  • 1.19 "The Golden Fleecing"
  • 1.20 "The Case of the Missing Anteater"
  • 1.21 "Farewell, Mr. Dibble"
  • 1.22 "The Late T.C."
  • 1.23 "Choo Choo Goes Ga Ga"
  • 1.24 "King for a Day"
  • 1.25 "Dibble Breaks the Record"
  • 1.26 "The Con Men"
  • 1.27 "Dibble's Birthday"
  • 1.28 "Dibble Sings Again"
  • 1.29 "Griswald"
  • 1.30 "Dibble's Double"
• Yogi's Treasure Hunt
  • 2.5 "Yogi Bear on the Air"

Movies

• Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats
• Top Cat: The Movie
• Top Cat Begins

Shorts

• Halifax's "Top Cat" commercial

Comics

• Top Cat (Dell Comics)
• Top Cat (Gold Key Comics)
• Band-Wagon
  • Issue #1N: "Trouble in Double"
  • Issue #2I: "Officer Dibble's Off-Beat Day"
• Top Cat (Charlton Comics)
• Cartoon Network Presents
  • Issue #1B: "Alley Oops!"
  • Issue #3A: "The Twiddle Method"
  • Issue #16A: "It's a Wonderful Strife"
  • Issue #16B: "Stray Pets"
  • Issue #16C: "Cops Cat"
• Scooby-Doo! Team-Up
  • Issue #29: "Reigning Cats and Dogs"

Video games

• Top Cat Starring in Beverly Hills Cats

Gallery

Main article: Officer Dibble/Gallery

Behind the scenes

• Officer Dibble's name in the Mexican Spanish dub of Top Cat is Oficial Carlos "Carlitos" Matute, or simply Ofical Matute.
• Dibble is known to have a married wife, although she is not seen in the series proper.

In popular culture

• The scene from "Naked Town," in which Top Cat, his gang, and Dibble are sitting on the curb outside the Ajax warehouse is being watched by Mike in the 1984 film Sixteen Candles.
• In "Episode Two" (series two) of the Dead Ringers radio sketch program, Nick Russ presents Cartoon Crimewatch that reports on Top Cat victimizing the passerby that walked through Hoagy's Alley. Top Cat was using the stupid Brain (mistakenly called "Brains") to swindle money for a fake charity for stupid cats. He gets an old lady's watch, which he gives to Benny to fence, but he takes it literally. Officer Dibble comes onto the scene, but is distracted by a phone call from the sergeant who wants him back at the station, which disappoints Dibble because he would rather stay on TV, breaking the fourth wall.
• "Dibble," a British slang word for police in the Manchester area, is adopted from Officer Dibble's name.

• 

Dead Ringers (radio)

• "Episode Two" (series 2): Nick Russ presents Cartoon Crimewatch that reports on Top Cat victimizing the passerby that walked through Hoagy's Alley. Top Cat was using the stupid Brain (mistakenly called "Brains") to swindle money for a fake charity for stupid cats. He gets an old lady's watch, which he gives to Benny to fence, but he takes it literally. Officer Dibble comes onto the scene, but is distracted by a phone call from the sergeant who wants him back at the station, which disappoints Dibble because he would rather stay on TV, breaking the fourth wall.
• "Episode Three" (series 7): BBC News' Michael Burke interviews Officer Dibble after Top Cat has him removed from his beat under the Cartoon Animal Bill of Rights Act, only because Officer Dibble had Top Cat arrested for using his phone, but T.C. had him suspended on suspicious entrapment, and putting a wire on Choo Choo.