There is a special place in the hearts of movie lovers and cat fanciers alike for the Disney films which feature cats. True they are not as numerous as Disney dog pictures, but there are several. And among them The Cat From Outer Space rates pretty high; maybe not for its plot or kooky special effects but for a stellar (or should we say interstellar?) performance by the lead feline playing Zunar J5/90 Doric Fourseven, better known as Jake.

Jake was played by female Abyssinian cat actors Rumple and Amber with a white Persian cat named Spot playing the part of Lucy Belle, although different reports indicate that up to eight feline thespians were on hand to perform various acts. As the Laurel Outlook reported on October 4, 1978:

     Cats from all over California were tested for the lead role of Jake. Trainers worked with the cats for three months before filming began, teaching them to respond to a system of rewards for correct responses.
     Taking turns in various scenes in the comedy, both Rumple, a 15-month-old Abyssinian, and her twin sister, Amber, played Jake. Chosen for Lucy Belle, Jake’s love interest, was a three-year old snow white Persian named Spot.

While reviews for the film itself were mixed (ranging from those who loved it to those who dismissed it as ridiculous piffle), the reviews for the cats’ performances were generally very favorable. Bill Diehl’s review printed in The Sunday Dispatch (Moline, Illinois) on September 10, 1978, even went so far to say, “Rumple in a stronger movie could become another animal favorite, a la Benji.”

One positive review by Joe Baltake for the Philadelphia Daily News sums up one of the main reasons for the appeal of this film:

     With or without the benefit of a dubbed voice, the cats playing Jake are marvelous, nearly conveying expression and bringing admirable pride and, well, humanity to the role.
     The sureness of Tokar’s direction is evident from his handling of the cats, as well as from Berry’s smooth, nice-guy performing.”

Credit surely must go to the cat’s trainers, Rudy Cowl and Don Spinney, for being able to so wonderfully capture just the right expressions from their performers. The team were also the animal trainers on The Shaggy D.A. (Spinney apparently had a more extensive career as an animal trainer with credits from 1972 through 2007).

Ken Berry commented on the experience of performing with a cat co-star in an interview for The Arts section of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on August 21, 1977. The story began with an explanation of Hollywood shooting practices:

     When two actors film a movie sequence together, the same sequence is shot from different directions, giving both actors a closeup.
     Each actor, of course, hangs around to repeat his lines to the other, even though they are off-camera.
     “You haven’t experienced ANYTHING,” [Berry] remarked wryly, “until you have to feed your lines to a cat, with a trainer standing behind you sprinkling cat food down your back to get the correct reactions from the cat.”

One of the best things about this movie is the fact that Jake communicates with his mind, eliminating the need for the cat’s mouth to move when speaking, a real distraction usually requiring either animated mouths or Mr. Ed style chewing. This allows the viewer to enjoy both the cat’s performance and the excellent voice acting by Ronnie Schell (who also appears in the film as Sgt. Duffy and, ironically, has his voice dubbed over by another actor because it was too recognizable as being the same as Jake’s).

It isn’t clear how Jake was induced to sleep when tranquilized by Dr. Wenger but one would guess the cat actor was given a real sedative, a practice which is thankfully not acceptable today. The sneezing scenario is reminiscent of another Disney picture, My Dog the Thief, in which a cat also sneezes uncontrollably. One would assume that some kind of sneezing agent, i.e. pepper, was used to invoke the sneezes in both cases, but we have no information on how this action was actually induced.

Stuffed Stand-Ins

During the flying action sequence, both Jake and Lucy Belle are sometimes replaced with stuffed cats. This is especially apparent in a couple of shots.

In an article published in the Kenosha News (Wisconsin) on July 16, 1977, UPI reporter Vernon Scott interviewed Sandy Duncan about her experiences on the film. The lengthy article included a segment about these faux cats:

     Sandy giggled when she mentioned the name of her director, Norman Tokar, a normally tractable man who has directed tigers, raccoons, dachshunds and horses in previous Disney epics.
     Because every cat involved in the film is independent and unflinchingly opposed to Tokar’s dictatorial persuasion on the set, dummy cats have been manufactured for stand-ins and long distance shots.
     “The problem is that these stuffed cats really don’t look like cats as all,” Sandy laughed. “This infuriates Norman who sometimes swings them by their tails and throws them against the wall — breaking them in pieces.”

A Cast of Character Actors — with Cat Allergies

For such a cat-centric film one would think that Disney would be cautious about hiring actors who have problems working with cats. But it appears that somehow they managed to hire a group of actors who were allergic to cats, which proves just what good actors they really are! As Sandy Duncan explained in the Vernon Scott interview:

     “I’m allergic to all cats, not just Lucy Belle,” [explained Duncan]. “And I must say that cats don’t seem to like me for some reason. I can go into someone’s house without knowing they own a cat. And in a few minutes I break out in hives, my eyes get itchy and my throat closes and I get a runny nose.
     “MacLean [Stevenson], Jim [James Hampton] and Ken [Berry] sneeze and their eyes water when the cats are brought on stage. It’s a wonderful set!”
     It eventuates that Disney folk have gathered together a gaggle of actors who share a common allergy to cats in general and fat white Persians in particular.

