# Interesting how Disney gave Cats a bad rap



## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

So I’m babysitting my 5 yr old grandson and watching Disney’s Cinderella. I never noticed it before but the cat is portrayed as an evil villain. My grandson says he hates the mean mother and the cat. I now find myself explaining that our cats are nice cats. 
It’s been awhile since I’ve watched Disney cartons and I wonder just how many have mean evil cats. :roll:


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

Lady and the tramp w the 2 siamese. Dumbo has slaves in it and many portray blacks in a negative light, you can't win them all.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

3gatos said:


> Lady and the tramp w the 2 siamese. Dumbo has slaves in it and many portray blacks in a negative light, you can't win them all.


 Oh yes I forgot about Lady and the tramp . That was my favorite because it looked like my dog at the time and I do remember the Siamese cats now that you mention it.


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## Jetlaya67 (Sep 26, 2012)

It is not a Disney movie but the Fievel movies ( Fievel goes West and I can't remember the other) make cats the bad guys. I think the only ones I remember with good cats are Homeward Bound and The Aristocats.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

I don't know if you guys ever saw this movie, but The Great Mouse Detective (if you haven't seen it I would HIGHLY suggest it, best disney movie EVER) has a bad rat who uses a cat to dole out punishment. LOL!


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## Penguin_Dreams (Sep 28, 2012)

But there's the Aristocats. That's a happy cat movie. And a really fun musical score.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

This is a good point. Thinking about it, my lifelong fear and disgust of cats was influenced also by movies. Each day I'm confronted again with how wrong I used to be.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Cats in general get a bad image in a lot of shows. I can't think of any of the tv/movie names now, but I recall cartoons where the cats were evil or always sitting on the bad guys lap. 

But Disney has also done Oliver and Company and Homeward Bound (with real animals from way way back & a remake or two on this same theme)... and more recently, there was one called Bolt from Disney that was about a dog that thought cats were evil because he only knows cats from a tv show but then he gets lost and meets a stray cat that - eventually - changes his mind. I loved that movie. The poor cat really only wanted a home, and was jaded no longer trusting people, that part was sad. But it had a happy ending for them of course.

Not Disney, and real animals, but there's also Milo and Otis. 

Not all cats are evil in kid shows.  I'd say the issue is more: kids can get funny ideas from anything. Just straighten them out and all should be well. It's important to learn these sort of things when you're young though, maybe he needs to spend more time around animals?


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

That is insightful. Its true how the general public seem to think it is OK to abuse a cat more than people think it is OK to mistreat a dog. It irks the heck out of me. So many times you hear serial killers hurt cats not dog and it is encouraged by the media.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

I must watch Bolt, thanks Carmel!

Cats are also witches' best/only friends in the literature. Somehow in the Middle Ages, it seems, they went from being gods to being negative symbols.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Straysmommy said:


> This is a good point. Thinking about it, my lifelong fear and disgust of cats was influenced also by movies. Each day I'm confronted again with how wrong I used to be.


 Well this why it bothered me, because I think most all of our life long attitudes are influenced by Disney and other shows we watched as children. We are fortunate that we have cat or my grandson may grow up hating all cat. I wonder if Disney personally disliked cats.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

I guess Cinderella is on all weekend because my wife turned on the TV and there it was, again. My grandson immediately quit playing his game and started telling my wife all about how bad the cat was. At least he doesn't hate the cat as much as he dislikes the mean step mom. 

Well I can’t bare another performance, so I guess I’ll go out to the shop and make something. ;-)


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

Live Disney films as opposed to cartoon tended to be more positive - That Darn Cat, The Cat from Out Space, Incredible Journey....


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

Do you think part of the problem might be that Disney gave cats some human attibutes?

Anyway, a search for Disney and cats found this. Plug your ears unless you want " We are Siamese..." swirling around in your mind for the rest of the day (and maybe night). Seems that Disneyland has plenty of cats.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

jusjim said:


> Anyway, a search for Disney and cats found this. Plug your ears unless you want " We are Siamese..." swirling around in your mind for the rest of the day (and maybe night). Seems that Disneyland has plenty of cats.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcgx-rfEVTA


Nice Find! Thanks, my grandson loved it.


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Arianwen said:


> Live Disney films as opposed to cartoon tended to be more positive - That Darn Cat, The Cat from Out Space, Incredible Journey....


 I wonder if those movies where after Walt Disney. I don’t know when it when others made the decisions at Disney


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Tim Burton also portrays cats VERY negatively; frankenweenie and the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland immediately come to mind.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I think a lot of movies focus more on dogs... man's best friend, and to go with that the stereotype of cats and dogs being enemies comes up, and since the dog is the main character the cat plays the bad guy, or at least the character that doesn't out of their way to help.

