View source for Bill the Cat

{{distinguish|Billy the Cat (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox character
| name        = Bill the Cat
| series      = [[Bloom County]], [[Outland (comic strip)|Outland]] and [[Opus (comic strip)|Opus]]
| image       = Billthecat.jpg
| image_size  = 175px
| first       = June 13, 1982
| last        = 
| creator     = [[Berkeley Breathed]]
| voice   = [[John Byner]]
| species     = Cat
| gender      = Male
| occupation  = [[Politician]], Meadow Party
| nationality = American
}}

'''Bill the Cat''', or '''Bill D. Cat''', is a fictional [[cat]] appearing in the works of [[cartoonist]] [[Berkeley Breathed]], beginning with the [[comic strip]] ''[[Bloom County]]'' in the 1980s and continuing in ''[[Outland (comics)|Outland]]'' and ''[[Opus (comic strip)|Opus]]'' in the following decades.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rovin |first1=Jeff |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals |date=1991 |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |isbn=0-13-275561-0 |accessdate=8 April 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc00rovi/page/26/mode/2up/ |pages=27–28}}</ref> Bill also appeared in some of Breathed's illustrated children's books, including ''[[A Wish for Wings That Work]]'', which was also made into an animated [[Christmas television special]], and also on [[greeting card]]s and other sundry [[merchandising|merchandise]].  Bill was originally capable of speaking [[English language|English]] reasonably well, but storylines featuring an [[automobile accident]], repeated periods of [[drug abuse]], and [[brain surgery]] have since seen the character transition to a nearly [[mentally handicapped]] mute state in which the cat's most frequent spoken sentiments are "Ack!" and "Thppt!" - the former a result of his regularly choking on [[hairballs]], the latter an approximation of "[[blowing a raspberry]]".

The first strip with Bill the Cat announces he is a [[parody]] of [[Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis]]' [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]]. Subsequently, [[Milo Bloom]] appears to fear a visit from [[United Feature Syndicate]]'s [[copyright]] [[lawyer]]s over Bill's similarities to Garfield.  In the December 22, 2015 Facebook version of the comic, it was revealed that Bill the Cat is actually Garfield's son.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/berkeleybreathed/ Berkeley Breathed's Facebook page]</ref> Breathed has also described Bill as his attempt to create a character so repulsive that it would have absolutely no merchandising potential.<ref>Breathed, Berkeley, ''One Last Little Peek: The Final Strips, the Special Hits, the Inside Tips 1980-1995'', Little, Brown and Co., 1995. "The gag, honestly, was to draw a cartoon character that had zero - or even minus - merchandising appeal . . . a character whose very [[saliva]]-dripping face would send hordes of consumers screaming from their mall gift stores."</ref> But surprisingly, Bill the Cat trinkets and figurines have sold in great quantity, and often appear in the strips.  Bill the Cat was also inspired by a colorful economist named Bill Moore. A graduate assistant at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] during the 1970s, Moore was one of Breathed's teachers. {{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} Recognizably wild-eyed (and one legged), Moore also became one of Breathed's friends. His name was further inspired by a local homeless man of Iowa City, Iowa, who was dubbed Bill "The Cat".{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}

==Character biography==
Born the illegitimate kitten of [[Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis]]' [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]],<ref>[http://www.gocomics.com/bloom-county/2015/12/29 ''Bloom County'', December 29, 2015]</ref> Bill the Cat's character was raised in [[Dubuque, Iowa]], left for [[New York City|New York]] to become a film star and left his girlfriend, Sally, behind.<ref>[https://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1983/11/06/ ''Bloom County'', November 6, 1983]</ref> Some of Bill the Cat's film roles include the leads in ''Orangestoke: The Legend of Bill, Lord of the Monkeys'' and ''Terms of Bill's Endearment'' (references to the films ''[[Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes]]'' and ''[[Terms of Endearment]]''). During this period, he [[alcoholism|drank heavily]], used illegal [[recreational drug use|drugs]], and "[[free base|free-base]]d Tender Vittles" until his friends helped him to recover. On September 30, 1983, Bill was driving his beloved primer-grey 1969 [[Pontiac GTO]] on Highway 58 outside of [[Tehachapi, California]], traveling eastbound on the way to [[Gallup, New Mexico]] to give a motivational speech to the local Moose Lodge.  According to multiple eyewitness accounts, the GTO was traveling the wrong way down the highway, driving erratically at a high rate of speed when it hit a wild mule, became airborne and ultimately crashed into a [[Saguaro cactus]], impaling Bill on the Hurst shifter and killing him instantly.  [[California Highway Patrol]] troopers claim that Kansas' "Dust In The Wind" was playing on the 8-track player when they recovered the remains of the body. Also recovered at the scene was various drug paraphernalia as well as multiple copies of "Faster Pussycat", a popular underground "Kitty Porn" magazine. (The media, not wishing to divulge the true nature of Bill's death, claimed that he died of [[acne]]). The only part of Bill that was salvaged from the wreckage was his tongue, which young genius [[Oliver Wendell Jones]] used to clone Bill and bring him back to life. In the latter months of 1984, Bill's bid for the American presidency was effectively ruined by his decision to run off and join (and end up leading) the [[Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh]] cult in [[Oregon]], only to be "rescued" and [[deprogram]]med several weeks later by a humorous application of the [[Ludovico technique]] (by forcing him to watch reruns of ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]''); this was ultimately unsuccessful and Bill was sent off to the [[Betty Ford Center]]. In the video ''[[A Wish for Wings That Work#TV special|A Wish for Wings That Work]]'' Opus professes to have saved Bill from a lab where his brains had been replaced with tater tots.

