How “The Garfield Movie” was a turning point for its director

The Garfield movie The film gained quite a bit of traction on Netflix’s Top 10 list, which is a far cry from the response it received in theaters. But looking at this new version of the beloved Lasagna Scarf Cat (voiced by Chris Pratt), it’s pretty clear that director Mark Dindal has a great love for Jim Davis‘ original comics and managed to translate most of that essence to the big screen. It also reminded me of another film Dindal directed: Cats don’t dance. Although Dindal is best known for his work on The Emperor’s New Groove and assisting with Disney classics like The Little Mermaid And Aladdin, Cats don’t dance was his directorial debut, and it turned out to be a box office bomb. What exactly caused audiences to disapprove of Dindal’s first animated film?

What is “Cats Don’t Dance” about?

Cats don’t dance is set at the beginning of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1939, with one big difference: Talking animals live side by side with humans. One of these cats, Danny (Scott Bakula), longs to become an actor, but learns that animals usually get supporting roles. Danny sets out on a journey to change this and falls in love with another cat, Sawyer (Jasmine Guy) and dealing with the anger of child star Darla Dimple (Ashley Peldon), who doesn’t want animals stealing the spotlight from her.

Cats don’t dance is notable for being the final film Gene Kelly was involved in it. Kelly helped choreograph the film, This led to some great dance sequences between Danny and Sawyer – and they’re animated characters! As a nod to Kelly’s influence, there is a moment where the animals are featured on a poster Singing in the rain. David Kirschnerwho wrote An American cockHe served as producer and his influence is clearly felt on the final product; in the same way An American cock was a metaphor for Jewish immigrants arriving in America, Cats don’t dance used its furry protagonists to draw attention to discrimination in Hollywood (a practice that unfortunately continues to this day).

A studio merger made “Cats Don’t Dance” a failure

Although Cats don’t dance Although the film had a great premise and involved a real-life Hollywood legend from the Golden Age, it didn’t do well at the box office. In a retrospective for Polygon, Dindal and Kirschner delved into the topics in more detail Cats don’t dance faced, including multiple refits and lack of funds. Although Dindal managed to keep the time period out of the 1950s, the tightening budget also meant that Dindal had to retain his voice recordings for Darla’s Frankenstein-like butler Max. This actually works to the film’s advantage, as Max is little more than a blunt instrument of Darla’s will, and Dindal voices him as such.

Cats don’t dance was also a late acquisition of Warner Bros. – which had bought Turner Entertainment – and the studio made it clear that it wasn’t really interested in promoting the film. Kirschner got to the point:

Even without seeing it, they could do it [not] I cared less about it, just the idea of ​​a musical called
Cats don’t dance
. It wasn’t Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck or the great Warner characters.

Cats don’t dance was far from the first time that Warner Bros. failed to market and/or over-involved itself in its animated films. The Iron Giant suffered a similar fate as it was not marketed properly and was under the current management of Warner Bros David Zaslavtwo different Looney Tunes projects became tax write-offs (Coyote VS. summit) or sold to various studios (The Day the Earth Exploded: A Looney Tunes Movie).

Cats Don’t Dance cemented a trend in Mark Dindal’s animation work

Cats don’t dance has set some trends that Mark Dindal has brought into most of his works, especially the idea of two or more characters joining together to change their status in life… and one or more of these characters are usually anthropomorphic animals. The Emperor’s New Groove just solidified this trope, and Chicken small has brought it into full swing. Dindal also admitted in an interview that all of his films so far have featured some sort of cat character, saying, “It’s funny, I think certain things just keep coming up in a person’s career.” The Garfield movie is truly a full-circle moment for Dindal and could spark interest Cats don’t dance.

Cats don’t dance is available to rent on Prime Video in the US

Rent on Prime Video