Cats Don't Dance

Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film directed by Mark Dindal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The film features the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, Betty Lou Gerson (in her final film role), René Auberjonois, Dindal, and George Kennedy.

The film's musical numbers were written by Randy Newman and include choreography contributed by Gene Kelly before his death in 1996. The film was Kelly's final film project and is dedicated to his memory. It is the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation, which was merged during the post-production of Cats Don't Dance into Warner Bros. Animation after the merger of Time Warner with Turner Broadcasting System in 1996.

Cats Don't Dance was released in the United States and Canada on March 26, 1997, by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. It was a box-office failure, grossing $3.5 million domestically due to lack of promotion.Template:Citation needed Despite this, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, humor, characters, voice performances, and musical numbers.

Plot

Set in an alternate 1939, where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, Danny, an optimistic orange tabby cat from Kokomo, Indiana, travels to Hollywood, Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a movie star. After arriving at the office of animal actor hiring agent, Farley Wink, Danny is casted as part of the animal ensemble for Mammoth Pictures’ latest film production called Lil' Ark Angel starring popular child actress, Darla Dimple. In need of a female cat for the ensemble, Wink convinces his secretary, Sawyer, a beautiful yet snarky Turkish Angora, to star in the film alongside Danny, who becomes smitten with her. At Mammoth Studios, Danny joins other fellow animals: Tilly, a hippopotamus, Cranston, a goat, Frances, an albacore, T.W., a turtle, and Pudge, a young penguin, at the stage shooting Lil' Ark Angel, but is surprised to learn that, despite being a musical, the animals’ only lines of dialogue are the sounds of their natural noises. Looking to weasel his way into more time in the spotlight, Danny “jazzes up” his one line of “Meow”, angering Darla Dimple, who is revealed to be spoiled and hateful of animals. She calls upon her behemoth-sized butler Max, who violently intimidates Danny against enlarging his part.

Later that night, Danny and Pudge meet and learn from the studio's logo mascot, Woolie the Mammoth, shown to be a regular elephant, that Hollywood only looks for talented humans to take on pivotal roles in movies while it restricts the talented freedom of animals by having them only act as their natural species to the point of becoming unrecognized. Danny also learns that the rest of his troupe, including Sawyer, once aspired to pursue successful acting careers, prompting him to remind them of their past ambitions.

The next day, Danny, with help from Pudge and Woolie, instigates a mass musical jam session with the other animals in the alleyway outside Mammoth Studios. Gaining Sawyer’s attention from her office, Danny shares a dance with her, briefly rekindling her passion, before expressing the intention to put on a performance for studio head, L.B. Mammoth. Darla, whose attention was also gathered, overhears of Danny’s plans and invites him to her mansion for tea. After “apologizing” for enabling Max’s brutality, Darla offers Danny full access to her film’s soundstage in order to give the animals’ performance a proper setup during an important press conference held by Mammoth. As Danny happily yet naively accepts her offer before departing, Darla, who sees this performance as a threat to her acting career, secretly plots to sabotage him and his friends’ efforts.

On the day of the press conference, Danny gathers the rest of the animals inside of the film’s prop ark in preparation, even convincing a still reluctant Sawyer to join them. However, as Pudge begins to set up the ambience, he is subdued by Darla and Max who create a disastrous flood that spills out of the soundstage and washes through the rest of the studio. Mammoth believes the animals to be responsible for the flood and has them subsequently fired. Outside the studio gates, Darla arrives in her limousine to mockingly give credit to Danny for the animals’ failure and misfortune before driving off in laughter. Shunned and alone, a guilt-ridden Danny submits and prepares to return home to Kokomo.

That night, as the other animals blame Danny for leaving them worse off than before, Sawyer secretly expresses her retained hope and love for Danny through his efforts to fulfill everyone’s dreams. At Tilly’s urging, Sawyer unsuccessfully tries to reunite with Danny, who briefly boards the bus homeward yet exits upon formulating one last plan to put on the performance. Finding Pudge wandering the streets, the two sneak back into Mammoth Studios and put the names of their friends on the invitation list to the Lil' Ark Angel premiere.

