This is one movie that I've been meaning to review in a while. Originally intended to be a star vehicle for Michael Jackson by producing & acting in it along with being a music & choreography consultant, he eventually left the project. I know what you're thinking, this would've been a completely different film if he stayed for it! Anyway, directed by Mark Dindal, who'd eventually go on to direct The Emperor's New Groove & Chicken Little, this was released by Warner Brothers in 1997, but would unfortunately be a box office bomb thanks to crappy marketing, making only $3 domestically from a $32 million budget! To call that bad would be an understatement! But on a brighter note, it did win some Annie Awards & became the first non Disney animated film to win a Best Animated Feature Annie & Randy Newman also won Best Individual Achievement: Music in a Feature/Home Video Production for this movie! So can this movie bring me back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, or is there a reason why nobody saw it? Let's find out!
Story: When it comes to the plot, it's actually pretty different compared to the other animated films of the 90s. Yes, it may have the chipper wide eyed hero that has dreams of being big, falls in love, there's a villain they have to defeat & that it's a musical, but the movie does attempt to make it feel refreshing by not only having the world having humans & anthropomorphic animals, but also being set during the Golden Age in Hollywood in the late 30s. Even the references to popular movies & actors at the time like Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz & King Kong are pretty funny along with the movie posters during the ending montage (although some are obviously just put in for whatever movie was popular at the time like The Mask & Batman and Robin). I also liked seeing them parody Disney cliches like the storybook opening, Darla Dimple herself & the musical numbers. I also enjoyed the humour whether it's the Warner Brothers style slapstick, the movie references like I mentioned & Sawyer's & Danny playing off against each other. Another thing I'd like to add is that the movie acts as an allegory on racism & segregation, with the animals being used to represent African Americans in the movie industry at the time being forced to either be extras or racial stereotypes no matter how talented they were. It oddly works in this movie & it felt interesting for a movie to tackle this subject matter in a movie for children without it seeming heavy handed or blatantly obvious. However, there are a few issues, like the romance between Danny & Sawyer is cliched in that they first hate each other then suddenly like each other because they're literally the only cats in the movie, the pacing is way too fast (heck, the sad moment in the film for Danny happens in the first 20 minutes of the movie!) & therefore causes the movie to barely have any character development or time to slow down & the third act can get very cliched with the misunderstanding with everyone moping & then the animals triumph over Darla at her movie premiere. However, other than that, the story isn't really all that bad!
Animation: Since this is made by Warner Brothers, the animation is pretty good! It kind of reminded me of the works of Tex Avery with the cartoony atmosphere along with the character designs & animation, especially shown in slapstick, but also managed to have it's own style so it wouldn't be cofnused for something like Disney or Don Bluth. The backgrounds are also very good as they remind me of the Golden Age of Hollywood from the movie posters to the sets, to the movies made & even some parodies of olden time movies like the MGM logo & the movie posters at the end of the film! I even liked how colourful it was & it managed to keep the upbeat atmosphere. But possibly the biggest highlight in the movie is the musical numbers. Rather it be the elaborate staging like a Broadway number or a 30s movie like in Nothing's Gonna Stop Us & Big & Loud, or the choreography thanks to the legendary Gene Kelly, they are all memorable from beginning to end & it actually felt like watching a Broadway musical. However, the movie does get a couple of points off for a few infrequencies where it goes from really good to a bit cheap. Still, the animation in a whole is pretty good! Not the best I've ever seen, but not the worst either!
