Review: The Cat from Outer Space (DMC #68)
What if you could hear your pet’s thoughts? What if your pet was actually from a highly advanced extraterrestrial society? This week’s film, The Cat from Outer Space, explores those very concepts! This is the sixty-eighth film in our Disnerd Movie Challenge. As always, you can find our synopsis below if you are unfamiliar with the story. For the rest of you, scroll on down for our review!
Synopsis
A UFO makes an emergency landing on earth so that its pilot, a cat, can make repairs before reuniting with the mothership. Before the cat can even inspect the damage, the U.S. military arrives on the scene and confiscates the spacecraft without giving any notice to the cat. The cat uses its supernatural powers to stow away aboard one of the military’s vehicles. At the military base, the cat watches as various military authorities and scientists try to discover the origin of the spacecraft. Mr. Stallwood is kicked out of a meeting room before the general reveals the ship’s mysterious floating power source and demands the scientists in the room hypothesize how the power source works. One of the scientists, Liz, suggests they bring in Dr. Frank Wilson who’s on loan from CalTech. Frank hypothesizes that the primal mainstream is responsible for the power source, and the cat perks up—finally a human who knows what they’re talking about! The military is less enthused, however, and kick out Frank for his jokes and seemingly crackpot theories. The cat follows Frank to his lab and Frank decides to name the cat Jake. Meanwhile, Mr. Stallwood, acting as a spy for a mysterious Mr. Olympus, makes a call to his boss to report on the secret meeting and then secretly follows one of the military men out of the building. Back at Frank’s lab, Liz shows up to express her frustration with Frank for making her look like a fool for endorsing him. However, as their conversation continues, it’s clear both scientists are awkwardly trying to flirt with each other. They set a date for dinner that night. After Liz leaves, Jake uses his power of thought transference to tell Frank that he thinks Liz is into him, and that he needs Frank’s help repairing his spaceship. He also reveals that it’s his collar that allows him the ability to communicate with Frank and the ability to manipulate objects around him (which he demonstrates by making musical instruments in the lab play music of their own accord).
Frank takes Jake to his apartment where the two reach a deal: Frank will help Jake repair his spaceship, and in return Jake will share his knowledge with Frank to further advance his research. Jake even lets Frank try out the collar, but he warns Frank that without the collar Jake is no different from an ordinary house cat. Frank’s neighbor and coworker, Norman Link, barges into the apartment to use Frank’s TV to watch the basketball game which he’s bet money on. Jake uses his collar to score a basket for Link’s team so he can get Link to leave sooner. Once they get rid of Link, though, Liz shows up with her cat, Lucybelle, expecting to meet Frank for their dinner date. Jake pretends to be sick so he and Frank can head to the military base and Frank suggests they do a picnic the next day instead. At the base, Mr. Stallwood notices Frank and Jake sneaking onto the base and follows them. Jake uses his collar to temporarily freeze one of the guards and his dog so they can sneak into the hangar where his spaceship is being held. Once inside, Jake loans Frank the spare collar from his spaceship and the two set to work running diagnostics on the spaceship. Just as they discover what’s wrong, the guards sound the alarm and Frank and Jake are forced to escape—but they don’t realize that Mr. Stallwood saw Frank flying while using the collar. Back at the apartment, Frank runs some equations. It turns out Jake will need $120,000 worth of gold in order to repair the spaceship—he can’t afford that! Just then, Link arrives, this time to watch the horse races. Jake gets an idea—they should bet money and use Jake’s collar to rig games to their advantage so they can make $120,000. To demonstrate, Jake uses his powers to cause the horse Sweet Jake to come in first after starting dead last. Frank doesn’t know the first thing about betting, though, so they decide to bring Link in on their scheme. However, as Frank explains everything to Link, he doesn’t notice Mr. Stallwood video recording the entire conversation and Jake’s demonstrations from outside the apartment window. Back at the hangar, the military discovers fingerprints, fur, and paw prints all over the spacecraft and identify Frank. Rather than bringing him in right away, they decide to follow him, expecting him to lead them to the leader of the operation. The next day, Frank, Link, and Jake watch the football games with Jake aiding as needed to ensure the teams’ wins go their way, but Liz interrupts—she’s returned with Lucybelle, expecting to go for the picnic they agreed upon. Jake once again feigns illness, so Liz insists on calling upon the downstairs neighbor who happens to be a vet. She brings him to the apartment, and with the men distracted by the football game, the vet sedates Jake. Without Jake’s powers to help them win their bet, Frank and Link grab the unconscious cat and hurry to the pool hall to meet with Earnest Ernie to cancel their bet, explaining everything to Liz along the way.
