Wonderfully offbeat film!

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Cats Don't Dance (1997) is a hyper-saturated animated feast for the senses and an especially fun treat for those familiar with the musicals and screwball comedies of the 1930's. Having been accustomed to the beautiful detail of Pixar and the delicate touches of Disney's golden age, I was pleasantly surprised by a movie that takes absolute advantage of the slapsticky world of cartoons.Danny (Scott Bakula) is our wide-eyed feline protagonist who sings and dances his way into a big studio picture headlined by America's Sweetheart Darla Dimple (part voiced by Ashley Peldon and sung by Lindsay Ridgeway). His friends/critics include cynical bit players Tillie the Hippo (Kathy Najimy), Cranston the Billy goat (Hal Holbrook), Wollie the Elephant (John Rhys-Davies) and Pudge the Penguin (Matthew Herried). Also in the mix is obvious love interest Sawyer (voiced by Jasmine Guy and part sung by Natalie Cole). I say obvious because she absolutely despises Danny through two thirds of the film and she's the only other cat in the film. Call me crazy but I think that relationship is a lock.Danny learns quickly that animals aren't considered star material in Hollywood. His hamming on the set captures the attention of an infuriated Darla yet gains the respect of the other animals. This dynamic is reminiscent of how African Americans were treating during the time. Those who made a go of acting were type-casted as slaves, maids and shoe shiners. Those lucky enough to take full advantage of their roles like Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (1939) received death threats.It's interesting to not that in addition to the barrier breaking Gone with the Wind, The film also makes references to The Wizard of Oz (1939), regalia of the LGBT community instilling since of community. Maybe the creators of Cats Don't Dance wanted to make a modern day fable holding to the maxims of equality and acceptance towards all. Though the more reasonable rationale for both films getting their names in lights is they were both released in 1939.There are other sly riffs on Hollywood classics such as The Footlight Parade (1933), The Ten Commandments (1956), Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). That is in addition to the Darla Dimple character being an obvious parody of Shirley Temple at one point ravenously biting off the heads of animal crackers in front of the beleaguered Danny. They even have an onslaught of throwaway gags involving King Kong (1933), Zsa Zsa Gabor and The MGM Lion among many, many others.Yet those not looking to reduce an animated movie to a game of "I Spy" will still find a lot to take away. The plot while well-worn is nevertheless genuine and interesting, the animation is eye-popping- ly goofy and the songs are entertaining if occasionally a little bland. One would wish that the characters were given a little more breathing room since the pace of the film is near neck-breaking yet seeing the gang sing "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" makes it all worthwhile.Directed by the man who gave you The Emperor's New Groove (2000), featuring songs written by the considerably talented Randy Newman and starring the Captain of the Starship Enterprise NX-01, Cats Don't Dance is infectious fun. Overall not quite up there with The Lion King (1994) but comparable to Disney's Hercules (1997) released the same year. It's certainly not a film deserving of its obscurity so track it down and watch it if you can.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com

Cat's Don't Dance is a 1997 Warner Bros Family Entertainment animated film that tells the story of Danny(voice by and sung by Scott Bakula who was in Quantium Leap and he played Zachary Levi's father in the TV show Chuck)who dreams of going to Hollywood to pursue an acting career opposite Darla Dimple(voiced by Ashley Pendon)who is a big hit in Hollywood as she is a lover for animals...or is she?So Danny goes to Hollywood and meets other animals too including a grumpy goat,a fish,a hippo,a elephant who's name is Mammoth,a cute pengiun and a sassy cat named Sawyer(voiced by Jasmine Guy and sung by Nat King Cole's daughter Natalie Cole). What I like about this film is the songs as every song fits this movie perfectly. In some animated films the songs don't actually suit at all,like in Disney's Hercules as the songs in that film were all over the place,here in Cat's Don't Dance all the songs had a Broadway/Jazz sound to them,and who is the composer for this film,why its Randy Newman (who also did music for Monster's Inc,all the Toy Story films and of course The Princess & The Frog).Overall I found this film very entertaining and enjoyable to watch. I still have this on VHS ever since I was a kid,and I still watch it. The animation is vivid,the charcthers are likable,some of the songs are sorta forgettable but hey you gotta love them all the same. Also I love how they make fun of the 1930s genre and have films that Warner Bros made in the 1990s or 80s like The Mask,Batman & Robin,Grumpy Old Men,Beetlejuice and many more. Its a shame that its such an underrated film like Swan Princess,another film I love to watch all the time. 7/10

