In 1993, Cats Don't Dance originated as a proposed film collaboration between Michael Jackson and David Kirschner. It was announced as a film combining live action and animation, with Jackson attached to star and consult on the music and choreography. By 1994, Jackson had dropped out of the project. The project was reverted to Turner Feature Animation, and reconceived into a fully animated film that homaged classic Hollywood musical films. Mark Dindal was hired as the director.
The film's musical numbers were written by Randy Newman. Gene Kelly consulted with the animators on the choreography before his death in 1996. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System was merged with Time Warner, and as a result, Cats Don't Dance was the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation.
Cats Don't Dance was released in the United States on March 26, 1997, by Warner Bros. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. However, it was a box-office failure, grossing $3.5 million in the United States and Canada. The film's producer David Kirschner blamed Warner Bros. for a failed marketing campaign and lack of promotional tie-ins. Cats Don't Dance won two Annie Awards, Best Animated Feature and Best Music. It was the first non-Disney animated film to win in either category.
Plot
In an alternate 1939, in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, Daniel "Danny" T. Cat, an optimistic orange tabby cat from Kokomo, Indiana, travels to Hollywood 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 called Lil' Ark Angel, alongside Wink's secretary, a cynical Turkish Angora cat named Sawyer. Upon joining fellow animals—Tilly 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 spoiled child actress and star of the film; she promptly has her gigantic gorilla-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 the Li'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 the Lil' Ark Angel premiere. Danny battles Max and sends him flying away by deflating Darla's parade balloon, then calls the audience's attention once the screening ends, 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 do 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.
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.
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.[2]
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 child iconShirley Temple and character Norma Desmond from the film Sunset Boulevard.
Mark Dindal as Max, Darla's gargantuanvalet 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. He is a direct parody of the character Max Von Mayerling from the film Sunset Boulevard.
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.
Cats Don't Dance originated as a proposed film collaboration between Michael Jackson (pictured here in 1988) and David Kirschner (pictured here in 2024). The film was intended to be a live-action/animated hybrid film, which would have featured animated depictions of several celebrities from the 1930s.[3]
In March 1993, it was reported that Kirschner and Michael Jackson were in discussions with 20th Century Fox to activate a new film production company specializing in live-action and animated films. At the time, Kirschner was still the CEO of Hanna-Barbera and had 20 months left on his contract. Meanwhile, Jackson would enter into the exclusive, three-year agreement in 10 months, following the expiration of his first-look deal for Nation Films at Columbia Pictures.[6]
Three months later, in June 1993, it was reported that Kirschner and Jackson were collaborating on Cats Don't Dance, which was intended to be a hybrid live-action/CGI animated film. Jackson intended to not only star in the proposed film, but to produce and consult on the music and choreography. Kirschner stated Jackson had "a great story sense. He is around all the time to go over the storyboards, the model designs and he comes up with ideas for characters. His heart and soul is in the project."[3]
The genesis of Cats Don't Dance originated from anecdotes told of feral cats who roamed around the Warner Bros. studio backlot for decades during the filming of several productions like Casablanca (1942), East of Eden (1955), and The Music Man (1962).[7] Furthermore, the project was to feature animated depictions of several celebrities from the Golden Age of Hollywood, with memorable lines from their films interwoven into the story.[3] However, by the autumn of 1994, it was reported that Jackson was no longer involved in the film.[8]
By 1993, Turner sought to retain Kirschner, who was then promoted to chairman for Hanna-Barbera and allowed to focus more of his theatrical projects there.[6]Fred Seibert was made president of Hanna-Barbera, having supervised their television development unit for a year.[9] The feature film division of Hanna-Barbera was spun-off into Turner Feature Animation, and was headed by Kirschner and Paul Gertz. A year later, Hanna-Barbera co-produced The Pagemaster (1994), a hybrid live-action/2D animated film, which starred Macaulay Culkin and Christopher Lloyd. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States, and Turner Pictures in several international markets.[10]
When Cats Don't Dance resumed in development, Kirschner and Gertz decided to have dance numbers in the vein of classic Hollywood musical films such as Singin' in the Rain (1952). Kirschner felt the style would appeal to a wider audience. He then explained the story would refocus instead on the animals, as an allegory for discrimination: "In the 1930s it was almost impossible for anyone who looked different from the mainstream or had an accent to succeed in Hollywood, and those who did found themselves largely typecast. We wanted to refer to that struggle for recognition in this story, using the animal characters as a metaphor."[7]
