That Darn Cat

Christina Ricci plays a precocious know it all teenager in this clumsy Disney remake of a work Disney prepared earlier (27 years earlier). Probably made while she was still under contract to Disney post Casper(1996), I doubt she would make a film like this these days. Unless, of course, the cat was haunted by headless sexpots hellbent on singing about gypsies.

With typical Disney swagger, all adults are bumbling fools, all animals are smarter than humans and all criminals are even more bumbling than the bumbling Feds. Then there’s the other Disney stalwart: smalltown folk have big town ideals behind closed doors. Shy folks are outgoing hussies, rent-a-cops all dream of the big bust that’ll promote them to the FBI and hardass FBI dudes all wear boxer shorts with patriotic flags or lovehearts on ‘em. Yep, this is a slice of life and no lie.

"You’re not a cat person, are you?"

So the cat stumbles (not bumbles) across a kidnap victim who gives it a clue that Ms Ricci determines (through a grainy newspaper photo) belongs to the victim. After reporting it, a bumbling cop is assigned (as a cruel joke from his bumbling superior) to the crime. Well, I need hardly tell you how this charade ends. That’s right, with much bumbling.

Ms Ricci plays the snippy, non-bumbling teen well and with her biting remarks and hatred of small town life, you can almost feel her pain (mostly from some of her lines, I imagine - they fairly honked in parts/mosts.) I’m surprised she didn’t get Thora Birch’s role in the recent Ghost World, but then she’s a big star these days (and doesn't look 16 anymore). Anyway, I’m sure this film will appeal to the kids it’s aimed at, but I found it just a little too much for me to bear. I haven’t seen so much bumbling since my last acquittal.

Surprisingly nice. The case says it has a 14x3 transfer, but I’ve never seen one of those before and to me it looked like a plain old 16:9 enhanced 1.85:1 aspect. Very little artefacts, if any at all, show up and in all it's a nice clean transfer. The blacks are all true and shadow work is all handled well. Detail during night shots is mostly all excellent and easily visible, although there are very occasional instances of greying in the blacks. The colours are all perfect and flesh tones are true, which is always important in a Disney feature with their generally diverse racial casting. And, for once I was happy that a Disney film steered away from computer animation. This must be one of the last, if not the last non-animated animals in a film. It was great to see stunt cats and dogs in work, as I’m sure they all sit around nowadays smoking cigars or waiting tables.

5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound makes this baby purr like a kitten. And the cat also. While the sound is mostly fantastic, with nice clear dialogue, the sound rffects suffer terribly from the scriptwriters-versus-animal-talent war. This is where a cat won’t meow on cue and they gotta dub a meow in. In this regard, it is my sad duty to impart, the ‘lip-synching’ (I have no other term) is way out most of the time. It’s only with the cats and dogs mostly, but I’m sure Ms Ricci said a swear that they covered with a dubbed “forget that� as they do… Alright, I was kidding on that last bit.

The music is deliciously Disney, carrying us through the story on fairy floss notes and gossamer wings. There are a couple of funky numbers like the ska title theme That Darn Cat that sounds a bit like The Living End or The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, but isn’t them at all. In fact, the performers aren’t credited in the end titles. Who knows why? I’m bumbled.

Sometimes, the music doubles as a sound effect too, which is my favourite thing ever. The rest of the sound effects are okay too, but again, our old pal stock footage takes up the helm on occasion (see ‘gunshots’ and ‘car tyres screeching’ mostly).

It’s hardly raining cats and dogs in this part.

And there’s plenty of room to swing a cat.

Because there aren’t any extras.

The kids may or may not like this movie. You don’t have to like cats to enjoy it, you just have to be under eight years of age. What surprises me most is the extensive cast of familiar faces, including (according to the credits) Elvis as DC the cat! He seems to have lost a little weight since dying in 1977, but it's good to see him back in work, even if this film isn’t quite the cat’s meow.