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. 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.

Plot
A young ambitious cat named Danny travels from his small hometown of Kokomo to Hollywood with a song in his heart, dancing moves in his feet, and the dream of becoming a movie star. When he gets there, he learns the hard way that Hollywood has no interest in singing and/or dancing animals, and he can get no part other than stereotypical cat roles with "meow" as his sole line. Despite this, Danny does not give up and with his fellow animal performers, he sets out to change this situation. In the way of their success is Darla Dimple, a child star, who sets out to ensure that the gang will never get that chance.

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 Pudge Penguin
 * Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle
 * Frank Welker as Farley Wink
 * David Johansen as Bus Driver

Response
Although Cats Don't Dance was critically acclaimed, it was a casualty of the Turner/Time Warner merger: it was released in 1997 without fanfare and failed to draw an audience. It did substantially better when made available for rediscovery on VHS and DVD.

With music reminiscent of jazz, big band, and gospel rock, the musical score for this film was the highlight of the story, working to musically tell the story through the characters. The music, beginning from the "Our Time has Come" introduction to grand finale showcase, was superbly written, but failed to garner larger audience exposure due to the film's limited marketing. The finale number, "Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now", was a quasi-big band/gospel rock showcase in which the all the animals, for the first time, come together to show the audience (whom they previously had little or no chance to perform in front of) what they can do. Despite the dangerous efforts of Darla Dimple to hinder their performance, all of which only enhance it, the animals quite literally bring down the house and prove that no matter what happens, "nothings gonna stop us now."

Trivia

 * Preceding the feature in theaters was a newly produced Looney Tunes short featuring Foghorn Leghorn, Pullet Surprise.