Kirschner next contacted Mark Dindal to direct Cats Don't Dance after the two had met while Dindal was working on The Rocketeer (1991).[7] Around the same time, Brian McEntee became the film's art director.[7] Dindal, Kirschner, and McEntee noticed the improvements in computer animation 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).[7]
The animation team studied classical Hollywood musicals for reference before they turned to Gene Kelly, who joined the project as dance consultant.[7] One meeting took place at Kelly's house between him, Dindal and the animators, where we "sat outside and talked about certain sequences in Gene's own movies and how they had been choreographed, and he could remember every little detail -- what was done, how it was decided, what was considered and rejected, how it had turned out."[7] The film was dedicated to Kelly, who died in 1996.[11]
During production, management at Turner Feature Animation changed repeatedly and each head that came in attempted to make drastic revisions. At one point, one executive suggested updating the film's setting to the 1950s and instead have rock-and-roll music. 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".[12]
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.[12]
Music
At one point, David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr., the songwriting team for the Broadway musicals Baby and Big, were hired to compose songs for Cats Don't Dance.[12]Randy Newman was then hired to write the songs. Kirschner stated "Randy is part of a musical dynasty that's had a big influence on Hollywood. His uncles (Alfred, Emil, and Lionel) and brother are also film composers of great note, and Randy himself is a joy to work with. He brings the best of the past and present together in his songs."[7]
Newman wrote several songs for the film, which include "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". The film's opening and end credits song "Our Time Has Come" was composed by Martin Page, and was performed by James Ingram and Carnie Wilson.[13] The other end credits song "I Do Believe" was composed by Simon Climie and Will Downing, and performed by Downing. The instrumental score was composed by Steve Goldstein. For the film, Newman was awarded the Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature.[14]
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.[18]
The film had also its first DVD release on September 3, 2002, in a pan-and-scan format with bonus features.[19] 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, the Benelux countries, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland. A widescreen DVD was released for the first time in North America on November 1, 2016, via the Warner Archive Collection.[20] The original widescreen presentation is also available digitally for rental or purchase through Google Play and also through Amazon Video. The film was released on standard and 4K Blu-ray as an installment of the Warner Archive Collection on September 26, 2023.[21]
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.[1] David Kirschner, the film's producer, told the Los Angeles Times that he was frustrated with Warner Bros. over the failed marketing campaign and the lack of promotional tie-ins.[22] Dindal told Animation World Magazine: "I think very objectively [Warner Bros.] looked at it and decided there wouldn't be a market for it. It wasn't something they responded to, they didn't think people would eat it up."[12]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 24 critics' reviews are positive.The website's 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."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[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".[25]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".[26] 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".[27]
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".[28] 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".[29] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote the film was "colorful, but unimaginatively drawn".[30] 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".[31]
Accolades
Cats Don't Dance was nominated for eight Annie Awards, and won two for Best Animated Feature and Best Music in a Feature Production. It was the first non-Disney winner in either category.[14] Despite the mostly positive reception, Cats Don't Dance was one of several recipients for the Founders Award from the 1997Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. They cited the film for being "loud, unfunny, and completely over the heads of its intended audience".[32]
↑Bates, James; Apodaca, Patrice (June 20, 1996). "Stalking the King of Animation". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2025. Turner Broadcasting System, which is scheduled to be swallowed by Warner Bros. parent Time Warner Inc. pending regulatory approvals, plans the comedy Cats Don't Dance.
↑Figueiredo, Rodney (September 27, 2002). "Cats Don't Dance". Animated Views. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
↑Ebert, Roger (March 28, 1997). "Cats Don't Dance". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022– via RogerEbert.com.
↑Kempley, Rita (March 1997). "'Cats Don't Dance". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
↑Horwitz, Jane (March 28, 1997). "The Family Filmgoer". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
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