by Linda Kay
Starring: Rip
Directed by: Ron Underwood
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: A boy named Archie (Brandon Adams) befriends a cat who tags along with him during his daily adventures in this educational short.
Featured Feline: The cat in question is a gorgeous tortoiseshell. While the neighborhood kids are preparing to put on a show, Archie is walking down the street eating an ice cream cone. He happens across the tortoiseshell kitty who is happy to enjoy a few licks of the ice cream.
The cat follows Archie down the street. Archie dances, trying to impress the cat.
Realizing the cat is following him, Archie walks forwards and backwards several times. The cat follows his every step.
Finishing his ice cream cone, Archie realizes he has a white beard and mustache from eating sloppily. He then finds a broken umbrella on the ground and starts dancing with it.
At one point the umbrella startles the cat and Archie is quick to apologize, giving the kitty some pets.
They continue on their way down the street.
Arriving at the show, Archie enters acting like an old man and using the umbrella as a cane, which illicits giggles from the apparently entertainment starved kids.
The cat follows Archie backstage and watches as he prepares to entertain the kids.
Archie comes out wearing a large paper bag with a funny face painted on it. The cat starts dancing around Archie’s feet.
Eventually the cat attacks Archie’s shoe and pulls him off balance, causing him to fall.
Archie recovers by pointing out his friend with a dog on his shoulders walking behind a fence. But when the dog sees the cat he takes chase. The kids take this as the climax and everyone leaves happy.
At home that night Archie tells his mom (Deborah Gibson) about the cat. We see the cat is sitting on the steps outside and Archie finally convinces his mom to let him keep the kitty.
The titular Cat was played by talented feline thespian Rip. The animal trainers on the film were Cheryl Harris and Mac Embury. Director Ron Underwood, who appears to have started his career heading several educational films, went on to work on such films as Tremors and City Slickers.
This short was based on the popular children’s 1970 book by author Ezra Jack Keats. In the book the cat (a tuxedo) actually jumps up inside the paper bag Archie is wearing and ruins the show (this obviously wasn’t practical to do in real life). Archie likes the cat despite the kitty causing him so much trouble. In the short film, one wonders why the cat would put up with Archie instead of the other way around!
The title card for the film was based on the book’s cover.
You can view this film courtesy of A/V Geeks below (note that the sound is out of sync).
Final Mewsings: Any cat who puts up with this much and is still your friend is a keeper!
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