Honestly, if you grew up watching Saturday Night Live in the late eighties or early nineties, you probably can’t see a 1980s Plymouth Horizon without bracing for impact. It’s a visceral reaction. That little silver subcompact car, the frantic meowing, and the inevitable sight of a vehicle plummeting off a cliff—it’s the legacy of Toonces the cat who could drive a car.
He wasn't a real driver, obviously.
But for a few years, he was the biggest star on NBC. Toonces was the "Driving Cat," a recurring sketch character who first appeared in 1989. The premise was aggressively simple: a couple, usually played by Steve Martin and Victoria Jackson (or later, Linda Hamilton or Dana Carvey), would let their pet cat take the wheel. They’d marvel at his supposed skill right up until the moment he drove them into a ravine.
The Origins of a Feline Motorist
The sketch wasn't just a random bit of absurdity. It was born from the mind of Jack Handey. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the same genius behind "Deep Thoughts." Handey has a very specific brand of humor—it’s surreal, dry, and often centers on a logic that makes sense only to a toddler or a lunatic.
Toonces first showed up in Season 14, Episode 18. Steve Martin was the host. He and Victoria Jackson sit in the front seat while a fluffy, gray tabby-and-white cat sits behind the wheel. The puppet work was intentionally low-budget. You could see the cat's "paws" (clearly someone's hands in fur gloves) frantically spinning the steering wheel back and forth while the cat stared blankly at the road.
"He can drive!" they’d shout. "I thought he could only steer!"
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Then, the inevitable. The car flies off a cliff. Every single time. It became a trope that defined an era of SNL. It wasn't about the destination; it was about the sheer, baffling optimism of owners who thought a house cat had mastered the internal combustion engine.
Toonces the Cat Who Could Drive a Car and the Art of the Cheap Gag
Why did it work? It’s because the special effects were terrible. In an era where movies were starting to experiment with early CGI, SNL leaned hard into the "bad puppet" aesthetic.
The car was usually a shell on a gimbal. The background was a grainy rear-projection of a highway. When the car went over the cliff, it was clearly a toy model being tossed off a dirt mound in a studio. This "anti-comedy" style paved the way for future shows like Tim and Eric or The Eric Andre Show. It leaned into the fakery.
The cat itself was played by a rotating cast of puppets and occasionally a real cat named Spunky, who presumably had no idea he was a comedy icon. Spunky’s main job was to look bored while Steve Martin screamed in his ear.
Breaking the Formula
While the cliff-dive was the punchline, the writers tried to expand the "Toonces-verse." They gave him a 30-minute special in 1992 called Toonces Goes to Hollywood. They even gave him a nemesis: a car-driving monkey.
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There was a Terminator parody where Linda Hamilton reprised her Sarah Connor role to protect Toonces from a robotic cat sent from the future. It was weird. It was very nineties. But it proved that Toonces the cat who could drive a car was more than just a one-off joke; he was a brand.
The absurdity escalated. He drove tanks. He drove UFOs. He even tried his hand at a "Rockett" (the Toonces version of a space shuttle). The outcome never changed. Gravity always won.
The Cultural Impact of a Bad Driver
We see this kind of humor everywhere now. TikTok is basically 40% people filming their pets doing "human" things with funny voiceovers. Toonces was the progenitor of the "Cat Video" before the internet existed to host them.
- The Steve Martin Factor: Martin’s earnestness made the sketch. His ability to look at a hand puppet and believe it was a chauffeur gave the bit its legs.
- The Catchy Jingle: "Toonces the Driving Cat! The cat who could drive a car!" If you've heard it once, it's stuck in your head for the next forty-eight hours.
- The Repetition: It was one of the first sketches to use "the rule of three" and then just keep going until it became funny again through sheer persistence.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Sketch
People often remember Toonces as a "bad driver." That’s not quite right. The joke wasn't that he was bad; it was that he was a cat. The humans were the ones at fault for their misplaced confidence. It was a satire of pet owners who project too much intelligence onto their animals.
We all do it. We think our dog understands the nuance of our bad day. We think our cat is judging our life choices. Toonces just took that projection to its most lethal conclusion.
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There's also a misconception that the sketch was universally loved. It actually polarized people at the time. Some critics thought it was the "death of smart comedy" on SNL. They hated the repetition. They hated the low-fi puppets. But the fans didn't care. It was the kind of bit that stayed with you because of how unapologetically stupid it was.
The Legacy of the Driving Cat in 2026
Fast forward to today. We have self-driving cars. We have AI that can simulate a cat's voice. Yet, there’s something about the physical comedy of a puppet cat spinning a plastic wheel that still hits harder than a high-def CGI meme.
Toonces represents a time when television was allowed to be "loose." It didn't need to be part of a cinematic universe. It just needed to make you laugh for three minutes before the musical guest came on.
Actionable Insights for the Toonces Fan
If you're looking to dive back into the world of Toonces the cat who could drive a car, don't just stick to the YouTube clips.
- Watch the 1992 Special: Toonces Goes to Hollywood is a time capsule. It features cameos from the likes of Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman at the peak of their powers.
- Look for the "Hammer" Sketch: There’s a rare crossover where Toonces meets other SNL characters. It’s a masterclass in how to sustain a one-note joke.
- Check out Jack Handey's Writing: To understand the DNA of Toonces, read Handey's books like The Stench of Honolulu. It explains the "weird for the sake of weird" philosophy that made the cat work.
- Embrace the Analog: The next time you see a slick, AI-generated animal video, remember the fur-gloved hands of a stagehand named Toonces. There's beauty in the janky.
Toonces didn't need a license. He didn't need insurance. He just needed a cliff and a couple of willing passengers. He remains the greatest—and most terrifying—feline motorist in history.
To truly appreciate the era, track down the Season 17 episode hosted by Linda Hamilton. The "Toonces 2: The Cat Who Could Drive a Car" parody is arguably the high-water mark for the character, blending high-stakes action movie tropes with a cat that literally can't see over the dashboard. It's the perfect example of why this character still resonates: it's the ultimate "what if" scenario played out with zero budget and maximum commitment.