Cats & Dogs

Cats & Dogs is a 2001 American-Australian live action/animated western spy action-comedy film. The film was directed by Lawrence Guterman with screenplay by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, and stars Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock. The story centers on the relationships between cats and dogs, depicting the relationship as an intense rivalry in which both sides use organizations and tactics that mirror those used in human espionage. It was shot in Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada as well as at Warner Bros. Studios. It was released on July 4, 2001 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Zide/Perry Productions, and Rhythm and Hues Studios. The film received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $200,687,492 on a $60 million budget.

Plot
Carolyn Brody and her son Scotty return home, and the family's BloodhoundBuddy starts chasing a cat, a chase which ends with Buddy's capture by other cats in an ambush. After an Anatolian Shepherd dog named Butch reports Buddy's capture to his superiors, the best canine agents are dispatched to complete the mission by preventing cats from making all humans allergic to dogs.

At a local farm, a handful of Beagle puppies mock a younger puppy, who wants to be free. The younger puppy tries an escape, but he fails. A group of young Doberman puppies, all of them trained dog agents, led by a large Doberman Pinscher appear, round up the Beagle puppies and force them into hiding underground. Caroline comes into the puppy pen and she selects the younger puppy who was forgotten by the Dobermans. She decides to adopt him and takes him home, naming him Lou after Scotty sarcastically suggests the name "Loser".

After detonating an explosive trap meant for Lou, Butch shows Lou the network that the dog agents use, then takes him to meet some more agents: Peek, a Chinese Crested Dog who works in an underground tube and has surveillance and communications equipment; and Sam, who is an Old English Sheepdog. Having mistaken Lou for a trained dog agent, Butch raises his concerns to his superiors, but is unsuccessful. Lou is then briefed on the origins of the war between cats and dogs, which apparently dates all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Butch also mentions that Buddy escaped from the cats and retired from the spy business, living life in a condominium in Boca.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tinkles, a white Persian cat, plans to conquer the world by making all humans allergic to dogs with Professor Charles Brody's research on a cure for dog allergies. He is briefly interrupted by Sophie the Maid who needs to dress him upon seeing the comatose Mr. Mason. Tinkles then tells his sidekick Calico, an Exotic Shorthair, to send in the ninja cats he hired to steal the research. He sends in the Devon Rex ninjas but Lou foils the theft. Lou then meets a former agent and Butch's ex-sweetheart and girlfriend named Ivy, a Saluki who belly scratches him and encourages him to have fun and play with Scotty.

With his first plan stopped, Mr. Tinkles dispatches a Russian Blue mercenary, whose name is Diemitir Kennelkoff, to steal the research. After Kennelkoff tricks Lou, he places a bomb on the lab door. Butch and Lou enter the house through the window, but Peek and Sam are trapped outside after Lou knocks the window prop away. Kennelkoff briefly battles Lou and Butch, damaging the Brodys' house in the process. Eventually, Butch disables the bomb, but Kennelkoff holds out a remote that will detonate the bomb and laughs until the lab door opens and hits him. Kennelkoff is then captured and interrogated. The agent tells the gang that they pumped a few things out of Kennelkoff's stomach, including a note written by Mr. Tinkles.

After an incident involving Lou playing with Scotty, Charles's machine finally gets the positive combinations for the formula. As Mr. Tinkles and Calico overhear Charles's success, they decide to spring a trap for the Brodys. Mr. Tinkles travels to a Christmas tree flocking plant and sends the employees home. Later, the cats capture the Brodys after sending tickets to an exhibition game between Uruguay and Chad to the Brodys.

While trying to decipher Mr. Tinkles's location, the dogs are obviously unaware that the Brodys have been led into a trap and kidnapped by Tinkles. After receiving a video from the cat demanding Mr. Brody's research as a ransom, the dogs from around the world assemble at a meeting run by the Mastiff. When the dogs are unable to give up the formula after the meeting of the world's dogs, Lou angrily confronts Butch for not helping him. After explaining that his owner left him with his grandmother as soon as he went to college, Butch decides to leave Lou behind. Lou brings Mr. Tinkles the research, but the cats steal it. After Butch realizes what happened with Lou, they, along with Ivy, stage an ambush of Mr. Tinkles' factory where the latter plans to use mice to spread the now mass-produced allergy to dogs. While Butch, Ivy, Peek and Sam fight Tinkles's cat forces, Lou frees the Brodys and Calico (who was betrayed by Tinkles), revealing he can speak in the process. Lou defeats Tinkles and rescues Butch, but the claw of the excavator hits his head and a flocking tank, resulting in the factory's destruction. Butch rescues Lou and he tells him he was right about everything, but the puppy is unconscious and seems to be dead. After a few hurtful moments of sadness and sorrow, Lou suddenly awakens, and all rejoice. Lou decides to be a normal canine and not a secret agent yet, but one day he will be when he is a full-grown beagle.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tinkles is sent to live with Sophie and her three sisters, who dress him in hilariously ridiculous girly outfits as punishment.

