Turner Feature Animation dishes out some fancy footwork with "Cats Don't Dance", a delightful animated musical that conjures up a blend of those all-singin', all-dancin' vintage Hollywood extravaganzas and those deftly satirical Looney Tunes installments of the '30s and '40s.
These animated animals have a particularly impressive pedigree -- songs by Randy Newman, singing by Natalie Cole and choreography consultation by the late Gene Kelly. Add fine character voice work by the likes of Scott Bakula, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts and Betty Lou Gerson (the original Cruella DeVil) and bright deco art direction by Brian McEntee ("Beauty and the Beast"), and the result is a fun-for-the-entire-family production that also functions as a gentle parable about ethnic diversity and the American Dream.
Arriving just in time for the Easter break, "Cats Don't Dance" should handily tap into the less-than-crowded family market.
Bakula draws upon his Broadway roots as the voice of Kelly-esque Danny, a song-and-dance cat who leaves Kokomo, Ind., behind for the bright lights of Hollywood, circa 1930.
But the idealistic tabby quickly learns that talent and drive just aren't enough to cut it in a town where animals are relegated to the background, occasionally allowed to utter a "moo" here and an "oink" there, while humans occupy the spotlight.
More than getting her share is Darla Dimple (Ashley Peldon), the reigning darling of L.B. Mammoth Studios. She's an on-camera Shirley Temple and an off-camera Lady Macbeth who calls upon her faithful goon, Max (a hybrid of Erich von Stoheim and the Terminator) to ensure no one attempts to steal her thunder.
The voice talent is uniformly excellent. Bakula, in both speaking and singing mode, combines the right mix of naivete and moxie as the dreaming feline; while the cat's meow, the cynical Sawyer (spoken by Jasmine Guy, sung by Cole), summons up both Doris Day and Cyd Charisse. Also fun are Najimy as a perpetually happy hippo; Knotts as a morose turtle; Gerson as a jaded diva of a fish with the soul of Tallulah Bankhead; John Rhys-Davies as a distinguished pachyderm; and Peldon as the petulant Darla.
Animation veteran Mark Dindal, directing from a screenplay credited to four individuals, makes sure the proceedings move briskly (if, at times, noisily) but never condescendingly. The generous references to Hollywood's colorful Golden Age make the picture amusing for grownups, while the bright blend of traditional and computer-generated visuals draw the young.
Clocking in at a slender 76 minutes, the picture is preceded by a new Warner Bros. animated short produced (but not directed) by the legendary Chuck Jones.
CATS DON'T DANCE
Warner Bros.
A Turner Feature Animation presentation
A David Kirschner production
Director Mark Dindal
Producers David Kirschner, Paul Gertz
Screenwriters Roberts Gannaway,
Cliff Ruby & Elana Lesser, Theresa Pettengill
Executive producers David Steinberg,
Charles L. Richardson, Sandy Russell Gartin
Art director Brian McEntee
Music Steve Goldstein
Songs Randy Newman
Color/stereo
Voices:
Danny Scott Bakula
Sawyer Jasmine Guy/Natalie Cole
Woolie John Rhys-Davies
Tillie Kathy Najimy
Darla Dimple Ashley Peldon
L.B. Mammoth George Kennedy
Flanigan Rene Auberjonois
Cranston Hal Holbrook
T.W. Don Knotts
Francis Betty Lou Gerson
Running time -- 76 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
These animated animals have a particularly impressive pedigree -- songs by Randy Newman, singing by Natalie Cole and choreography consultation by the late Gene Kelly. Add fine character voice work by the likes of Scott Bakula, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts and Betty Lou Gerson (the original Cruella DeVil) and bright deco art direction by Brian McEntee ("Beauty and the Beast"), and the result is a fun-for-the-entire-family production that also functions as a gentle parable about ethnic diversity and the American Dream.
Arriving just in time for the Easter break, "Cats Don't Dance" should handily tap into the less-than-crowded family market.
Bakula draws upon his Broadway roots as the voice of Kelly-esque Danny, a song-and-dance cat who leaves Kokomo, Ind., behind for the bright lights of Hollywood, circa 1930.
But the idealistic tabby quickly learns that talent and drive just aren't enough to cut it in a town where animals are relegated to the background, occasionally allowed to utter a "moo" here and an "oink" there, while humans occupy the spotlight.
More than getting her share is Darla Dimple (Ashley Peldon), the reigning darling of L.B. Mammoth Studios. She's an on-camera Shirley Temple and an off-camera Lady Macbeth who calls upon her faithful goon, Max (a hybrid of Erich von Stoheim and the Terminator) to ensure no one attempts to steal her thunder.
The voice talent is uniformly excellent. Bakula, in both speaking and singing mode, combines the right mix of naivete and moxie as the dreaming feline; while the cat's meow, the cynical Sawyer (spoken by Jasmine Guy, sung by Cole), summons up both Doris Day and Cyd Charisse. Also fun are Najimy as a perpetually happy hippo; Knotts as a morose turtle; Gerson as a jaded diva of a fish with the soul of Tallulah Bankhead; John Rhys-Davies as a distinguished pachyderm; and Peldon as the petulant Darla.
Animation veteran Mark Dindal, directing from a screenplay credited to four individuals, makes sure the proceedings move briskly (if, at times, noisily) but never condescendingly. The generous references to Hollywood's colorful Golden Age make the picture amusing for grownups, while the bright blend of traditional and computer-generated visuals draw the young.
Clocking in at a slender 76 minutes, the picture is preceded by a new Warner Bros. animated short produced (but not directed) by the legendary Chuck Jones.
CATS DON'T DANCE
Warner Bros.
A Turner Feature Animation presentation
A David Kirschner production
Director Mark Dindal
Producers David Kirschner, Paul Gertz
Screenwriters Roberts Gannaway,
Cliff Ruby & Elana Lesser, Theresa Pettengill
Executive producers David Steinberg,
Charles L. Richardson, Sandy Russell Gartin
Art director Brian McEntee
Music Steve Goldstein
Songs Randy Newman
Color/stereo
Voices:
Danny Scott Bakula
Sawyer Jasmine Guy/Natalie Cole
Woolie John Rhys-Davies
Tillie Kathy Najimy
Darla Dimple Ashley Peldon
L.B. Mammoth George Kennedy
Flanigan Rene Auberjonois
Cranston Hal Holbrook
T.W. Don Knotts
Francis Betty Lou Gerson
Running time -- 76 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 3/21/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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