Toonces the Driving Cat

Wikipedia info:

Toonces is a fictional sketch character from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live.

Toonces was the family pet of Lyle (Steve Martin in the first sketch, thereafter by Dana Carvey) and Brenda Clark (Victoria Jackson), an enthusiastic couple who would allow their cat to drive the family car. At first, they were delighted that their cat had such an ability, but were always horrified to discover (too late) that Toonces was actually not a skilled driver at all. Inevitably, Toonces would drive the car over a cliff whenever he got behind the wheel. This sequence was characterized by someone in the car yelling “Toonces, look out!” with the Toonces puppet appearing to scream also, followed by the car falling off a cliff, and sometimes exploding (as shown in a series of stock footage scenes—sometimes the same one used multiple times within a sketch).

Toonces was portrayed by a live cat (for the title sequence and certain close-up driving scenes) and a puppet. The puppet was made up of three parts. The first part was a head and torso piece, which was a simplistic rendering of a grey and white striped Domestic shorthaired cat. The other two parts consisted of two separate paws, which were manipulated so as to simulate Toonces actually steering the car.

Interestingly enough, this sketch first appeared on the show Steve Martin hosted when he broke Buck Henry’s record for most hosting stints. It was one of Martin’s latest contributions to the pantheon of popular Saturday Night Live characters he would influence.