Characters: Honestly, despite the interesting story, the characters in this aren't very memorable or well developed. Danny is pretty much the generic wide eyed & naive optimist that wants to make it big in Hollywood despite the restrictions given to animals in acting. He doesn't change at all as a character & is partly why the movie does suffer. Sawyer is just the generic love interest while also being a foil towards Danny due to her past experiences as a dancer. There's not much to her besides Natalie Cole providing her singing voice. But then comes possibly the best character in the movie, Darla Dimple, an obvious Shirley Temple parody that acts sweet to the camera, but is in reality a raging psycho that has a deep hatred for animals. Rather it be the voice acting or over the top facial expressions, she just made me laugh every time she appeared . Her bodyguard, Max, an obvious parody of Boris Karloff, was also funny & made me laugh a lot. But, unfortunately the side characters are no better than the main ones. TW the turtle is the shy one, Tillie is the prissy girl (well, hippo), Cranston the goat & Frances the fish are the cynical ones & Pudge is the cute one (I hate them type of characters who are just there to be cute) that have no purpose to be in the movie, don't contribute anything to the plot & are mostly there so the movie can have quirky side characters which don't need to exist. Anyway, there's also Wooly the Mammoth, a parody of the lion from the MGM logo & was mostly there to give exposition with Sawyer's backstory, but John Rhys Davies' performance was pretty good. Besides the villains, the characters don't really offer anything to make us care about them & definitely aren't as developed as they should be.
Songs: Besides the villains, good animation & good story, the songs have got to be the highlight of the film. Rather it be the Gene Kelly-esque choreography (which makes sense since Gene Kelly was a dancing consultant for this movie), the staging or the songs themselves, they're pretty good. The first one, Our Time Has Come, is pretty catchy as we see Danny on his journey to Hollywood & admittedly got my toes tapping to the beat. Danny's Arrival Song was pretty good rather it be Scott Bakula's pretty good singing voice, the choreography or the Broadway feeling with the brass band. The Animal Jam is pretty forgettable & does nothing to contribute to the plot, that's about it. Lil' Ark Angel, while not as memorable, was pretty catchy & I liked how it parodied really cheesy & sweet songs from Shirley Temple's movie & it also reminded me of a Broadway show. Big & Loud is pretty good as it really reminds me of a big Broadway number & the reprise of it really made it a memorable villain's song rather it be the big band feel or the more freaky imagery. Tell Me Lies isn't really that memorable despite the jazz mood, Natalie Cole's singing voice & attempts to give Sawyer character development. Still, it was nice for the movie to finally have a quieter song compared to the other songs in the movie! Nothing's Gonna Stop us Now is probably the best song of the movie & is a pretty good finale as the animals finally get to show their talent to humans with a very catchy tune, really impressive staging & funny juxtaposition of Darla trying to sabotage it by epicifying it. However, despite them being good, they really can't stand well on their own as they only work in the context of the movie.
Overall, this isn't all that bad, but it does have a few flaws which avoids it from being an amazing film. Although Cats Don't Dance has good animation, a really good soundtrack & a pretty interesting concept for the story, the pacing is way too fast, the writing can get cliched & the characters don't really show why we need to care about them. I'd probably recommend this to people who like animated musicals, & not just ones made by Disney, to give it a watch on YouTube at least once because it is worth watching despite it's flaws. I'd even recommend this to Randy Newman fans as the songs he wrote are actually pretty good in this film! You know, I'm glad I'm back doing Animation in Obscurity as it was actually nice looking back at this film after so long!
Story: 6/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 5/10
Songs: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
This is one movie that I've been meaning to review in a while. Originally intended to be a star vehicle for Michael Jackson by producing & acting in it along with being a music & choreography consultant, he eventually left the project. I know what you're thinking, this would've been a completely different film if he stayed for it! Anyway, directed by Mark Dindal, who'd eventually go on to direct The Emperor's New Groove & Chicken Little, this was released by Warner Brothers in 1997, but would unfortunately be a box office bomb thanks to crappy marketing, making only $3 domestically from a $32 million budget! To call that bad would be an understatement! But on a brighter note, it did win some Annie Awards & became the first non Disney animated film to win a Best Animated Feature Annie & Randy Newman also won Best Individual Achievement: Music in a Feature/Home Video Production for this movie! So can this movie bring me back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, or is there a reason why nobody saw it? Let's find out!
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