I normally don't like musicals, animated or otherwise. Something about people breaking out and singing out of no where just seems to bug me and also the song after song happening just… I just don't normally care for that stuff. Now after saying this, you would think that I wouldn't like this movie, right? Actually I fell in love with it. The music and characters personalities actually work really well together, making the show just lovable. Through all the small flaws that it had (some of which are understandable as how old the show is) the story pops out the most.I really love the characters. Each one has a memorable personality that defines there character and they don't really break that stereotype except for what they lone to do weather its dancing, singing, acting out, or creating music. When you see them outside of doing what they love, you see broken people who have had their dreams smashed before their eyes. They do all they can to protect themselves from being rather gitty and feely to being grumps and adding rather sarcastic remarks. Each one feels like they have been made for the different forms of depression and loss. I know I'm going into psychological ideas for the show but this is really why I love this show. We have Danny who has his hopes and dreams shattered right out of the gate but in his mind, he believes that it is only a set back to his plans on being a star. He is what I would call the first stage of loss called Denial. He just can't believe that the world is as bad as people are making it out to be. Then we have the anger stage and I feel the character that says this most is Cranston Goat and partly in his dancing partner, Frances Albacore. They are always being sarcastic and rude to the others. The only stage that does not seem to be shown is the third with Bargaining. No one seems to do that type of stuff although we have a very over optimistic hippo that is being nice to everyone, always trying to help them out. Forth stage of Depression is depression itself, shown very well in T.W. who is always saying negative things based on his fortune cookies. The last one I believe would be for Sawyer, Acceptance. She accepts that she will never make it to the top, she will always be the secretary, never the Diva, and even forgets her dreams. She doesn't even do it for fun and thinks it's just a waist of time.We have a story that pretty much has a storybook tale of a guy looking to make it big in the movies doing what he truly loves to do, to dance and sing. As he gets to Hollywood though, not everything is as glamorous as it was made out to be and part of that is something that I believe not many picked out on when the show was first shown. The storyline has a very strong feeling to racism that is surprising for a show made for younger children and it's what I believe makes the show speak to the older crowd. If you substitute the word 'Animal' with the word 'Black' or 'Latino' or even 'Asian' you can kind of see where I'm going with it. The idea that these animals are not treated with the same idea as humans. They don't get a chance to be a star, only background characters who are pretty much stereotyped by the type of creature they are. For example, the Noah Ark show they start taping makes them have only one line and its based on the sound there animal makes. The dog says woof, the cow says moo, and the cat says meow. They aren't given a chance to show they can do anything else because they weren't even cast because of their talent.The artwork is really catered to the year it came out but it actually doesn't feel all that old. The art style was created with very outrageous and exaggerated features like rather skinny waists that make them look like they would brake apart at any moment. We have cartoon-ish faces and at times they end up squashing and stretching as they move in order to show a rather extensive movement. It's hard to really explain it but its pretty amazing that the humans are drawn almost as though they are animals themselves or don't seem 'human'. The animals seem so much more human then the humans themselves though it's hard to actually explain. The only one that seems any close to human is the little Darla Dimple character who is the main villain of the show.The music is actually really nice and catchy, making you just want to dance at some times which works with the whole concept of the story. If you want to have a story about people trying to become a star, you need some pretty high class music to make it. I found myself singing along with some of the songs including the opening song 'I'm on my Way' which seemed to tell the storyline rather well. The voice acting is really good with big name people like Don Knotts playing the rather nervous turtle, T.W., to Betty Lou Gerson who had done the voice of Cruella De Vil in the 1961 version of 101 Dalmations. We even have Dee Bradley Baker who did the voice of Daffy Duck in Space Jam and did voices in many old TV shows like 'Hey Arnold!', 'Rugrats', and 'Johnny Bravo'. When you put all these voices together, it makes for a really interesting sounding movie.

Cat's Don't Dance may not be what most movie buffs would call a classic cartoon. It's not made by a big name company but it is a good movie nonetheless.Danny is a cat who wants to make it big in Hollywood. He leaves his town of Kokomo, Indiana to head for big dreams. Once he gets to Hollywood he makes his debut in a film that mostly belongs to the cute but really evil Darla Dimple. Danny tests her patience by not saying his line but rather singing it. She is not happy and reminds him that he needs to know his place in the film as an animal.Danny is determined to make a name for himself and his friends Sawyer, Tilly, Cranston, Pudge and a few others. Sawyer a female cat tries to persuade him out of trying to have dreams because he is only an animal and they are treated differently and aren't given the bigger roles in films. After awhile he gets all his friends and the animals in Hollywood to realize that they are worth it. Darla doesn't like what she sees and decides that she is going to try and sabotage the animals from starring in any future films. She tells Danny that he needs to put on a show and make it big and loud. Danny however doesn't realize that it is a scam. Darla ruins their show and Danny and all the other animals get kicked out of the studios.Danny decides to head back home but after he is on a bus and sees Pudge being pushed around he comes up with a plan that helps his friends and the other animals to make it back into the filming industry. He makes it big for himself and wins back his support from his friends and ends up winning Sawyer's affection. Darla ends up being defeated and you see her having to put up movie posters at the very end of the credits. Cat's Don't Dance may not be big on special effects but it doesn't have to be. It sells itself with a great story and anybody who watches it probably won't be let down.