At the pool hall, military officers disguised as milk men watch as Frank, Link, Liz, and the cat enter the pool hall. Inside, Ernie refuses to cancel the bet, but he says they can try to break even by playing a game of pool. They agree, with Liz set to play (she’s given the highest odds) and Frank planning to use Jake’s collar to force the win, only Frank completely bungles it and Liz loses the game before she even gets a second turn. Jake finally wakes up and the team convinces him to win the next game for them as they bet their last dollars against ridiculous odds. Liz, blindfolded, manages to win (with Jake’s assistance) and they gleefully collect their $120,000 winnings and leave. Meanwhile, Mr. Olympus watches the footage Mr. Stallwood collected—he must have that collar for himself. Back at the hangar, the military’s computer confirms that the hair they found in the UFO belongs to a cat just as they get a call that Frank just made a large purchase of gold. They realize that Frank had a cat with him. Back at Frank’s apartment, the military breaks in to arrest Frank and the cat, but Jake freezes them while he uses his powers to reduce the giant gold bar into the small size he needs for his spaceship. Frank steals the general’s uniform so he can sneak back onto the base. After Frank and Jake say goodbye to Liz, Lucybelle, and Link, Mr. Olympus pulls up and kidnaps Liz and Lucybelle. At the military base, Frank and Jake manage to clear the hangar and Jake begins the countdown sequence, but Link arrives to tell them that Liz and Lucybelle have been kidnapped and are demanding Jake’s collar. Though Frank insists Jake leave now before he’s stuck on Earth forever, Jake sends the ship off without him and instead joins Frank and Link to meet Mr. Stallwood and Mr. Olympus. On the way, the general and his men notice them driving away and call in police and military reinforcements to give chase. At the airport, Mr. Olympus and his men sit in a waiting helicopter with Liz and Lucybelle where Mr. Olympus reveals to Mr. Stallwood that he doesn’t intend to release Liz—she knows too much. When the police and military arrive behind Frank, the villains take off in their helicopter. Jake uses his collar to make a beat-up old airplane fly and he and Frank take off after the helicopter. However, during the chase, one of the men inside the helicopter accidentally shoots the controls, forcing them to abandon the craft—but there aren’t enough parachutes. Liz and Lucybelle are left in the disabled copter, but Frank and Jake quickly come to their aid to rescue them before the helicopter crashes to the ground. The villains are left dangling from their parachute strings in the wilderness. A few days later, Jake officially becomes a U.S. citizen with Frank as his sponsor.
Thoughts Before Watching
Megan: Now that we’re entering the era after Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, brace yourselves for a rush of really bad sci-fi movies. Granted, I’m just guessing these next few Disney sci-fi films will be bad given that their titles have been largely forgotten while the Star Wars legacy lives on. For this film, I’ve never seen it before and I’m not expecting too much. I like cats, and I generally enjoy sci-fi stories, but I’m not getting my hopes up with this one.
Kevin: I’m a bit apprehensive about this one. I’m sorry to any dedicated science fiction fans, but I just don’t get the appeal of some of these ‘70s/’80s sci-fi films. After the success of Star Wars, it seemed like other studios tried to emulate that film’s success. I’m not sure when production on The Cat from Outer Space began, but I am curious to see if this film made the mistake of thinking the reason folks loved films like Star Wars so much was because it was in outer space (hint: that wasn’t the reason). Anyway, apprehension aside, I don’t know much about this movie, though I basically understand the premise. I know I’ve seen it before. I have a few flashes here and there, such as the cat’s spaceship looking like it has large green eyes and remembering that the cat can cause people to fly. At this moment, my only real interest in this movie is that it has a cat; I already adore that cat. I also know that Sandy Duncan is in this. I just hope she was given a better role after the way Disney did her dirty in Million Dollar Duck.