As the gang arrives at the night of the premiere, Danny and Pudge sneak in through the stage behind the film screen and secretly set up for the performance. They unwittingly draw the attention of Max who attacks them and follows Danny up onto the roof. After a brief chase atop a giant Darla balloon, Danny pops it, sending Max flying away as it deflates. As the film ends, Danny manages to stop the departing audience, only for the other animals to abandon him upon hearing his intentions. Sawyer appears backstage to reassure a pressured Danny, with Tilly having dragged the others in tow, and he is able to convince them to remember their dreams and to not give up. The animals manage to put on a successful musical performance as Darla, in her attempts to sabotage them once more, inadvertently enhances it through the different stage controls and creates a grand finale. As Mammoth and the audience applaud the animals, a defeated Darla confronts Danny while confessing her responsibility of causing the studio flood, which ends up getting amplified through a boom mic stuck on her back, exposing her true nature to the public. As Darla falls through a trapdoor triggered by Pudge, the gang finally becomes recognized for their talents while Sawyer reciprocates her feelings for Danny.

The animals star in larger roles for multiple films while Darla finally gets her comeuppance by being demoted to a janitorial status.

Voice cast

• Scott Bakula as Danny, an ambitious, optimistically naïve, yet well-meaning orange tabby cat from Kokomo, Indiana, who wishes to become a famous Hollywood star.
• Jasmine Guy as Sawyer, a beautiful yet jaded and sarcastic Turkish Angora cat secretary who serves as Danny's love interest and then later girlfriend.
  • Natalie Cole provides her singing vocals.
• Matthew Herried as Peabo "Pudge" Pudgemyer, a little penguin and Danny's first friend who looks up to him as a big brother. Herried was cast after he asked the animators for directions at a cafe, because of which they instantly thought he was perfect for the role.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple, the villainous human child star of Hollywood. She conceals her anger and sinister nature from her fans and superiors through a facade of sweetness and innocence, and is willing to do anything to maintain her star status. She is referred to as "America's sweetheart, lover of children and animals!" Darla is based on Shirley Temple and Norma Desmond.
  • Lindsay Ridgeway provides her singing vocals.
• Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo, an optimistic hippopotamus who tries to find the best in every situation.
• John Rhys-Davies as Woolie the Mammoth, the aging Asian elephant who portrays the mascot for Mammoth Pictures. He originally came to Hollywood to write and perform music where he acts as a mentor to Danny upon befriending him. Woolie is a parody of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's mascot Leo the Lion.
• Betty Lou Gerson as Frances Albacore, a sarcastic fish who is together with Cranston Goat. This was Gerson's last film role before her death in 1999.
• Hal Holbrook as Cranston Goat, an elderly, cranky goat. He and Frances are both passionate on dancing.
• Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle, a neurotic, superstitious turtle.
  • Rick Logan provides his singing vocals.
• George Kennedy as L.B. Mammoth, the human head of Mammoth Pictures. He is a parody of Louis B. Mayer.
• René Auberjonois as Flanigan, the human film director of Li'l Ark Angel.
• Mark Dindal as Max, Darla's gargantuan valet who obeys her every command and will not hesitate to punish anyone who crosses her, serving as the direct force that Darla physically lacks as a child.
• Frank Welker as Farley Wink, a human agent for animals and Sawyer's boss.
• David Johansen as Bus Driver, a man whose insults towards the animals getting fired from Mammoth Studios inspire Danny with his last plan to give the animals their long-awaited stardom.
• Dee Bradley Baker as Kong, a gorilla who appears while Danny and Sawyer are going to the set of Li'l Ark Angel at Mammoth Studios.
• Tony Pope as Alligator
• Peter Renaday as Narrator

