Cats Don't Dance
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| Cats Don't Dance | |
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| Directed by | Mark Dindal |
| Produced by | Bill Bloom Timothy Campbell David Kirschner Paul Gertz |
| Written by | Mark Dindal Robert Lence Brian McEntee Rick Schneider David Womersley Kelvin Yasuda |
| Starring | Scott Bakula Jasmine Guy John Rhys-Davies Ashley Peldon |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Family Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | March 28, 1997 |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$60,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 animated family feature film; the only animated feature produced by the short-lived Turner Entertainment animation unit. It was distributed to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film is set in a world where human beings and anthropomorphic animals live side-by-side, and focuses on a character named Danny who wants to break into show business in Hollywood but is hindered by the fact that he is a cat.
The film features the voices of Scott Bakula and Jasmine Guy, and was the directorial debut of former Disney animator Mark Dindal. It is also notable for Gene Kelly's contributions as choreographer; it was his final film project. The film's 1939 setting allowed it to parody the Golden Age of Hollywood, and it features caricatures of Mae West, Laurel & Hardy, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, King Kong, and Toto from The Wizard of Oz. The art and directing styles of the film reflect the influence of 1930s/1940s cartoon makers such as Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and the artists at the Fleischer Studio.
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[edit] Plot
A young ambitious cat named Danny travels from his small hometown of Kokomo to Hollywood who dreams of making it big in the pictures. He leaves behind his small town with high hopes for Hollywood, and is disappointed at the current state of affairs in the movie industry. It may be the Golden Age of Hollywood, 1930s, 1939 to be exact, for the humans, but animals are rarely given starring roles, and are snubbed by talent scouts and film directors. Danny finds an animal talent agent, as well as his clients, and his receptionist, a sassy and rather cynnical, but stunning lady cat named Sawyer, whom Danny falls for almost immediately. When Danny lands a small role in Mammoth Pictures' The Li'l Ark Angel, the latest film of Darla Dimple, "America's Sweetheart, Lover of Children and Animals", he's thrilled until he realizes how small the part is. He knows his talent demands a more promising role, so he takes matters into his own paws, turning his one line of "meow" into an impressive bit of music, but in so doing upstages Darla Dimple, who's playing the Li'l Ark Angel.
This is obviously a big mistake, as Darla's true self is then unleashed, as a brash, obnoxious, horrible child star of the worst degree, and she demands that the animals (whom she actually hates) respect her and keep their position. The director and crew have to agree, or face her further wrath, or that of Max, her gigantic manservant.
Danny learns that all of the other animals (including the dancing-singing sensation, Sawyer)came to Hollywood with big dreams too, only to realize that humans are always given the starring roles, and animals are resigned to supporting cast, if that. Realizing this Danny sets up an impromptu dance session in the alley, to remind the animals why they came to Hollywood in the first place. Here he also convinves Sawyer, with some difficulty, to dance again.
Darla Dimple, a plan up her pink and puffy sleeve, invites Danny to her mansion, and informs him that if he wants to impress L.B. Mammoth, he needs to make his act big and loud, brassy and impressive. She pretends to call L.B. and set up a chance for Danny and his friends to perform at a press release, and Danny enlists the assistance of all the animals. Unfortunately, Darla's plan is unleashed as she instructs Max dramatically to turn on all the movie set weather devices, flooding the sound stage, and bursting down the door, right onto L.B., the director and the press, and into the busy studio streets. When the tidal waves dies down, and the animals are kicked out of the studio, and promised they'll never work in Hollywood again, Darla appears and mocks the animals and their situation, laughing at the idea that animals could sing and dance in films. Sawyer lashes out at Danny for giving her and the others false hope, calling him unrealistic and foolish. Defeated, Danny prepares to go back to Kokomo. Sawyer tries to stop him, but is too late. However, inspired by the bus driver's monologue, Danny gets off the bus and together with Pudge the Penguin, he comes up with an idea.
Danny sneaks into the studio and invites all of the animals to the premiere of Darla's film, and after the film rolls (and a fairly intense battle between Max and Danny atop Graumann's Chinese Theater), Danny addresses the audience, informing them that he and his friends are going to sing and dance for them, as requested, Danny says, by Miss Darla Dimple. What follows is a spectacular production number by the animals, while Darla's insane attempts to stop them only results in more flash and fireworks, and in the process electrocutes herself and is badly bruised in the end, Darla screams the truth about her sabotage inadvertently into a microphone for all to hear, and the production number is a resounding success. The animals are given starring roles from then on, creating a number of amusing parodies of classic films. Danny and Sawyer find the obstacles keeping them apart have long been lifted. Later, after the credits roll, Darla has lost her fame and has wound up as a grumpy janitor.
[edit] Cast
- Scott Bakula as Danny Cat
- Jasmine Guy as Sawyer Cat (speaking)
- Natalie Cole as Sawyer Cat (singing)
- Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple (speaking)
- Lindsay Ridgeway as Darla Dimple (singing)
- Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo
- John Rhys-Davies as Woolie Mammoth
- George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth
- Rene Auberjonois as Flanigan
- Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Fish
- Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat
- Matthew Herried as Peabo "Pudge" Pudgemyer
- Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle
- Frank Welker as Farley Wink
- David Johansen as Bus Driver
[edit] Response
Although Cats Don't Dance was critically acclaimed, it was a casualty of the Turner/Time Warner merger: it recieved a traditional theatrical release in 1997 but without fanfare and failed to draw an audience, due to minimal advertising, a lack of promotional merchandise (only two book adaptations and a set of toys from Subway) and having only one theatrical trailer prepared. It was also overshadowed by the overlapping release of Disney's Hercules. It did substantially better when made available for rediscovery on VHS and DVD.
[edit] Trivia
- Preceding the feature in theaters was a newly produced Looney Tunes short featuring Foghorn Leghorn, Pullet Surprise.
- The films setting is 1939 although, the Land in the Hollywood sign is missing and was removed after a rebuilding of the sign in 1949.
[edit] External links
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