The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Enjoyably silly Disney nature film has a boy forced to put his pet puma in the zoo, who then steals the zoo keeper's key to free all of the animals. So, no, Disney did not exactly make "Day of the Animals" or a nature-gone-wild horror film, but my kids found the silly animal antics pretty hilarious, even if in real-life there would would have been a lot more mauling. My kids also did not notice that a teenage Jay North is still as bad of an actor as he was on TV as Dennis the Menace. In the plus column for the film, the above mentioned zookeeper is played by the great Andy Devine. Nothing classic here, but it mostly held my interest and you could probably do worse.

Gravel-voiced zoo-keeper Andy Devine (as Branch Hawksbill) tells the heart-warming tale of young Jay North (as Christopher "Chris" Carlyle) and his mountain lion. "Sunshine" is an outside pet, which works out well because young North lives with his mom and dad on a farm. But that's about to change. After his father suffers an unseen mishap, the family must move to the city. North secretly brings the lion along. Sunshine startles the neighbors and must be sent to live at the local zoo. North is devastated. He is allowed in Sunshine's cage and gets the distressed feline to eat. A natural with animals, North gets a summer job as junior zoo keeper. He feels his pet and the other animals are in something like a "jail" and longs to set them free..."Zebra in the Kitchen" is confusingly titled. You're expecting it to be about a pet zebra. That animal is barely seen. The title is just the first line of song played over the opening credits, written by Hal Hopper (North's uncle and a show business veteran) and sung by The Standells...North is freshly free of his series "Dennis the Menace". He's got a different shade of hair color and successful sheds many of the TV character's quirky mannerisms. Producer-director Ivan Tors did much better with this fare on TV, with animal and kid adventure shows. So did earnest zoo manager Martin Milner (as Del Hartwood), herein between "Route 66" and "Adam-12". Best of the cameos is seeing Eddie Quillan enjoy watching Laurel and Hardy on TV, in the old film "Hollywood Party" (1934). Mr. Quillan was in that original movie, and his "I've Had My Moments" song and dance upstaged most, if not all, of his co-stars.***** Zebra in the Kitchen (6/65) Ivan Tors ~ Jay North, Andy Devine, Martin Milner, Jim Davis

Ivan Tors, who brought "Flipper" to movie (and later television) screens, tried his luck again with this animal-based comedy-drama starring Jay North, from TV's "Dennis the Menace". Framed in flashback for no apparent reason (other than to pad the reedy-thin narrative with exposition), story concerns a domesticated Puma mountain lion and his unhappy preteen owner, who is forced to give his pet to the local zoo after his parents relocate them from the sticks to the city. Nothing in this movie feels accurate: the boy's father lost the family homestead because he was apparently hurt, but there seems nothing wrong with sturdy Jim Davis in the part; the zoo appears to be in mountain terrain (away from the town) and is described for us as "shabby" and "pitiful" when, actually, it seems well-staffed and very clean; also, the youngster is taken in quite readily by the friendly zookeepers as an assistant, yet he treats this job indifferently (while scheming to betray everybody and free the Puma). North, a competent child actor, isn't allowed much mischief beyond stealing Andy Devine's cage-keys, and is kept petulant and scowling. The extraneous shots of animals eating or pacing their cages are dropped in sloppily (much of the time, they're not even reacting to anything, so there's no humor in their presence), while the quasi-slapstick finale--with zoo animals finding their way into homes, as well as the local ice cream shop--lays a big egg. *1/2 from ****

Was really taken aback by the number of people who recall it as their first movie.However weird and made up it may sound,it was one of my first movies as well.My friends had it on home video and I remember laughing hard and having a really good "childhood" time with my buddies.The memories are very faint,but there was some sequence where they show a big key or something.And its a miracle that I recall the name!Seeing the rating I guess the movie must be pretty crappy,but I would still buy the movie,even though my friends back then are only memories now.I have to see the movie now to make a more critical comment,but for now I just want to reminisce the memories...