Production

Development

The film was launched in 1993 as a vehicle for Michael Jackson, who would produce, star, and be a consultant in the music and choreography. It would have been a hybrid live-action/CGI film,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but by 1994, Jackson had ceased to be involved in the film.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In its earlier stages, the film concerned less anthropomorphic stray cats that live among the sets and studio backlots. At one point, David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr. composed songs for the film before Randy Newman was hired.<ref name="cdd">Template:Cite interview</ref>

Turner Animation was run by David Kirschner, and had originated as the feature division of Hanna-Barbera, where Kirschner was CEO.<ref name="AboutProd" /> The Turner Animation writing department added cat characters based on stories about the filming of Warner Bros. Studios productions like Casablanca (1942), East of Eden (1955), and The Music Man (1962); stagehands would feed feral cats, which dominated the back lot for decades.<ref name="AboutProd">Template:Cite book</ref> Producers David Kirschner and Paul Gertz then decided to have dance numbers in the vein of classic musical films like Singin' in the Rain (1952). Kershner felt the style would appeal to a wide audience. The 1930s Hollywood backdrop also inspired the premise of anthropomorphic animals being allegories of those who did not look and/or sound mainstream struggling to gain attention in Hollywood in the late 1930s.<ref name = "AboutProd"/>

Kirschner contacted Mark Dindal to be director of the project a year after the two met and while Dindal was working on The Rocketeer (1991).<ref name = "AboutProd"/> Around the same time, Brian McEntee joined as art director, Randy Newman joined as composer, and Gene Kelly joined as dance consultant.<ref name="AboutProd"/> Dindal, Kirschner, and McEntee noticed the improving animation technology and were excited to see how it would be incorporated with traditional animation in Cats Don't Dance; McEntee himself worked on the computer-animated ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast (1991).<ref name="AboutProd"/> The team watched old musical films for reference before asking Kelly, who instantly joined due to his interest in the story.<ref name="AboutProd"/> One meeting took place at Kelly's house between him and Dindal, and he vividly remembered how the films he starred in were choreographed.<ref name="AboutProd"/>

During production, management at Turner Feature Animation changed repeatedly and each head that came in attempted to take drastic revisions, including updating the setting to the 1950s rock-and-roll era. Dindal said: "It's pretty hard to try and keep what you have finished so far, and then suddenly transition into a different period of time or introduce a different character or have a completely different ending that doesn't seem to fit the beginning you have".<ref name="cdd" />

Dindal's portrayal of Max was initially a scratch track and was never intended to be heard on the film. Dindal wanted Max to be voiced by a professional actor, but as the film started running out of money, he kept his own vocals in.<ref name="cdd" />

Music

Steve Goldstein composed much of the score. For the film, Randy Newman composed songs inspired by the classic songs of the Golden Age of Hollywood, including "Danny's Arrival Song", "Little Boat On The Sea", "Animal Jam Session", "Big and Loud", "Tell Me Lies", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", while the opening and ending pop song "Our Time Has Come" was written by Martin Page and the end credits song "I Do Believe" was written by Simon Climie and Will Downing. Goldstein and Newman gathered a couple of nominations at the Annie Awards, with the latter winning the award for the musical numbers written and composed by him.

Original songs performed in the film include:

Release

New Line Cinema, which was a sister company to Turner Feature Animation at the time, expressed interest in distributing the film,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but when Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner in 1996, the film fell into the ownership of Warner Bros. Pictures. Pullet Surprise, a newly produced Looney Tunes short film featuring Foghorn Leghorn, preceded the film's theatrical release,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and "The Big Sister", a Dexter's Laboratory What a Cartoon! short, followed the film in its original home video release.

