ejl-41750 Like I said in another review, I'm a kid of the 90's and early 2000's. As such, the movies I grew up with were the Disney films from that time, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Space Jam, Toy Story, Shrek, the list goes on for miles. I don't know how, but this one ended up slipping under my radar. But then, I found it and gave it a watch, and then a mix of emotions hit me like a ton of bricks. I was happy that I watched it because I really enjoyed it, and disappointed that I could have never experienced it in my childhood. Why did I love it?First of all, the story is pretty basic, but handled well. In the 1930's, an anthropomorphic cat named Danny arrives in Hollywood looking to be a big movie star, but finds it not as easy as he once thought due to the demand for animals as the star being virtually non-existent, and a dark conspiracy at the center being child-star Darla Dimple.The characters are a lot of fun. The main character, Danny (voiced by Scott Bakula) is a funny and energetic cat who has a lot of heart and determination. The main villain Darla Dimple is a Shirley Temple-like child star who acts all sweet and innocent in public, but behind closed doors, she is a monster, which the way they execute it makes her an underrated villain and she has some lines at which you just can't help but laugh, and her obedient butler Max, who is a frightening giant who in certain ways reminds me of Lurch from The Addams Family. Next is another cat named Sawyer, who is sort of the realistic no-nonsense character, and when you see her backstory, you'll know why. Backing these characters up is an assortment of hilarious animal characters. There's a cute and helpful little penguin named Pudge, a dignified elephant named Woolie Mammoth (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), a kind but overly giddy hippo named Tillie (voiced by Kathy Najimy), a sassy albacore named Frances, a grumpy goat named Cranston, and a superstitious turtle named T.W. (voiced by Don Knotts).This movie is also a musical, which the songs are a big reason why the movie is so great, and they have a balance of different tones. The ones that balance out the fun side of the movie are "Danny's Arrival Song", "Animal Jam", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", and there is "Big and Loud" which is Darla's villain song that shows how evil she really is, and the emotional side of the spectrum includes "Our Time Has Come" (the opening credits song) and Sawyer's song "Tell Me Lies" (performed by Natalie Cole). Every song in the movie is extremely well written and well performed.The animation is also awesome and a lot of fun to watch. Both it and it's look are done in a cartoon style and energetic, which makes it reminiscent to the classic Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry cartoons. But it's not that way the whole time. It knows when to be slow and calm.As a whole, this movie is an absolute delight. The story is very well done, the characters are hilarious and likable or in certain cases love- to-hate, the songs are unforgettable, and the animation is awesome. This movie is recommended the most for everyone who loves animation, comedy, and musicals. And maybe not all of them, but I think most kids will enjoy it too.9/10

