Movie Type: Family-Oriented Comedy, Animal Picture
Themes: Kidnapping, Amateur Sleuths
Main Cast: Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, Dean Jones, Dyan Cannon, George Dzundza, Peter Boyle
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The original Disney feature film, That Darn Cat, was a feel-good hit in 1965, thanks largely to stars such as Hayley Mills, Roddy McDowall, and William Demarest. This 1996 remake also closely follows the novel Undercover Cat by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon and features Christina Ricci in the Hayley Mills role. In a small Massachusetts town, two bumbling criminals mistakenly kidnap a maid, thinking her to be the wife of a prominent businessman. D.C., short for Darn Cat, is an alley cat who, while looking for his nightly snack, stumbles upon the kidnap victim, bound and gagged in a shed. The kidnap victim scratches a plea for help on the back of her wristwatch and puts it around the cat's neck. Patti (Ricci) finds the watch and links it to the missing maid. Playing amateur detective, she enlists the aid of an FBI agent, Zeke (Doug E. Doug), who has been assigned to the case. Patti and Zeke follow D.C. through tight openings to track down the captive. The cat also leads them to the woman's abductors (Peter Boyle and Rebecca Schull) and to a climactic car chase. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Michael McKean - Peter Randall; Bess Armstrong - Judy Randall; Megan Cavanagh - Lu; Brian Haley - Marvin; Mark Christopher Lawrence - Rollo; Estelle Parsons - Old Lady McCracken; John Ratzenberger - Dusty; Rebecca Koon - Lizzie; Rebecca Schull - Ma; Elvis - D.C. ("That Darn Cat"); Tom Wilson - Melvin
Credit
Jeremy A. Cassells - Art Director, Richard Harris - Associate Producer, Gary Zuckerbrod - Casting, Ross Fanger - Co-producer, Marie France - Costume Designer, Marty Eli Schwartz - First Assistant Director, Bob Spiers - Director, Roger Barton - Editor, Andrew Gottlieb - Executive Producer, Richard Gibbs - Songwriter, Jonathan Carlson - Production Designer, Jerzy Zielinski - Cinematographer, Robert Simonds - Producer, Susan Lee Degus - Set Designer, Walter Anderson - Sound/Sound Designer, Larry Karaszewski - Screenwriter, S.M. Alexander - Screenwriter, Bill Walsh - From Screenplay by, Mildred Gordon - From Screenplay by, Gordon Gordon - From Screenplay by
The scene is Boston, "before the turn of the century". A rich businessman is annoyed at his wife's pestering, so he calls for the maid to prepare some warm milk. However, a pair of inept robbers kidnap a maid from a house, believing her to be the wife. The film switches to a small New England town called "Edgefield", where 16-year-old Patti Randall (Ricci) is disgusted with how boring and old-fashioned the town is. She does love her cat, D.C. ("Darn Cat") however. Her parents are unhappy at the way Patti acts and dresses. Every night D.C. leaves at 8 and harasses the neighborhood (such as tricking the dog and eating the dog food or playing with a bird cage while a geriatric and senile old lady orders travel packages). However, Patti's big break comes when D.C. walks into a dilapidated building where the maid wraps a Timex watch around D.C.'s neck with "Hell" scratched on it (she meant to write "Help" but only came in some of the way). Patti (Ricci) discovers the watch around her cat's neck and informs the FBI. The rest of the film revolves around the various humorous scrapes and struggles that Patti and the agent Zeke (Doug) face trying to get D.C. to lead them to the victim.
Production & Awards
Title sequences were produced by Pacific Titles & Optical. Animal Makers created the animatronic version of the cat. Buena Vista Home Entertainment distributed the video in most regions, while Abril Vídeo covered Brazil. It was filmed using a 35mm camera for both the coloured moving and black and white still pictures. The aspect ratio of the film was 1.85/1.
The film earned Ricci two award nominations in 1998. The first was for a Kids Choice Awards for favourite movie actress and the second was for a Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a feature film - Leading actress.
References
The very first scenes of the movie were filmed at Rosemary Hall in North Augusta, South Carolina.
