Cats & Dogs: Difference between revisions

For other uses, see Cats & Dogs (disambiguation).

Cats & Dogs
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lawrence Guterman
Written by	John Requa Glenn Ficarra
Produced by	Ed Jones Christopher de Faria Andrew Lazar Craig Perry Warren Zide
Starring	Jeff Goldblum Elizabeth Perkins Alexander Pollock
Cinematography	Julio Macat
Edited by	Rick W. Finney Michael A. Stevenson
Music by	John Debney
Production company	Village Roadshow Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	July 4, 2001
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Template:FilmUS
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$330,687,492

Cats & Dogs is a 2001 American family film directed by Lawrence Guterman. The screenplay by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra centers on the relationships between cats and dogs. It was shot in Victoria and Vancouver.

Plot

The film begins with the SUV of the Brody family pulling up to the house, with Mrs. Brody (Elizabeth Perkins) and her son Scott (Alexander Pollock) bringing in the groceries, and the family's Bloodhound named Buddy immediately starts giving chase after a cat. Buddy follows the cat and pursues him through a neighbor's house, until he finds the cat lying dead on the street, obviously playing dead. The cat gets up and runs away, and a blue van pulls up and kidnaps Buddy.

An Anatolian Shepherd Dog named Butch (Alec Baldwin) watches from a window, then goes to his doghouse, pressing a blue button, which grants him access to a large techno-network, and tells an agent of Buddy's kidnap. At Intel HQ, the head dog receives the news about Buddy and orders the best agents to accomplish the mission and defeat the cat menace.

Meanwhile at a farm, a small group of Beagle puppies converse and make fun of a younger puppy (Tobey Maguire), who wants to be free. A group of young black Doberman puppies led by a large Doberman Pinscher force the Beagles to go underground as Mrs. Brody approaches. Mrs. Brody comes into the puppy pen, and the last beagle puppy comes out. She decides to adopt him and takes him home, naming him Lou. She puts him outside to play and a golden bone attached to a balloon falls down. Lou goes near it, and Butch comes out and throws a stick at it, making it explode. Butch then takes Lou into Buddy's doghouse, and shows him the network that dog agents use, and takes him to meet some more agents: Peek (Joe Pantoliano) is a Chinese Crested Dog who works in an underground tube and has computers, radar, sonar, television, communications, satellite, thermal imaging systems, security cameras, and such. Sam (Michael Clarke Duncan) is a comical Bearded Collie.Meanwhile,Mr Tinkles (Sean Hayes),a white Persian cat plans to conquer the world by making all humans allergic to dogs with Mr Brody (Jeff Goldblum)'s research on a cure for dog allergies.He then tells Calico (Jon Lovitz) to send in the cat mercenaries he hired to steal the research.He sends in Devon Rex cat ninjas to steal the research but Lou managed to prevent them from stealing the research.Lou then meets a another agent dog named Ivy (Susan Sarandon). Mr Tinkles then orders Calico to send a Russian Blue kitten to steal the research.The Russian then frames Lou for pooing in the house with a ball containing poop. He then places a bomb on the lab door.Butch and Lou managed to get into the house. Lou then distracts the Russian while Butch disables the bomb.But the Russian turns his attention on Butch and tries to kill him.Butch gets caught in a telephone wire but manages to escape and disables the bomb.But the Russian holds out a remote that will explode the bomb and laughs until the lab door hits him.The Russian is captured and interrogated.The agent tells the gang that they pumped a few things out the Russian's stomach including a note written by Mr Tinkles.

Cast

• Tobey Maguire as Lou the Beagle (voice)
• Alec Baldwin as Butch (voice)
• Jeff Goldblum as Professor Brody
• Elizabeth Perkins as Mrs. Carolyn Brody
• Alexander Pollock as Scott Brody
• Sean Hayes as Mr. Tinkles (voice)
• Susan Sarandon as Ivy (voice)
• Jon Lovitz as Calico (voice)
• Joe Pantoliano as Peek (voice)
• Billy West as Ninja Cat #1 (voice)
• Danny Mann as Ninja Cat #2 (voice)
• Glenn Ficarra as the Russian Blue (voice)

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mixed to average reviews from film critics. It received a 53% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based upon 111 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5 out of 10. Metacritic, which uses an aggregate rating system, collected an average score of 47/100, based upon 26 reviews. 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." 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."

Box Office

When released on July 4, 2001, the film opened at #1, beating out Scary Movie 2 as it grossed $21,707,617 on a $7,140 average from 3,040 theaters. It however would lose 44% of its gross the next week, as it grabbed the #3 spot its second weekend grossing $12,033,590, falling behind Legally Blonde and The Score. The film would turn out to be a huge box office success, grossing $133 million domestically, and $197 million overseas for a total of $200 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

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 under the direction of Brad Peyton. Scenes will be filmed in North Vancouver. The film is scheduled to be released on July 30, 2010.

External links

• Cats & Dogs at IMDb
• Cats & Dogs at AllMovie
• Cats & Dogs at Box Office Mojo
• Cats & Dogs at Rotten Tomatoes
• Cats & Dogs at Metacritic