Cats Don't Dance

"Wow! My own dream come true."
"Yeah, yeah. But remember: 10% of that dream is mine."

Hollywood doesn't have much use for animals on screen... parts are few and far between, and the animals who have stayed lose sight of their dreams.  Then a cat with big dreams, Danny (Bakula), arrives from Kokomo, IN, with a plan to make it big by the end of the week.  Luckily for Danny, Mammoth Studios is casting animals for "Little Ark Angel," starring Darla Dimple (Peldon / Ridgeway) "America's Sweetheart, Lover of Children and Animals," and Danny gets a single line part.  When he tries to jazz it up, Darla screams for her massive ape butler / bodyguard Max (Mark Dindal) to scare some sense into Danny and the other animals.

Mammoth Studios revolves around Darla, their philosophy being "Simple, it's Dimple."  But Danny hopes to show the studio head what the animals can really do...

What if I could get you an audition with L.B. Mammoth?
L.B. Mammoth? Head of Mammoth Studios?
I'm sure he'd appreciate good talent.
After nothing but Darla, he's gotta be starving for it!

But first he has to convince the other animals: cynical cat Sawyer (Guy / Cole) who has an amazing voice, optimistic Tillie the Hippo (Najimy), cranky goat Crantson (Holbrook) and his dance partner sassy fish Frances (Gerson), nervous T.W. Turtle (Knotts), piano playing Woolie the elephant (Rhys-Davies), and Danny's best friend Pudge the penguin (Herried)... and then find a way to stop scheming, animal hating Darla.

I remember first seeing the trailer in elementary school and completely fell in love.  1) It's a musical, which I LOVE, 2) it's animated (reminiscent of classic Disney cartoons), and 3) Gene Kelly was the choreography consult (because the man knew dance!).  Years later I'm still excited about this film, and admit some of the songs have graced my iPod.

The characters are voiced by talented actors... and in the case of T.W., take on the persona that made the actor famous (T.W. is uber nervous, which was Don Knotts shtick).  Also, the time period works well for the film.  It is supposed to be the 1930s, a time period of big studios and studio heads.  It was also the time when precocious child super stars, Shirley Temple and Darla Hood, dominated the screen.  These girls are the obvious template for Darla Dimple.  There are other little inside jokes, based on other films from the decade.  Even the dance sequences are fabulous (they should be, Gene Kelly was a consultant!!). 

It isn't Disney, but still works as an animated classic.  Pretty much every article I read about this film talked about studio drama that kept it from receiving the heavy promotion these films normally get.  Which is sad.

Excellent film... I can't think of any aspect I didn't really enjoy.

Cats Don't Dance (1997) 75 minutes

Director: Mark Dindal

Starring: Scott Bakula as Danny

Jasmine Guy as Sawyer (speaking)

Natalie Cole as Sawyer (singing)

Ashley Peldon as Darla Dimple (speaking)

Lindsay Ridgeway as Darla Dimple (singing)

Kathy Najimy as Tillie Hippo

John Rhys-Davies as Woolie Mammoth
Betty Lou Gerson as Frances

Hal Holbrook as Cranston

Matthew Herried as Pudge

Don Knotts as T.W. Turtle