Home media

Cats Don't Dance had its first home video release by Warner Home Video, on VHS and LaserDisc on August 19, 1997, only four months and twenty-four days after its theatrical release. To promote the release, Warner partnered with Continental Airlines, in which the buyer received an in-pack coupon worth $125 in savings on a Continental flight. A $2 instant savings coupon with the additional purchase of either Dennis the Menace (1993), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Richie Rich (1994), or the 25th anniversary edition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was also included.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The film had also its first DVD release on September 3, 2002, in a pan-and-scan format with bonus features.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A re-release of the same DVD, but bundled with Quest for Camelot, was released on May 2, 2006. Internationally, in July 2008, Cats Don't Dance was released on DVD in widescreen in Germany, Spain, and the Benelux countries. A widescreen DVD was released for the first time in North America on November 1, 2016, via the Warner Archive Collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The original widescreen presentation is also available digitally for rental or purchase through Google Play and also through Amazon Video. The film was officially released on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive Collection on September 26, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Box office

Cats Don't Dance became a casualty of the merger between Turner and Time Warner. It received a traditional theatrical release on March 26, 1997, but without fanfare and did not draw an audience. The film grossed $3.5 million in the United States and Canada against its $32 million production budget.<ref name=numbers/> Dindal and Kirschner told the Los Angeles Times that they were both frustrated with Warner Bros. over the lack of advertising and the failed marketing campaign.<ref name="cdd" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Critical reaction

Template:RT prose Template:Mc film Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.Template:Citation needed

Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote: "Decked out with sharp and colorful design work, some well-drawn characters and six snappy Randy Newman tunes, this first entry from Turner Feature Animation goes down very easily but lacks a hook".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four. He wrote the film "is not compelling and it's not a breakthrough, but on its own terms, it works well. Whether this will appeal to kids is debatable; the story involves a time and a subject they're not much interested in. But the songs by Randy Newman are catchy, the look is bright, the spirits are high and fans of Hollywood's golden age might find it engaging".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> John Petrakis, reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, noted Cats Don't Dance would appeal more for adults than children, but provided a good moral lesson on prejudice. He further wrote the film has "the sharp irreverence of the brilliant Who Framed Roger Rabbit. There are plenty of clever asides and witty one-liners, not to mention a few terrific supporting characters".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times summarized in his review: "While the animated characters, bright colors and an appealing Randy Newman score may keep the children content, Cats Don't Dance is no saccharine fantasy. Its Hollywood references and dark satire constitute its real strengths".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jack Mathews, reviewing for the Los Angeles Times, described the film as a "startling miscalculation". He next wrote: "It has lots of cute animals, some jaunty Randy Newman songs and solid, if uninspired, animation work. But blending parody and nostalgia about an era half a century removed from the lives of the core audience seems a foolish indulgence".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote the film was "colorful, but unimaginatively drawn".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also from The Washington Post, Jane Horwitz felt children "won't get the references to old movies or stars like Bette Davis and Clark Gable. Still, the action (however confusing), the music and the characters should hold even toddlers for a while".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Accolades

Despite mostly positive reception, the Stinkers filed the film under the Founders Award in 1997 (which lamented the year's biggest studio disgraces), citing it as "loud, unfunny, and completely over the heads of its intended audience".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On the other hand, when it comes to positive accolades, although failing in gathering any Oscar nominations, it became historically the first non-Disney animated film to win the Best Animated Feature at the Annie Awards.

Year	Award	Category	Recipients	Result
1997	Saturn Award	Best Home Video Release	Cats Don't Dance	rowspan="3" Template:Won
	Annie Award	Best Animated Feature
		Music in a Feature Production	Randy Newman (songs)
			Steve Goldstein (score)	rowspan="13" Template:Nom
		Directing in a Feature Production	Mark Dindal
		Producing in a Feature Production	David Kirschner Paul Gertz
		Effects Animation	John Allan Armstrong
			Bob Simmons
		Character Animation in a Feature Production	Frans Vischer (Darla Dimple and Max)
	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Animated Feature	Cats Don't Dance
	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Animated Family Movie
1998	Golden Reel Awards	Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature
		Best Sound Editing - Music Animation
2013		Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature Film, Domestic and Foreign	Richard Partlow
1998	OFTA Film Award	Best Animated Picture	Bill Bloom Paul Gertz David Kirschner
	Young Artist Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Best Performance in a Voiceover - TV or Film - Young Actress	Ashley Peldon

External links

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