Thoughts After Watching
Too much chase scene!
Megan: I’m sure the filmmakers were pretty proud of themselves for the airplane vs. helicopter chase sequences and all the stunt work involved, but it all went on way too long! Just like the chase sequences in the Herbie films, or the chase at the end of Escape to Witch Mountain, we didn’t really need to see every single step of the airborne chase sequence. It started to lose momentum a few minutes into it, and because it went on so long, it became painfully obvious that the cats were stuffed animal props instead of real animals in certain scenes (which, of course, I’m glad they didn’t traumatize real cats with having them in a floating cockpit either truly in the air or in some soundstage somewhere). If the scenes had been shorter with less back and forth between clips with the real cats and clips with the fake cats, I might not have noticed, but because I started getting bored with the sequences I began looking at other details in the shots outside the central action—and there were the fake cat props. The props aside, the tension of the scene also got lost as the sequence dragged on. All we needed to see was a quick setup of the danger, and then a quick (though perilous) rescue. Perhaps audiences enjoyed this sequence more when the film came out, but after seeing the action movies of today it definitely didn’t interest me as a viewer.
Jake is the best part of the film
Kevin: Probably to the surprise of no one who has been following our blog long enough, Jake (whose Earth name is far better than Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7) is the most entertaining part of this film. And yet, it’s not as if Jake does much to win over our hearts except just be himself…a cat. I have to wonder just how much training the cat went through. According to D23, Jake was played by twin Abyssinian cats named Rumple and Amber, while his voice was provided by Ronnie Schell (who also plays Sergeant Duffy, the low ranking officer who keeps having to obey all the orders of his commanding officers). I couldn’t find anything that went into the kind of training the twin cats went through to make this film, but I also find that I don’t need to know, if only because I also tend to dislike how often animals are made to do things in films, especially when they look downright traumatizing. Honestly, there were many moments where I imagine the cats were not trained, but simply just acted as cats do and the filmmakers managed to get good camera shots. Still, there were other moments that were obviously scripted in the sense that the cats were following commands. I’m just pleased that “Jake” never appeared to be in any real danger. Overall, it’s incredibly endearing to me that Jake, who could have easily decided he wanted to get back to the mothership, ultimately finds family with Frank and chooses to stay on Earth. I imagine there is so much he can do with his technology and knowledge. Also, I have to say that it is nice to see Jake is not written like a typical extraterrestrial who starts off robotic in personality and slowly becomes more interesting. From the outset we see Jake has a personality. He is feisty and even a bit annoyed by humans, but even Jake is not immune to positive emotions. I mean, he does fall for Lucybelle, which is just an absurdly adorable side plot that I will admit I gushed over. Frank, Lily, Link, and pretty much all the other humans are boring in comparison, so I’m pleased that our main character is fun at the very least. But then, I love cats, so I may be biased!
The female predicament
Megan: This film offers a bit of a mixed bag when we look at the lone female character, Liz. On the upside, she’s a female scientist, and there are so few media representations of women in STEM fields that I do want to commend this film for including one. The downside: she’s the only one. This leads to a few different problems: (1) this film fails the Bechdel test because Liz has no other female to talk to (she never even talks directly to her cat), and (2) because Liz is the only female in a sea of male scientists and soldiers, she’s belittled by her male colleagues. Now, in regards to the second point, Liz didn’t have to be belittled for being the only female scientist in the room. This was a deliberate choice by the filmmakers. Instead of showing that Liz was incredibly capable, brilliant, respected by her male colleagues, and top in her field (as she would have to be to have been invited into that top secret meeting in the first place), the film makes Liz look like someone who doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She stammers when trying to offer a theory to the general, and she berates Frank for making her look like a fool for endorsing him. We see Liz as someone who is still trying to prove she belongs in the room, even though she’s already been invited to the room. She’s not really a strong character for girls to aspire to be. In fact, quite the opposite—Liz seems to be an argument for how hard it is for women to be seen as equals in a male-dominated field.