Duncan’s allergy was particularly bad, as noted in another article provided by the Associated Press and published in the September 8, 1978 edition of the Argus-Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which elaborated on Duncan’s understandable aversion to cats:

     Have you heard the news? Sandy Duncan hated her co-star in her latest film and broke out in hives whenever she got close to him.
     Her co-star, Jake, a Cheshire smile on his face, had no comment.
     They star together in the new Disney film, “The Cat From Outer Space.” Jake, an Abyssinian, has the title role.
     “I hated that cat and it hated me,” said Sandy, who explains it’s because she’s allergic to cats.
     “My sister had a cat when we were kids. I was allergic even then. If I go near a cat my eyes water, I break out in hives and I get this sexy, husky voice. On second thought, maybe the last isn’t so bad.”
     The film, which also stars Ken Berry, McLean Stevenson and Roddy McDowall, required Sandy to be with Jake and another cat, Lucy Belle, for many weeks of production.
     “Because of my sister’s cat, I took my share of Benadryl,” she said. “It makes you sleepy, which gave everyone the idea I was a calm child. I had to take it during production, so they had to edit out the parts where I kept nodding off.”
     The cat was always on the set, since he is the title star. “My worst experience was sitting in the back of a Volkswagen in oppressive heat and holding the cat for hours,” she said.

Spot the Terror

Amazingly, one featured story didn’t focus on the feline stars playing Jake but the co-star, Spot, who played Lucy Belle. When Sandy Duncan states above that she hated that cat, it is very likely she was not referring to Rumple or Amber but to Spot (the same confusion in reporting also seems to happen in the following excerpts . . . we assume Sandy knew that Lucy Belle was not the cat from outer space). The previously mentioned interview with Sandy Duncan by Vernon Scott painted a rather dim view of the feline thespian:

     Sandy Duncan, a delightful bird-like creature is not greatly enthralled with her feline costar, Lucy Belle.
     Lucy Belle is a large white Persian cat whose chief attributes are arrogance and disdain for human beings. She is also surly, mean, vengeful and given to biting, kicking and scratching her costars.
     By and large, the film company is a happy, relaxed group with Ken Berry, MacLean (sic) Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Jim Hampton and Ronnie Schell clowning around having fun between takes.
     But Lucy Belle has cast a pall over the company. Sandy is the primary target of the cat’s bellicose behavior but none of the other performers is crazy about Lucy Belle either.
     Sandy stopped at the noonday break the other day dressed in a blue and white striped sleeveless robe. Her strawberry blonde hair was neatly coifed. She smiled, revealing her sparkling white overbite. Then she frowned.
     “Look,” she cried, pointing to several angry red slashes on her left forearm.
     “The day this happened they had to give me a tetanus shot and some other medicine. The arm was so swollen I couldn’t work.
     “There are about eight cats all playing the same part. Each one does something different. Cats are very hard to train, so they just teach one or two things to each cat they’re using in the picture.
     “I really can’t tell one cat from the other except for Lucy Belle. She has a very cranky disposition.”

     Often during a take Lucy Belle’s coat frizzes out as if she’d been jolted by a bolt of lightning. Her claws unsheath and she hisses fearfully. At that juncture, even in the middle of a line, Sandy emits a howl and drops the cat.
     One of the trainers rushes to Sandy’s side at the end of each scene to remove the ill-tempered Lucy Belle from her arms.
     Sandy has not complained openly about her disaffection for cats for fear of arousing the wrath of cat fanciers, a particularly virulent breed of fanatics.
     “I love all animals but maybe I just don’t have a natural affinity for cats,” Sandy said. “I belong to a group for the protection of pets and I believe in animal rights. I have two dogs — one little mutt and one big mutt.
     “We live in a canyon way up in the hills and we are visited by possums, deer, rabbits, coyotes, snakes and squirrels. But no cats.”
     Sandy shyly glanced around the Disney commissary, concerned that no one should hear her next words.
     “I don’t like the cat because she has the best part in the movie,” Sandy confided. “I’m lucky is they get a medium shot of me. But Lucy Belle gets all the close-ups.
     “And she really has all the best lines, too. Really. Lucy Belle is a talking cat from outer space. Ronnie Schell does her voice in the picture. Of course Lucy Belle doesn’t say a word herself.”
     And a good thing, too, Sandy Duncan. Otherwise she doubtless would have a few choice observations to make about a certain young actress to whom she is frightfully allergic.

Despite these apparent difficulties behind the scenes, the cats and actors all managed to pull together for an enjoyable romp which fans enjoyed then and continue to enjoy today.

Both a novelization and a comic book adaptation were released.

And the variety of posters and ad artwork for the film were especially fun!