by Linda Kay

Directed by: Patricia Riggen

This review contains an Implied Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A group of high school students from very different backgrounds, each dealing with a unique set of personal problems, find a link in music during detention and become a popular band in this Disney made-for-TV movie.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): The lead singer of the band is Olivia (Bridgit Mendler) who lives with her grandmother (Judith Rane) after her mother passes and her father is no longer in her life for reasons she prefers to keep private. Returning home from school one day she greets her Gram and then asks about their blue cat Nancy who is clearly ill and hasn’t eaten.

Olivia tries to encourage Nancy to eat a little something. Note that the cat actor has likely had some safe substance applied to its fur to make it look matted and sickly.

Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! Later in the film Olivia is sitting out back with fellow bandmate Wen (Adam Hicks) as Gram carries Nancy outside behind them. Wen notices Nancy walking by and notes with shock what an old cat she is. Olivia starts to cry and explains that Nancy is the only thing she has left from her mother. Still later in the movie the bandmates look for Olivia and find her at home, saddened to learn that Nancy has passed.

At the end of the film, Wen calls on Olivia and presents her with a tortoiseshell kitten he got from a friend’s litter.

Olivia is thrilled with the gift and is happy to hear Wen has accepted his unusual home situation. The pair are clearly destined to be a long-term couple.

Final Mewsings: Kittens aren’t always the best surprise gift but sometimes they are just the right one.

Many thanks to Serjina for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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