Megan: Another downside? Liz and her cat Lucybelle unfortunately fall into the damsel-in-distress trope. When you look at the film as a whole, the role of these female characters is really to create some object of desire for both Frank and Jake so that the villain has something to barter with in exchange for Jake’s collar. Think about it: what valuable contributions to Liz or Lucybelle offer otherwise? If we took them out of the movie, would the story still be able to continue? Short answer: yes. The only valuable contribution Liz offers is that, as a woman, she is underestimated by Ernie and his guys, so she’s given higher odds than Frank or Link, which makes it easier for them to win the $120K. That’s it: her innate femininity. Not her talent. Not her intelligence. Just being female. (Not to mention that she casually mentions she has a black belt and yet never once is given opportunity to use said skills.) However, if we were to remove Liz from the movie, she also wouldn’t have been indirectly responsible for sedating Jake in the first place, so the guys’ gambling plan could have gone off without a hitch. Also, if Liz weren’t in the movie she couldn’t have been held for ransom by the villains. In contrast, if we decided to get rid of one of the male side characters like Link, there’d be a bigger impact on the film. Without Link, Frank and Jake wouldn’t have decided that betting was their best option to quickly get $120K. Without Frank, Jake might not have found a reputable scientist to help him get home. Without Jake, well, there wouldn’t be much of a story without the cat from outer space.
Kevin: Something that caught my attention after we finished watching this was the description on the Disney Plus preview page. The description has Liz as Frank’s “girlfriend.” With everything Megan pointed out, it’s rather disappointing (although not surprising) that this is the description Disney Plus chose to go with. The movie description does nothing to suggest Liz is a fellow scientist like Frank; instead, she is noted as just his girlfriend and nothing more. The problem is that even though Liz isn’t the main character, we once again see filmmakers’ habit of devaluing women and the accomplishments they bring to the table. Granted, since Liz is written as someone whose only value is being a woman, can we really be surprised? Liz could have been written as a stronger female character, but as Megan said, Liz is written to be more of a joke that can’t be taken seriously. Look, I get that Sandy Duncan is a comedian, but does her comedy have to make her look inept in front of men? I’ll say this much for this film; it did give Sandy Duncan a better role than Million Dollar Duck, but that is not saying much.
Maybe sci-fi and comedy just don’t mix?
Kevin: We have now watched several films in the Disney catalog that combine science fiction with comedy. Or rather, they are predominantly comedies that use science fiction elements. Some of the films have been entertaining (though not worth re-watching) while others have been mediocre and still others have been terrible. The Cat from Outer Space, even with all its cutesy cat moments, falls just as flat as many films that came before it. I definitely don’t think this was an attempt by Disney to emulate Star Wars, but it does seem like Disney just took another formulaic comedy, dressed it up in a sci-fi suit since it was popular at the time, and called it good. Of course, they went really heavy on the outer space/alien gimmick, at least compared to other films, but strangely enough they didn’t seem to go heavy enough. This film apparently gets compared to E.T. quite often, and I can see why. The premises are similar insofar as an alien lands on Earth and (at least initially) tries to get back home, but that seems to be about it. The difference is that E.T. wasn’t afraid to up the science fiction elements. This movie, on the other hand, appears to have been thought of first as a comedy, then as a sci-fi adventure. I think this could have been better had it toned down the comedy a bit and upped the sci-fi part of the plot a bit more. Personally, I would have liked to see Jake leave Earth and return to his home, if only just because it would have given the film some emotional resonance. Like others that came before it, The Cat from Outer Space doesn’t quite seem to know who its audience is. Is this an out-of-this-world tale about life out there in the unknown? Or is it another overdone slapstick adventure with the same beaten down formula that has been plaguing Disney’s recent string of live-action films in this challenge? Unfortunately, I think this is very much the latter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not saying this should have outright been a sci-fi film. As I said before, I appreciate that Jake was not the stereotypical monotonous alien creature many sci-fi films use, but I also think all of the outer space elements were completely wasted here.