Cats Don't Dance

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.

Plot
An ambitious young cat named Danny travels from his small hometown of Kokomo to Hollywood who dreams of making it big in the movies. Danny finds an animal talent agent, as well as his clients, and his receptionist, a sassy and rather cynical, but stunning lady cat named Sawyer, whom Danny falls in love with. When Danny lands a small role in Mammoth Pictures' 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 a big mistake, as Darla's true self is then revealed as a brash, obnoxious, horrible child star of the worst degree. 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 came to Hollywood with big dreams like he did, only to realize that humans are always given the starring roles, and animals are resigned to the supporting cast. 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 convinces Sawyer, with some difficulty, to dance again.

Darla Dimple invites Danny to her mansion and offers to call L.B. to set up a chance for Danny and his friends to perform for him. Danny accepts this offer openly and enlists the assistance of all the animals. Unfortunately, the truth is that Darla has no such intention to let the animals perform for L.B. and instead floods the sound stage, destroying a press release that is going on outside and blaming the animals for it. The animals are summarily kicked out of the studio and told that they'll never work in Hollywood again. Defeated, Danny prepares to go back to Kokomo, but he soon changes his mind and decides to work together with Pudge to come up with an idea for the animals to finally show their stuff.

Danny sneaks into the studio and invites all of the animals to the premiere of Darla's film. After the film rolls (and a fairly intense battle between Max and Danny atop Grauman'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 (I should've drowned you all when I flooded the stage!! with "flooded the stage!!" echoing several times), 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. Later, after the credits roll, it is revealed that Darla has lost her fame and has wound up as a grumpy janitor.

Cast

 * Scott Bakula as Danny
 * Jasmine Guy as Sawyer (speaking)
 * Natalie Cole as Sawyer (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 Flanigan
 * 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

Song list

 * 1. Our Time Has Come - James Ingram, Carnie Wilson
 * 2. I Do Believe - Will Downing
 * 3. Danny's Arrival Song - Scott Bakula
 * 4. Little Boat On The Sea - Lindsay Ridgeway, Scott Bakula
 * 5. Animal Jam - Scott Bakula
 * 6. Big And Loud- Pt.1 - Lindsay Ridgeway
 * 7. Big And Loud- Pt.2 - Lindsay Ridgeway
 * 8. Tell Me Lies - Natalie Cole
 * 9. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Natalie Cole, Scott Bakula, Kathy Najimy
 * 10. Darla's Premiere - Steve Goldstein
 * 11. Once Upon A Time... - Steve Goldstein
 * 12. Danny's Theme - Steve Goldstein
 * 13. Farley's Office - Steve Goldstein
 * 14. Reporting For Work - Steve Goldstein
 * 15. Max Enters - Steve Goldstein
 * 16. Tea Time For Danny - Steve Goldstein
 * 17. The Flood - Steve Goldstein
 * 18. Battle With Max - Steve Goldstein
 * 19. Triumph Of The Animals - Steve Goldstein
 * 20. Our Time Has Come (Movie Version) - James Ingram, Carnie Wilson

Response
Although Cats Don't Dance was critically acclaimed, it was a casualty of the Turner/Time Warner merger: it received 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. Its total domestic theatrical gross was $3,566,637. It did substantially better when made available for rediscovery on VHS and DVD.

Pop culture references
The film takes place in 1939 to early 1940s setting, allowing 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.

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.


 * Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant all appear at the premiere of "Lil Ark Angel" in which they are stylized.


 * In one scene there is a black dog on the road that says, "There's no place like home." in red slippers and jumps in a basket. This is of course referring to The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Goofs

 * When Danny is arriving in Hollywood at the beginning of the film, the Hollywood sign can be seen. The film is set in 1939 so the sign should still read Hollywoodland as it did until 1949.


 * As day breaks at Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Sun is obviously rising from the West, which in reality it should be rising from the East.


 * In one scene, when Danny and Sawyer run into King Kong, it appears that he's making another Kong film. However, a Kong was never made or release until 1962 with King Kong vs. Godzilla.