| Cats Don't Dance | |
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 Theatrical release poster byJohn Alvin | |
| Directed by | Mark Dindal |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Edited by | Dan Molina |
| Music by | Steve Goldstein |
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Running time | 74 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million[1] |
| Box office | $3.5 million[1] |
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 American animatedmusicalcomedy film directed byMark Dindal.[2] The film features the voices ofScott 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, andGeorge Kennedy.
The film's musical numbers were written byRandy Newman and includes the contributions ofGene Kelly aschoreographer, 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 byTurner Feature Animation, which was merged during thepost-production ofCats Don't Dance intoWarner Bros. Feature Animation after the merger ofTime Warner withTurner Broadcasting System in 1996.
Cats Don't Dance was released in the United States and Canada on March 26, 1997, byWarner Bros. under itsFamily Entertainment label. It was abox-office failure, grossing $3.5 million domestically due to lack of promotion.[citation needed] Despite this, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, humor, characters, voice performances, and musical numbers.
In an alternate 1939, in a world where humans andanthropomorphic animals coexist, Daniel "Danny" T. Cat, an optimistic orangetabby cat fromKokomo, Indiana, travels toHollywood in hopes of starting an acting career there. After meeting a young penguin named Pudge, Danny is selected by agent Farley Wink to feature in a film that is in production at Mammoth Pictures calledLi'l Ark Angel, alongside Wink's secretary, a cynicalTurkish Angora named Sawyer. Upon joining fellow animals—Tillie the hippo, Cranston the goat, Frances the fish, and T.W the tortoise—Danny is dismayed on learning how minor his role is and tries weaseling his way into more time in the spotlight. Danny unwittingly angers Darla Dimple, a popular yet spoiledchild actress and star of the film; she promptly has her gigantic Frankenstein-like butler Max intimidate Danny against further attempts to enlarge his part.
Danny learns from the studio's mascot Woolie the elephant that human actors are normally given more important roles than animals, whereas animals themselves end up getting minor and often thankless roles to the point of having little to no leverage in show business. The next day, Danny reminds the other animals of their past aspirations by instigating a mass musical performance in an alleyway, which draws Darla's attention. Overhearing Danny's intention to make an appeal to Mammoth Pictures head L.B. Mammoth, Darla invites Danny to her mansion and grants him and the animals full use of theLi'l Ark Angel stage on the day of a press conference held by Mammoth, on the condition that Danny not reveal her involvement in this ostensibly charitable act. Danny happily accepts the offer, unaware that Darla is secretly setting the animals up for failure to prevent them from stealing her spotlight. As the animals prepare their performance on the ark, Darla and Max create a catastrophic flood that washes through Mammoth studios, for which Mammoth blames and dismisses the animals. When the satisfied Darla arrives to thank Danny, he is admonished for his naivety and advised by Woolie to return to Kokomo.
That night, Sawyer takes to heart Danny's attempts to keep the animals' dreams alive and tries catching him at the bus stop, but narrowly misses him. However, after a comment from the bus driver and seeing Pudge wander the streets, Danny stops the bus and secretly invites Sawyer, Woolie, Tillie, Cranston, Frances and T.W. to theLi'l Ark Angel premiere. After the screening, Danny battles Max and sends him flying away by deflating Darla's parade balloon, then calls the audience's attention, only to be mocked by Darla, but Sawyer brings the others backstage to help Danny and Pudge. After Danny convinces them not to give up on their dreams no matter what the humans have said or done, the eight animals put on a musical performance that entertains and impresses the viewers. Meanwhile, Darla's attempts to sabotage the performance drastically enhance it, bringing a standing ovation from the audience. A frustrated Darla admits responsibility for the flood, inadvertently exposing herself to the public and Mammoth in the process. Darla tries hiding her true colors, but Pudge pulls a lever, which causes her to fall into a trapdoor. Danny and Sawyer admit their feelings for each other and the animals achieve their dreams for larger roles, whereas Darla is demoted to janitorial duties.
