Oh Disney. You used to know what real entertainment was all about. And it included cats. Where's the feline entertainment factor these days? You don't see Miley Cyrus solving a mystery with a dashing tabby tomcat in todays films. Probably would improve her image, too. ANYWAY, I digress. The topic of today's post is The Cat From Outer Space (1978). It goes without saying that I love this movie. It is just
excellent. To break it down for you, a flying saucer crashes on planet earth and is confiscated by the government. Its pilot, a cat named Jake, wears a special collar that makes him able to telepathically communicate with humans. Jake enlists a scientist named Frank and his lady friend, Liz (Sandy Duncan, she of the Glass Eye that everyone who grew up when I did talked about on the playground, i.e. "Guess what? That Wheat Thins lady has a GLASS EYE! She can take it out and roll it around and put it back in!") to help him repair his ship and return to his planet. Hijinks ensue, especially when they figure out that what's needed to fix Jake's ship is GOLD! What is hilarious is, since it's 1978, the cat just wears this collar and speaks in the characters' heads. The collar lights up when he's talking, so you know what's going on, and he looks vaguely in the direction of the person he's talking to, but not always. I'm sure if it was modern times they would make some sort of cheesy CGI mouth for him, bu
t I like it better the old way. He's a real cat! (Actually two cats acted in the film, a brother and sister named Rumpler and Amber. Rumpler is a good name!) And real cats don't always like to be held, as you can see from the switching tail and general irritated demeanor he has whenever Frank picks him up. Also, Jake claims without that collar that he'd be an ordinary cat, but if that's true, how did his "people" invent the collar in the first place? Perplexing indeed. Nevertheless, a diverting tale with a cat as its main character is never to be missed. Including the scene where there's a little alien cat assisted pool table betting. And Roddy McDowall. And a mouse named Drexel. So watch it and absorb all that felis domesticus has to offer the silver screen.
Oh Disney. You used to know what real entertainment was all about. And it included cats. Where's the feline entertainment factor these days? You don't see Miley Cyrus solving a mystery with a dashing tabby tomcat in todays films. Probably would improve her image, too. ANYWAY, I digress. The topic of today's post is The Cat From Outer Space (1978). It goes without saying that I love this movie. It is just excellent. To break it down for you, a flying saucer crashes on planet earth and is confiscated by the government. Its pilot, a cat named Jake, wears a special collar that makes him able to telepathically communicate with humans. Jake enlists a scientist named Frank and his lady friend, Liz (Sandy Duncan, she of the Glass Eye that everyone who grew up when I did talked about on the playground, i.e. "Guess what? That Wheat Thins lady has a GLASS EYE! She can take it out and roll it around and put it back in!") to help him repair his ship and return to his planet. Hijinks ensue, especially when they figure out that what's needed to fix Jake's ship is GOLD! What is hilarious is, since it's 1978, the cat just wears this collar and speaks in the characters' heads. The collar lights up when he's talking, so you know what's going on, and he looks vaguely in the direction of the person he's talking to, but not always. I'm sure if it was modern times they would make some sort of cheesy CGI mouth for him, bu
t I like it better the old way. He's a real cat! (Actually two cats acted in the film, a brother and sister named Rumpler and Amber. Rumpler is a good name!) And real cats don't always like to be held, as you can see from the switching tail and general irritated demeanor he has whenever Frank picks him up. Also, Jake claims without that collar that he'd be an ordinary cat, but if that's true, how did his "people" invent the collar in the first place? Perplexing indeed. Nevertheless, a diverting tale with a cat as its main character is never to be missed. Including the scene where there's a little alien cat assisted pool table betting. And Roddy McDowall. And a mouse named Drexel. So watch it and absorb all that felis domesticus has to offer the silver screen. 
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