There's also stuff like Tom and Jerry and Sylvester and Tweety where you see the cats always trying to catch and eat the cute characters.

Anyway, I'd go and rent Bolt if your grandson hasn't seen it. Quite highly rated movie, came out a couple of years ago, and _is by Disney_. There's a few plot holes that bug me, but overall like I said, I loved it. The dog and cat become great friends and it's also a movie adults can enjoy. If your grandson doesn't like cats, it's hard not to like the main cat in this and feel very sorry for her when she eventually reveals she's an abandoned cat.

Bolt ( 2008 ) - IMDb


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

Bolt looks familiar and I’ll have to ask my daughter if he has seen it. 

I think my grandson likes cats, they just don’t like him and he gets frustrated when they run from him.


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## tigre86 (Nov 3, 2012)

I think our culture is more to blame than Disney is. Just think of the attitude people have towards black cats...has nothing to do with Disney. There were bad cats in Disney movies but as others have pointed out, there were good cats too. Mice were usually good guys in Disney movies but I don't know a lot of people who have a positive attitude toward them, lol. I grew up on Disney movies but it never affected my attitude toward cats. I've been a cat lover since I was a little girl. Lucifer is one of my favorite characters in Cinderella though. He's hilarious. xD I think the cat as the bad guy in cartoons started with Tom and Jerry. I used to complain about the abundance of dog movies as a child, it's a shame that there still isn't a cartoon that features a cat as a hero (at least I don't think there is one).


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

I love the Aristocats! ..... I never realized that Disney has had more than one movie with bad cats in it. I did hate the cat in Cinderella and lady and the tramp.... :lol: stinky siameses being naughty! They made me laugh though.... "We are siamese if you please!" 


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

early disney had tommasina...but if you really want a bad film rap, try being a motorcyclist..


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Hahaha I thoroughly agree with that statement above ^^^ motorcyclists do have bad raps.... Especially groups that people like to call gangs even though most are NOT gangs..... 


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

I'm gonna keep going with this because I remember how much it used to make me mad because I dated a guy in one of those motorcycle clubs. Everyone called
them a gang and it was absolutely ridiculous because they were the complete opposite..... Honestly just a group of guys who loved to ride everyday. Well people saying they are a gang just because they like to ride is like someone calling all of us a cult because we sit here and talk about cats all day :lol: people's stupidity infuriates me. I always wanted to make cat vests and walk around in a group and see if people started saying I was in a gang because I like cats! Hahaha 


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Let's keep on topic with cats, please.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

I'd forgotten the Nine Lives of Tomasina!!


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

And the wonderful Cosmic Creepers in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"

"That Darn Cat" was even remade, I think - original was mid sixties but I think there was one in the mid 90s as well.


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

the incredible journey...(older one is better) and the cat from outer space (the mouse has been fairly even handed) plus a few movies about big cats, charlie the lonesome couger, run tiger run, black leopard, lion king,


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

i was mostly thinking about that darn cat ('67) and the three lives of thomasina ('64) but he also made a good movie about a tiger the same year: a tiger walks. not exactly a housecat but same family.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

If anyone is interested, Netflix just added a bunch of Disney movies. Including, Aristocats and The Great Mouse Detective for anyone that hasn't seen them. I'm watching them now and feeling a little nostalgic


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Oh my yes!! I second 3gatos! Netflix has added a lot of cute movies!! Fox and the Hound! Which I watched the other night! Makes me so sad  and they added Pocahontas and Dumbo too! 


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

For the longest time, I thought 'cat chases mouse,and dog chases cat'. So I was shocked when on a trip to the country,I saw cats and dogs getting along GREAT! Contrary to EVERY cartoon I'd seen,they were not natural enemies. Also I was surprised (and relieved) the time I encountered a bulldog who was the nicest guy on the block!


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## builder (Sep 2, 2012)

bluemilk said:


> For the longest time, I thought 'cat chases mouse,and dog chases cat'. So I was shocked when on a trip to the country,I saw cats and dogs getting along GREAT! Contrary to EVERY cartoon I'd seen,they were not natural enemies. Also I was surprised (and relieved) the time I encountered a bulldog who was the nicest guy on the block!


 You know I always thought the same thing. 

Mentioning the mouse reminds me of something I did when I was a kid when I found some money on the street. I was hungry at the time, so I went into the store close by to buy something. 

I looked at all the candy and remembered that I was told not to eat any candy before dinner. Then I spotted the cheese, wow I loved cheese and thought of all the cartoons of mice eating cheese. After looking at all the cheese, I just couldn’t figure out which cheese was for the mice and what was for people, so I bought a candy bar.


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