by Linda Kay

Starring: Dr. Katz

Directed by: Gary Templeton

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

Synopsis: Based on the children’s book by Marjorie Flack. A Scottish Terrier named Angus gets out of his family’s yard and becomes lost.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Angus is sitting in a window watching the milkman make a delivery when a tabby and white cat enters the room and starts eating from the dog’s bowl.

When Angus realizes what is happening, the cat runs away. The chase is on!

The cat runs up the stairs and hides under a bed.

Angus follows and jumps on the bed as the cat quickly darts away and runs back downstairs.

The cat uses a chair to jump to a mantel.

Angus also jumps on the chair but can’t manage the leap to the mantel. The chair eventually falls over and a nearby vase is knocked to the ground. The cat beats a hasty retreat right before the lady of the house puts Angus outside.

While this short film was based mainly on the book of the same name, it was actually compiled using a couple of stories from a series of books featuring Angus. The cat was introduced in one of these. Starting as adversaries, the two eventually became friends.

In the book Angus Lost, Angus leaves home of his own accord, being bored with life at home. When he returns at the end, he happily sits next to his friend the cat. For obvious reasons this was not recreated in the short film (if you’ll notice, the dog and cat actors never appear on screen in the same shot).

The animal actors were supplied by William Berloni Theatrical Animals, Inc. The cat actor’s name was Dr. Katz, owned and trained by Robert Kwartler.

Final Mewsings: Cats can’t help it if dogs are clumsy.

Many thanks to A/V Geeks for making this film available to view.

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