Cast

 * Jeff Goldblum as Professor Charles Brody
 * Elizabeth Perkins as Mrs. Carolyn Brody
 * Alexander Pollock as Scotty Brody
 * Miriam Margolyes as Sophie the Maid

Voice cast

 * Tobey Maguire as Lou (Louis) a Beagle, who lives with the Brody family
 * Alec Baldwin as Butch, an experienced field agent and Lou's mentor
 * Sean Hayes as Mr. Tinkles, leader of the cat agents who wants to defeat the dogs and rule the world
 * Susan Sarandon as Ivy, a "domestically challenged" former dog agent Lou meets when he trains to be an agent, who has a history with Butch
 * Charlton Heston as The Mastiff, the leader of the dog agents
 * Jon Lovitz as Calico, Mr. Tinkles' second in command
 * Joe Pantoliano as Peek, a dog agent a Chinese Crested Dog
 * Michael Clarke Duncan as Sam, a dog agent an Old English Sheepdog
 * Billy West as Ninja Cat #1
 * Danny Mann as Ninja Cat #2
 * Glenn Ficarra as Diemitir Kennelkoff / The Russian, a Russian blue agent sent to set off an explosive device at Professor Brody's lab
 * Paul Pape as Wolf Blitzer of CNN
 * Charles Howerton as German Shepherd at HQ (uncredited)
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Puppy at Barn (uncredited)
 * John Michael Higgins as Ginger Kitten (uncredited)

Production
The Brody house was filmed at an actual house: 1661 W 45th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia. Butch's house was also filmed at an actual house: 6238 Churchill Street, Vancouver, British Columbia. The soccer stadium was filmed at the Pacific Coliseum. Mr. Mason's house was filmed at Craigdarroch Castle, in Victoria, British Columbia. Other scenes were filmed at Playland (PNE).

The rest of the film was shot at the bat cave in Burbank, California. Lou's doghouse was Stage 1, Mr. Mason's office and the interior of the tree flocking factory was Stage 2, and the international meeting with the dogs was Stage 3. Parts of the Brody house were filmed on the studio backlot.

Release
Cats & Dogs was released with the classic Looney Tunes short "Chow Hound" which was also seen in the movie itself."[citation needed]

Home media release
Cats & Dogs was released on VHS and DVD on October 16, 2001.

Soundtrack
Cats & Dogs is a 2001 soundtrack on this film by composer John Debney.

Critical reception and box office
Cats & Dogs received mixed reviews from movie critics. It has a 54% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based upon 115 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5 out of 10.[2] Metacritic, which uses an aggregate rating system, collected an average score of 47/100, based upon 26 reviews.[3] The Washington Post's Jane Horwitz gave the film a positive review, calling it "[a] surprisingly witty and sophisticated spy movie spoof that will tickle adult pet lovers and still capture kids 6 and older with its boy-and-his-dog love story and pet slapstick."[4] In contrast, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote "Irritating, childish and more frantic than funny, Cats & Dogs does manage some few pleasant moments, but they are not worth waiting for."

When released on Independence Day 2001, the movie opened at #1, beating out Scary Movie 2 as it grossed $21,707,617 on a $7,140 average from 3,040 theaters. It however would lose 44% of its gross the next week, as it grabbed the #3 spot its second weekend grossing $12,033,590, falling behind Legally Blondeand The Score. The film grossed $93 million domestically, and $107 million overseas for a total of $200 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

Awards and nominations
Cats & Dogs was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Feature Film (Comedy) and Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (Alexander Pollock). John Debney won the ASCAP Award for his musical contribution to this film as well as The Princess Diaries and Spy Kids.

Heston received the 2001 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his involvement in three films that year, including his role as The Mastiff.

Sequel
Main article: Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

A sequel titled Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore entered production in September 2008 under the direction of Brad Peyton and was released on July 30, 2010. Michael Clarke Duncan, Joe Pantoliano, and Sean Hayes reprise their roles as Sam, Peek, and Mr. Tinkles while Nick Nolte and Wallace Shawn replace Alec Baldwin and Jon Lovitz as Butch and Calico; and Charlton Heston, who voiced The Mastiff from the first film, died from pneumonia on April 5, 2008. In this film, Lou is now an adult and is voiced by Neil Patrick Harris. James Marsden, Christina Applegate, and Bette Midler voice new characters named Diggs, Catherine, and Kitty Galore.