Themes: Man's Best Friend, Talking Animals, Heroic Mission
Main Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Miriam Margolyes, Alexander Pollock, Tobey Maguire
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
This talking-animal action comedy from Lawrence Guterman, the co-director of Antz (1998), follows on the heels of the Babe and Dr. Dolittle films. Unknown to humans, a secret war has been raging between cats and dogs for eons, but a fragile truce has long held the order of the animal kingdom in place. Now the balance of power has tipped, as a researcher, Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum), is about to invent a vaccine that will erase all human allergies to dogs. This is too much for the autocratic Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), a white Persian kitty bent on world domination. The Brody home becomes ground zero for the renewed conflict between feline and canine, with a young Beagle puppy named Lou (Tobey Maguire) caught in the middle as the new point man for his species' cause. Cats and Dogs co-stars Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, as well as the vocal talents of Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Jon Lovitz, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Joe Pantoliano. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Sandi Tanaka - Art Director, Ed Jones - Associate Producer, Marci Liroff - Casting, John Requa - Co-producer, Glenn Ficarra - Co-producer, Tish Monaghan - Costume Designer, Patrice Leung - First Assistant Director, Lawrence Guterman - Director, Charles Gibson - Second Unit Director, Michael A. Stevenson - Editor, Rick W. Finney - Editor, Bruce Berman - Executive Producer, Chris Bender - Executive Producer, J.C. Spink - Executive Producer, John Debney - Composer (Music Score), James D. Bissell - Production Designer, Julio Macat - Cinematographer, Christopher de Faria - Producer, Andrew Lazar - Producer, Craig Perry - Producer, Warren Zide - Producer, Lin MacDonald - Set Designer, Nancy Brown - Set Designer, Brian Fisher - Set Designer, Rhythm & Hues Studios - Special Effects, Larry Sutton - Sound/Sound Designer, Boone Narr - Stunts Coordinator, John Requa - Screenwriter, Glenn Ficarra - Screenwriter, Attila Szalay - Additional Cinematography, Attila Szalay - Second Unit Camera, Ed Jones - Visual Effects Supervisor, Boone Narr - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Jim Henson's Creature Shop - Creature Effects, David Barclay - Animatronic Effects, Tippett Studio - Animatronic Effects, Tippett Studio - Animation Effects, Larry Sutton - Supervising Sound Editor, Richard L. Anderson - Supervising Sound Editor, Elliott Kortez - Supervising Sound Editor, Rhythm & Hues Studios - Visual Effects, Lin MacDonald - Set Decorator
After foolishly falling for a trick set up by a cynical cat called Mr Tinkles, a Bloodhound agent named Buddy, who was part of a secret dog agency must be replaced, and his replacement soon arrives in the form of an inexperienced young Beagle puppy named Lou, which an Anatolian Shepherd called Butch, who is the dog agency's leader, greatly disapproves of. However, through repeated attacks by Tinkles' cat mercenaries, Butch enlists Lou's help in stopping him from stealing a human scientist's dog allergy cure even though he isn't a qualified agent.
The film received mixed to average reviews from film critics. It received a 54% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based upon 110 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5 out of 10.[2]Metacritic, which uses an aggregate rating system, collected an average score of 47/100, based upon 26 reviews.[3] The Washington Post's Jane Horwitz gave the film a positive review, calling it "[a] surprisingly witty and sophisticated spy movie spoof that will tickle adult pet lovers and still capture kids 6 and older with its boy-and-his-dog love story and pet slapstick."[4] In contrast, Kevin Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote "Irritating, childish and more frantic than funny, Cats & Dogs does manage some few pleasant moments, but they are not worth waiting for."
Awards
The film was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature Film (Comedy) and Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (Alexander Pollock). John Debney won the ASCAP Award for his musical contribution to this film as well as The Princess Diaries and Spy Kids.
Sequel
Production of a sequel, tentatively named Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, began on September 2, 2008[5] under the direction of Brad Peyton.[6] Some of the scenes will be filmed in Playland, Vancouver. The film is scheduled to be released on July 30, 2010.