The film was launched in 1993 as a vehicle forMichael Jackson, who would produce, star, and be a consultant in the music and choreography. It would have been a hybrid live-action/CGI film,[4] but by 1994, Jackson had ceased to be involved in the film.[5] In its earlier stages, the film concerned lessanthropomorphic stray cats that live among the sets and studio backlots. At one point,David Shire andRichard Maltby Jr. composed songs for the film before Randy Newman was hired.[6]
Turner Animation was run byDavid Kirschner, and had originated as the feature division ofHanna-Barbera, where Kirschner was CEO.[7] The Turner Animation writing department added cat characters based on stories about the filming ofWarner Bros. Studios productions likeCasablanca (1942),East of Eden (1955), andThe Music Man (1962);stagehands would feedferal cats, which dominated the back lot for decades.[7] ProducersDavid Kirschner and Paul Gertz then decided to have dance numbers in the vein of classicmusical films likeSingin' 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.[7]
Kirschner contactedMark Dindal to be director of the project a year after the two met and while Dindal was working onThe Rocketeer (1991).[7] Around the same time, Brian McEntee joined as art director,Randy Newman joined as composer, andGene Kelly joined as dance consultant.[7] Dindal, Kirschner, and McEntee noticed the improving animation technology and were excited to see how it would be incorporated withtraditional animation inCats Don't Dance; McEntee himself worked onthe computer-animated ballroom scene inBeauty and the Beast (1991).[7] The team watched old musical films for reference before asking Kelly, who instantly joined due to his interest in the story.[7] One meeting took place at Kelly's house between him and Dindal, and he vividly remembered how the films he starred in were choreographed.[7]
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".[6]
Dindal's portrayal of Max was initially ascratch 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.[6]
Steve Goldstein composed much of the score. For the film,Randy Newman composed songs inspired by the classic songs of theGolden 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 byMartin Page and the end credits song "I Do Believe" was written bySimon Climie andWill 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:
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Time Has Come" | James Ingram &Carnie Wilson | 3:49 |
| 2. | "Danny's Arrival Song" | Scott Bakula | 3:06 |
| 3. | "Little Boat on the Sea" | Lindsay Ridgeway | 1:37 |
| 4. | "Animal Jam" | Bakula | 5:09 |
| 5. | "Big and Loud (Pt. 1)" | Ridgeway | 1:40 |
| 6. | "Big and Loud (Pt. 2)" | Ridgeway | 1:33 |
| 7. | "Tell Me Lies" | Natalie Cole | 3:17 |
| 8. | "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Bakula, Cole, Rick Logan,Hal Holbrook,Betty Lou Gerson andKathy Najimy | 3:14 |
New Line Cinema, which was a sister company to Turner Feature Animation at the time, expressed interest in distributing the film,[8] but whenTurner Broadcasting merged withTime Warner in 1996, the film fell into the ownership ofWarner Bros. Pictures.Pullet Surprise, a newly producedLooney Tunes short film featuringFoghorn Leghorn, preceded the film's theatrical release,[9] and "The Big Sister", aDexter's LaboratoryWhat a Cartoon! short, followed the film in its original home video release.
Cats Don't Dance had its first home video release byWarner Home Video, onVHS andLaserDisc on August 19, 1997, only four months and twenty-four days after its theatrical release. To promote the release, Warner partnered withContinental 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 eitherDennis the Menace (1993),Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,Richie Rich (1994), or the 25th anniversary edition ofWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was also included.[10]
The film had also its firstDVD release on September 3, 2002 in apan-and-scan format with bonus features.[11] A re-release of the same DVD, but bundled withQuest 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 theBenelux countries. A widescreen DVD was released for the first time in North America on November 1, 2016 via theWarner Archive Collection.[12] The original widescreen presentation is also available digitally for rental or purchase throughGoogle Play and also throughAmazon Video. The film was officially released onBlu-ray via theWarner Archive Collection on September 26, 2023.[13]
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.[1] Dindal and Kirschner told theLos Angeles Times that they were both frustrated with Warner Bros. over the lack of advertising and the failed marketing campaign.[6][14]
Cats Don't Dance received a 71% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site consensus reads: "Cats Don't Dance, but they should easily entertain all-ages audiences thanks to some colorful animation, sharp humor, and a catchy soundtrack".[15]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[16] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[citation needed]
Todd McCarthy ofVariety 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".[17]Roger Ebert of theChicago 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".[18] John Petrakis, reviewing for theChicago Tribune, notedCats 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 brilliantWho Framed Roger Rabbit. There are plenty of clever asides and witty one-liners, not to mention a few terrific supporting characters".[19]
Lawrence Van Gelder ofThe 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".[20] Jack Mathews, reviewing for theLos 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".[21] Rita Kempley ofThe Washington Post wrote the film was "colorful, but unimaginatively drawn".[22] Also fromThe 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".[23]
Despite mostly positive reception, theStinkers filed the film under the Founders Award in1997 (which lamented the year's biggest studio disgraces), citing it as "loud, unfunny, and completely over the heads of its intended audience".[24] 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 | Won |
| Annie Award | Best Animated Feature | |||
| Music in a Feature Production | Randy Newman (songs) | |||
| Steve Goldstein (score) | Nominated | |||
| 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[25] | Best Performance in a Voiceover - TV or Film - Young Actress | Ashley Peldon |
