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But if there is one reason to like CATS, it
is for the film's "bad girl," Darla Dimple, who is
one of the funniest and most truly evil cartoon heavies to appear
in a long time. She steals every scene she is in and is only
partially upstaged by her gigantic gorilla servant, Max ("Yes,
Miss Dimple..."). Darla is your worst nightmare come to
animated life; sort of a cross between Shirley Temple and Freddy
Krueger. Darla is the one obstacle in Danny's path to fame and
her over-the-top scheming (counterbalanced by the stone-faced
but menacing Max) are easily the high points of the movie.
The character designs are a little weird especially
on Danny and Sawyer, the female lead (Danny is all torso, Sawyer
is all legs), but overall they're quite cute. The animated dance
numbers work very well -- a tribute to the artists' ability to
capture such complicated movements. And the musical numbers,
written by Randy Newman, are worthy of any recent musical. The
best is probably Sawyer's torchlight solo, "Tell Me Lies,"
sung by Natalie Cole. It's a bluesy number performed with feeling
rarely seen in animated films (very similar to Judy Garland's
rendition of "Paris is a Lonely Town" in GAY PURR-EE).
This film is also very much a tribute to the
Hollywood as portrayed in films of the 1930's and 1940's -- and
you can expect to see a lot of period cameos. It also effectively
captures that innocent spirit found in classic musicals of the
period.
And it's FUNNY! The film relies on a lot
of fast-paced, witty dialog and an almost endless array of cartoon
sight gags. But neither does the script neglect its main characters:
Sawyer is graceful even when doling out sarcastic one-liners
and Danny possesses and optimism and irresistible charm that
was typical in those old musicals mentioned above. Sadly, this
film doesn't seem to be getting the attention it deserves, and
may be gone by the time you read this. But if you get the chance
then don't miss CATS DON'T DANCE!
-Timothy Fay
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