Siamese... If You Please Trivia Quiz

Answer: Two

The slinky Siamese cats Si and Am were featured in the 1995 film "Lady in the Tramp", in one of the only sequences from the film I actually remember. The two cats, seeking mischief, ended up getting Lady in trouble and sparking the conflict that led Lady to go off on her own in the city and, to be fair, she never would have met Tramp if they hadn't been menaces. Both Si and Am were voiced by famous singer Peggy Lee.

The cats also reappeared in the straight-to-video "Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure".

Answer: Nermal

Despite Garfield's disdain for Nermal in the long-running "Garfield" comic strip and a rivalry stretching back to the late 1970s, Nermal ended up having an underwhelming role in the live-action-ish "Garfield: The Movie" (2004) as a Siamese cat, which was never really indicated in the strip for however many years. Voiced by David Eigenberg, Nermal was, for all intents and purposes, played by a normal cat while Garfield (voiced by Bill Murray), was created with CGI. Nermal did not reappear for the sequel, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties".

Answer: Get Fuzzy

Debuting in 1999, "Get Fuzzy" featured a trio of characters going about their occasionally-absurd lives in the same apartment. Pet owner Rob Wilco cared for Bucky B. Katt, the Siamese of our question, and Satchel Pooch, a Shar-Pei/Golden Retriever mix, as they got into hijinx.

The strip ended up going on the backburner in the 2010s with most newspapers rerunning weekday strips and, eventually, Sunday strips as cartoonist Conley pulled back from the job. Bucky B. Katt is notable for having a single longer-than-normal fang.

Answer: DC

DC, of course, stood for 'Darn Cat' in the film. The movie, featuring Disney star Hayley Mills in the leading role, involved a cat that got itself involved in a bank robbery and then, eventually, led to the criminals' arrest simply by being a useful, darn cat.

The movie got a 1997 remake, also by Disney, that starred Christina Ricci though the main cat was not Siamese that time around. The cat who played DC (one of them, at least, since there were two) also appeared as Tao in the 1963 movie "The Incredible Journey".

Answer: Piano

Scat Cat's gang of alley cats all play their own musical instruments in "The Aristocats" (1970), but only Shun Gon, the Siamese cat (who actually plays as a Chinese stereotype) plays the piano. He also plays the drums. There are three other cats in Scat Cat's gang including a Russian, a British, and an Italian cat. Thomas O'Malley, Duchess, and her kittens visit this rag-tag group of smooth cats when they finally get back to Paris, the night before returning home to face off against the horrible butler, Edgar. Shun Gon was voiced by famous ventriloquist Paul Winchell.

Answer: Lilian Jackson Braun

"The Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun stretched across twenty-nine books over five decades and featured newspaper writer James Qwilleran as he and his two cats, Koko (originally Kao K'o-Kung) and Yum Yum solve murder mysteries, usually in the town of Pickax in Moose County. Koko, a cat with exactly sixty whiskers, seems to have a supernatural affinity for solving mysteries often, as Qwill would usually put it, before anyone else picks out the clues. Author Braun passed away in 2011; she was 97. All of her books were originally written in longhand.

Answer: Sagwa

Created as a PBS children's show character, Sagwa appeared in forty episodes of her self-titled animated series. Co-produced by Chinese, Canadian, and American filmmakers, the show featured many cultural stories, much of them inspired by creator Amy Tan's background as a Chinese woman. Sagwa, only six years old, was the main character of the show though she was joined by several other Siamese cats in the Miao family including her brother, sister, parents, grandparents, aunt, and uncle.

Answer: Elvis

While the podcast notably focuses on grisly murders and heinous criminal acts, hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark also let loose a bit of comedy and heartfelt honesty in their podcasts, often talking at length (and candidly) about mental health and their personal lives... and their producer, Steven Ray Morris. One of the typical recurring bits on the show besides staying sexy and not getting murdered features Elvis, Georgia's cat, who will come if called for a cookie. Elvis, who's cross-eyed and lets out a loud meow at the end of all home-produced episodes, has since become a fan favourite.

Answer: Skippyjon Jones

Skippyjon Jones, whose ears are too big for a normal Siamese cat, lives with his family but believes that he's a small dog instead of a young kitten despite the obvious evidence. That said, his adventures often involve being a fish out of water as a cat-who-could-be-a-dog, especially since his closest friends are other imaginary chihuahuas. "Skippyjon Jones" is a children's book written by Judith Byron Schachner whose works on the series have garnered a number of kids literary awards.

Answer: Barack Obama

While these pets were often bought as family pets for the Presidents' children (as was the case for Ford and Carter), Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th American President, was gifted a Siamese cat named Siam by a Thai representative of the American Consul. He would go on to have a second Siamese during his time in office as well. By the end of the twentieth century, the White House would be home to four Siamese cats, the First Pets-- Siam, Miss Pussy, Shan, and Misty.
Barack Obama had two Portuguese Water Dogs-- Bo and Sunny.