Bill spent time as an unintelligible rock star who sang and played "electric tongue" with his [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Deathtöngue]], later [[Billy and the Boingers]]. Bill got rich when their song "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U" became a [[jingle]] for [[Wheat Thins]], but he did not share the wealth with his bandmates. Although Bill was the front-cat of [[Billy and the Boingers]], the band excluded him and disbanded when it became public that he spent his nights staying up late, reading the [[Bible]] with a [[nun]]. After this incident, Bill became the [[televangelist]] "Fundamentally Oral Bill", parodying (and, in the ''Bloom County'' universe, rivaling) real-life televangelists such as [[Jimmy Swaggart]], [[Jim Bakker]] and [[Oral Roberts]].

Bill was accused of treason for sending secrets to the [[Soviet Union]] with the unwitting assistance of his lover [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]]. Secrets he sold included: Secret [[antiperspirant]], the secret formula of [[Coca-Cola|Coke]], the secret of the Sierra Madre, and the secret of [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]]'s appeal (the secret being that he does not have any appeal). He was exchanged to the Soviets for accused spy [[Cutter John]].  While in Russia, he was responsible for the [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl nuclear disaster]], and was traded back soon afterward. The reason he stated for returning to the US was, as he put it, "to make some dough," although this reason was edited by Milo into the more PR-friendly "to once again walk the green grass of freedom."

Bill the Cat twice won the National Radical Meadow Party's nomination to run for [[President of the United States]], in 1984 and 1988, despite being dead in the first instance, and despite having a vocabulary that mainly consisted of "Aack!" He lost twice, once because of coughing up a fur ball on [[Connie Chung]], not to mention several scandals, including an unauthorized biography written by [[Albert Goldman]] exposing him as a vegesexual, and a [[Bartles & Jaymes]] junkie. The second was plagued with scandals. In spite of this political affiliation, he embarked on a torrid love affair with [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], then was later used as the primary source for an illegal cat-sweat-based [[baldness]] cure. His [[brain]] was replaced with [[Donald Trump|Donald Trump's]] (who had been hit with his [[yacht]]'s [[anchor]] while [[sunbathing]] in [[New York Harbor]]).<ref>[https://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/1989/01/31/ ''Bloom County'', January 31, 1989]</ref>

Bill the Cat returned to comics in Berkeley Breathed's now canceled strip, ''[[Opus (comic strip)|Opus]]'', which ran from November 23, 2003, through November 2, 2008. Given Bill's ostensible death and revival by tongue [[cloning]] (à la ''[[Sleeper (1973 film)|Sleeper]]''), his carcass was suggested as the source of the recent [[Bovine spongiform encephalopathy|BSE]] (aka "Mad Cow Disease") epidemic. Later, he was chosen as the new [[mayor]] of Bloom County. He got the message when he was playing Garfield at a mall promotion (the child in his lap asked her father if Garfield had died). Mayoral efforts for Bill and Opus involved forcing low-jeans teenagers to wear suspenders. Bill, however, lost an election a few months later because of an affair with [[Paris Hilton]].

Bill the Cat currently appears on Breathed's personal Facebook page.  He and Opus ran for POTUS in the 2016 election.  Their primary issue was the return of "two spaces after a period." Following the 2016 election, a new ''Bloom County'' strip ran on Breathed's page which saw Opus giving a speech to Bill about the importance of staying close to family in the face of massive changes, as family was where everything stayed exactly the same. Bill responds in perfect English, "So irrevocably true."

==In other media==
In the 2021 film ''[[The Suicide Squad (film)|The Suicide Squad]]'', the character of [[Weasel (DC Comics)|Weasel]], portrayed by [[Sean Gunn]], was based on several aspects of Bill the Cat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/suicide-squad-weasel-inspired-by-bill-the-cat/|work=CBR.com|title=The Suicide Squad's Weasel Was Inspired by Bloom County's Bill the Cat|last=Schaeffer|first=Sandy|date=April 2, 2021|access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>

In the 2000 music video for "[[The Real Slim Shady]]" by [[Eminem]], two mental hospital patients are shown fighting over a Bill the Cat plushie.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-19|title=21 Years Ago, Eminem Released His Song "The Real Slim Shady"|url=https://hiphop24x7.com/news/21-years-ago-eminem-released-his-song-the-real-slim-shady/|access-date=2022-02-20|website=HipHop24x7 {{!}} Hip Hop News & Music|language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
<!-- ----------------------------------------------------------
  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for a 
  discussion of different citation methods and how to generate 
  footnotes using the <ref>, </ref> and  <reference /> tags
----------------------------------------------------------- -->
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Rovin, Jeff. ''The Illustrated History of Cartoon Animals''. New York: Prentice Hall, 1991. {{ISBN|0-13-275561-0}}.

{{Bloomcounty}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bloom County characters]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1982]]
[[Category:Anthropomorphic cats]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Fictional candidates for President of the United States]]
[[Category:Fictional American criminals]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Iowa]]