7/10
Nothing's gonna stop me from loving this movie
6 July 2012
Nothing's more of a nostalgic movie for me than Cats Don't Dance, the energetic animated musical of Hollywood, passion, and the pursuit of dreams that is the most criminally underrated movie I have ever seen in my life.

We are introduced to Danny, a cat full of ambition and dreams of making it AS A STAR! He arrives in Hollywood and quickly meets the other wonderful cast of animals: Tilly Hippo, Cranston Goat, T.W Turtle, later Woolly Mammoth, and another cat simply named Sawyer; who is not too pleased with Danny's dream-chasing, singing and dancing attitude.

Shortly after the introduction to the others, he lands a spot on the latest movie "Little Ark Angel" starring "America's Sweetheart, Lover of Children and Animals" Darla Dimple: who's pretty much a cross between Shirley Temple, Baby-Doll from the animated Batman, and a Disney villain. While filming the movie, Danny makes himself noticed much to the displeasure of Darla who shows her true colors as a spoiled little munchkin who again is as heinously evil as some of Disneys most evil villains. Which results in the calling of the gargantuan servant of Darla known as Max, which results in Max teaching Danny a lesson that I'm not gonna lie is actually pretty funny.

After that happens, we find out why no one liked his little number and why Sawyer is so despondent toward Danny. We find out that Hollywood, for no clear reason, wants talented human actors and not talented animals. And the other characters we've met have talent that was wrongfully overlooked, Sawyer being both the most promising and seemingly the most broken of the group. But Danny, still wanting to follow his dream, tries to convince the others to do the same. The result: the rest of the movie.

If I took out the nostalgia, I would love Cats Don't Dance all the same. I love how fun it is, I love how sincere it is, but mostly I love how passionate and driven it is. Its not a flawless movie; some of the singing voices sound a bit odd when compared to the talking voices. Danny isn't THAT well developed but not enough that I think he brought the film down. But aside from a few nitpicks I truly do love it.

The music is done by Randy Newman. And while I don't "love" Randy Newman, this is really good. The songs are both catchy and fit the moods appropriately. The orchestral work is impressive as well, fitting the 1930s Hollywood setting perfectly. The animation is fantastic too; offering a familiar Warner Bros. animation feel.

Honestly, I love this movie. I love everything about it. It's great, fun to watch, memorable and very underrated. I love the characters, the music, the animation, the drama; but mostly the passion. Its serious nostalgia for me, and people should definitely watch it.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed