Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

popcorninhell 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

Rectangular_businessman In the nineties, there were several attempts made by different studios in order to emulate the style from the animated films that the Disney company were producing at those years (Such as "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King") Some of those attempts were corny and lame, but fortunately, this nice animated film (Which was also the first animated movie directed by Mark Dindal, the same director "The Emperor's New Groove") instead of trying to imitate the Disney formula, prefers to be a light-hearted homage to all the classic musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood, worked incredibly well in that aspect. The plot is fast-paced, but easy to follow, with very likable characters, and many funny situations and clever dialogues, not to mention the incredibly catchy songs, that were the best part of the movie.From my very personal point of view, I think that the combination of all those elements worked much better than in "The Emperor's New Groove" (Which is also a good movie, but I like this more) This is a nice movie for the whole family, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Keegan Covey This is one of those movies I remember seeing a couple times as a kid, and really really loving every second of. After going many years without seeing it again, I recently had the impulse to find and watch the film. To my surprise, it still held up just about as well as it had when I was younger, and in fact if anything I appreciate it more now.The animation in Cats Don't Dance is superb. There are few other animated films which have the same level of color and distinctive, characteristic charm to them, and the brilliant animation style makes the characters themselves similarly memorable and very expressive. It's a perfect example of the animation complementing the characters and events, as well as adding to the overall excitement of the movie.The story is relatively straightforward, and ostensibly isn't anything new: it's the classic story of a naive out-of-towner pursuing a Hollywood dream, discovering Hollywood's real-world coldness, and manages to ultimately find the strength to overcome the obstacles before them and make it big. However, it's executed very well and cleverly enough that it doesn't feel very clichéd.The characters are great as well, and I wouldn't say any of them are underdeveloped or uninteresting. Danny, the protagonist, is naive and optimistic on entering the Hollywood scene. Although the ruthlessness and cruelty of show business breaks his naiveté, he never really loses his optimistic edge, which I think is what makes him work as a character: throughout the entire film his determination to make it big only grows, and as the story progresses he increasingly desires to help the other animals as well. Once simple enough to accept Darla Dimple's word as trustworthy enough, he finds himself only further hardened in his will and he, in the end, manages to beat her at her own game, thoroughly upstaging her in the process (with the other animals accompanying, of course.)Sawyer shares Danny's romanticism about the Hollywood dream and herself had been similarly ambitious, but had adopted a more realistic, cynical attitude towards the possibility of her own dreams of fame being achieved. Nonetheless, she does not come off as overtly bitter, and in the beginning of the movie she seems almost satisfied with (or at least accepting of) her simpler clerical work, with none of the "broken dreams" attitude one might expect. Danny becomes determined to bring her back in touch with her dreaming persona, and although she resists initially she slowly rediscovers her larger ambition. The dynamic between the two characters grows into a love interest as Danny becomes attracted to Sawyer's romantic edge and seductive energy, and she eventually to his undying dedication and determination.The antagonist, Darla Dimple, is a very effective villain: she is sadistic, cruel, and completely self-serving, and hides it from the public under the guise of innocent, angelic childhood. Most of the animals know enough not to get in her way, but Danny is naive enough to trust her with his and the other animals' lives, giving her ample opportunity to crush them completely (she literally attempts to drown them, but failing this, at least frames them for flooding the studio.) Unfortunately for her, her facade of sweetness can barely be kept up as Danny attempts to bring himself and the other animals a last crack at making themselves seen and heard, and when her effort to sabotage their show backfires she loses it and exposes herself, before the audience, to be the monstrosity that she is.The supporting characters are also entertaining. The various animals deal with their lost dreams of fame in their own ways, and in each case they seem, as with Sawyer, to have accepted it (even Flanigan the goat, bitter as he is, just seems to be generally grouchy more than anything else.) However, they all lack the same degree of hidden ambition and, up until the end, feel they'd rather continue on as regular little people than put themselves on the line again. Nonetheless, they still retain their same love of their talents and, when they finally see a perfect opportunity before them at the end, they give it their best. Max, Ms. Dimple's gargantuan butler, is surprisingly amusing despite (okay, because of) the outward stupidity of his character. Even more interesting is that he can be made to be both terrifying and funny, often simultaneously.One last unique aspect of the movie is the pop culture references, which are all 1930s-based: people such as Laurel and Hardy and Cary Grant appear, among a number of others. Although most children won't get these references, I personally appreciated it as I last watched the film. The end credits began with a series of parody movie posters, which are interesting in that the movies they're based off of mostly came out at around the same time Cats Don't Dance did.Overall, this is one of those movies I just have endlessly fond memories of, and I highly recommend it. It has stayed off the radar for many people, simply because it was never very well-publicized, but for anyone who gets a chance to watch it it's well worth the time.

vegeta3986 without gushing, this is my favorite American animated movie of all time. When i first rented it back in 98, i had to rent it again at least 4 more times. Then i bought it on VHS, and most recently, on DVD. This movie was a part of my childhood and is still a part of me to this day. Every character in this movie is bright, wonderful, and a joy to watch. now i know i said i wouldn't gush. oh well. The movie is about a cat named danny who wants to be a Hollywood actor. So when he arrives in Hollywood he is shocked to find that it treats animals not quite as he thought, causing them to live in despair. along the way he meets sawyer, a white cat who had given up on her desire, a little penguin named pudge, a hippo named tillie, a MGM lion parody named woolly the mammoth, a turtle voiced by don knotts, and a tango duo of a goat and a fish. his main obstacle is a shirley temple joke named Darla Dimple with her HUGE servant named max. She tries everything in her power to stop him from becoming a star. now i would tell you what happens, but this movie is too good to be spoiled. This is the way movies should be. The characters are all incredibly enjoyable (even the villain), the songs are so memorable i've been singing them for 11 years (especially the intro song, danny's arrival song, and nothing's gonna stop us now), the animation is beautiful, flowing and very pleasing to the eye, and the theme, while being a bit overused is still great and warming to the heart. that if you try hard enough, you can do anything. More movies need to be this level of quality. a movie that is so good it makes you look past the tiny flaws. This movie will always have a special place in my heart, but this isn't just through the rose colored glasses of my youth, i just saw this movie again this evening and i still feel the warmth and joy i did when i first saw it. the same can't be said about some of my other movies (magic voyage. that's right. you stink). I praise this movie and i will ALWAYS praise this movie. with amazing characters, visuals, songs, and storyline, cats don't dance gets 10 big and loud cats out of 10.