Angels_Review I normally don't like musicals, animated or otherwise. Something about people breaking out and singing out of no where just seems to bug me and also the song after song happening just… I just don't normally care for that stuff. Now after saying this, you would think that I wouldn't like this movie, right? Actually I fell in love with it. The music and characters personalities actually work really well together, making the show just lovable. Through all the small flaws that it had (some of which are understandable as how old the show is) the story pops out the most.I really love the characters. Each one has a memorable personality that defines there character and they don't really break that stereotype except for what they lone to do weather its dancing, singing, acting out, or creating music. When you see them outside of doing what they love, you see broken people who have had their dreams smashed before their eyes. They do all they can to protect themselves from being rather gitty and feely to being grumps and adding rather sarcastic remarks. Each one feels like they have been made for the different forms of depression and loss. I know I'm going into psychological ideas for the show but this is really why I love this show. We have Danny who has his hopes and dreams shattered right out of the gate but in his mind, he believes that it is only a set back to his plans on being a star. He is what I would call the first stage of loss called Denial. He just can't believe that the world is as bad as people are making it out to be. Then we have the anger stage and I feel the character that says this most is Cranston Goat and partly in his dancing partner, Frances Albacore. They are always being sarcastic and rude to the others. The only stage that does not seem to be shown is the third with Bargaining. No one seems to do that type of stuff although we have a very over optimistic hippo that is being nice to everyone, always trying to help them out. Forth stage of Depression is depression itself, shown very well in T.W. who is always saying negative things based on his fortune cookies. The last one I believe would be for Sawyer, Acceptance. She accepts that she will never make it to the top, she will always be the secretary, never the Diva, and even forgets her dreams. She doesn't even do it for fun and thinks it's just a waist of time.We have a story that pretty much has a storybook tale of a guy looking to make it big in the movies doing what he truly loves to do, to dance and sing. As he gets to Hollywood though, not everything is as glamorous as it was made out to be and part of that is something that I believe not many picked out on when the show was first shown. The storyline has a very strong feeling to racism that is surprising for a show made for younger children and it's what I believe makes the show speak to the older crowd. If you substitute the word 'Animal' with the word 'Black' or 'Latino' or even 'Asian' you can kind of see where I'm going with it. The idea that these animals are not treated with the same idea as humans. They don't get a chance to be a star, only background characters who are pretty much stereotyped by the type of creature they are. For example, the Noah Ark show they start taping makes them have only one line and its based on the sound there animal makes. The dog says woof, the cow says moo, and the cat says meow. They aren't given a chance to show they can do anything else because they weren't even cast because of their talent.The artwork is really catered to the year it came out but it actually doesn't feel all that old. The art style was created with very outrageous and exaggerated features like rather skinny waists that make them look like they would brake apart at any moment. We have cartoon-ish faces and at times they end up squashing and stretching as they move in order to show a rather extensive movement. It's hard to really explain it but its pretty amazing that the humans are drawn almost as though they are animals themselves or don't seem 'human'. The animals seem so much more human then the humans themselves though it's hard to actually explain. The only one that seems any close to human is the little Darla Dimple character who is the main villain of the show.The music is actually really nice and catchy, making you just want to dance at some times which works with the whole concept of the story. If you want to have a story about people trying to become a star, you need some pretty high class music to make it. I found myself singing along with some of the songs including the opening song 'I'm on my Way' which seemed to tell the storyline rather well. The voice acting is really good with big name people like Don Knotts playing the rather nervous turtle, T.W., to Betty Lou Gerson who had done the voice of Cruella De Vil in the 1961 version of 101 Dalmations. We even have Dee Bradley Baker who did the voice of Daffy Duck in Space Jam and did voices in many old TV shows like 'Hey Arnold!', 'Rugrats', and 'Johnny Bravo'. When you put all these voices together, it makes for a really interesting sounding movie.

ravsten428 Cat's Don't Dance may not be what most movie buffs would call a classic cartoon. It's not made by a big name company but it is a good movie nonetheless.Danny is a cat who wants to make it big in Hollywood. He leaves his town of Kokomo, Indiana to head for big dreams. Once he gets to Hollywood he makes his debut in a film that mostly belongs to the cute but really evil Darla Dimple. Danny tests her patience by not saying his line but rather singing it. She is not happy and reminds him that he needs to know his place in the film as an animal.Danny is determined to make a name for himself and his friends Sawyer, Tilly, Cranston, Pudge and a few others. Sawyer a female cat tries to persuade him out of trying to have dreams because he is only an animal and they are treated differently and aren't given the bigger roles in films. After awhile he gets all his friends and the animals in Hollywood to realize that they are worth it. Darla doesn't like what she sees and decides that she is going to try and sabotage the animals from starring in any future films. She tells Danny that he needs to put on a show and make it big and loud. Danny however doesn't realize that it is a scam. Darla ruins their show and Danny and all the other animals get kicked out of the studios.Danny decides to head back home but after he is on a bus and sees Pudge being pushed around he comes up with a plan that helps his friends and the other animals to make it back into the filming industry. He makes it big for himself and wins back his support from his friends and ends up winning Sawyer's affection. Darla ends up being defeated and you see her having to put up movie posters at the very end of the credits. Cat's Don't Dance may not be big on special effects but it doesn't have to be. It sells itself with a great story and anybody who watches it probably won't be let down.

Taylor Sirman This film does what few animated musicals attempt but fail to accomplish. The energy and feeling of an old silver screen musical. Gene Kelly would be proud. The animation is quite the throwback to the Chuck Jones era of cartoons. The city is wonderfully drawn and given a slight art deco feel. The voice acting is spot on for all of the characters and the singing talent is some of the best. Randy Newman does a wonderful job of scoring this film. His musical arrangements are upbeat and fun when need be and pull at your heart's strings at the right time.It's quite sad that this film was brushed under the carpet by Warner Bros. The lack of popularity, besides not being a Disney movie, could also be due to the fact that the story deals with a subject that not many kids are familiar with, Racism. But the older audience will really appreciate this movie on a whole different level.Cats Don't Dance was a film that was destined to fail but at the same time left to be one of the best animations of our time.