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The Cat Came Back (1988 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Cat Came Back' is a 1988 Canadian animated film by Canadian director Cordell Barker, produced by fellow award-winning animator Richard Condie in Winnipeg for the National Film Board of Canada. It is based on the children's song "The Cat Came Back" by Harry S. Miller. It was in theaters with Disney's 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.
In May 2017, the NFB and Canadian publisher Firefly Books adapted the film as a children's book.[https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Came-Back-Cordell-Barker/dp/1770859292 Amazon.com: Books]
Plot
The film portrays the increasingly desperate efforts of the elderly Mr. Johnson to rid himself of a small yet extremely troublesome yellow cat that will not leave his home. He first tries to leave the cat in the woods only to get lost himself. An attempt to drown it at sea ends in him nearly drowning. He then tries to send the cat away in a hot air balloon, but winds up getting dragged into the sky himself when he cuts the balloon free. For his fourth attempt, Mr. Johnson tries to take it away on a pump trolley, running over many damsels in distress and even a cow tied to the train tracks until he hits a bug crossing the railroad track, causing the trolley to jump the rails and send him plummeting into an abandoned mine where he is attacked by rats, snakes and bats. Not only does the cat find its way back each time, but it becomes increasingly destructive after each attempt until Mr. Johnson finally has enough and tries to blow up the cat with a large pile of dynamite only to blow himself up instead when he accidentally lights his hair on fire. Thinking himself finally rid of the cat, Mr. Johnson's spirit proceeds to tease his foe when his human remains fall on top of it, killing it and releasing all nine of its lives to bedevil Mr. Johnson for all eternity.
Voice cast
* Richard Condie as Mr. Johnson
Reception and legacy
The film garnered over 15 awards, including a Genie Award for Best Animated Short, as well as an Academy Award nomination, but lost to the Pixar short 'Tin Toy'. It was also chosen for inclusion in animation historian Jerry Beck's '50 Greatest Cartoons', placing at #32. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows.[https://www.animationshowofshows.com/products/the-cat-came-back-by-cordell-barker The Cat Came Back, by Cordell Barker-Animation Show of Shows]
Mr. Johnson and the cat were later used in two adverts for Hula Hoops, with one of the ads having to been found surfacing on YouTube.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Ig8ftCQG0 Hula Hoops - The Cat Came Back - Volcano (1991, UK)-The Hall of Advertising on YouTube][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wntQ7mSvMDw Hula Hoops - The Cat Came Back - Shark (1991, UK)The Hall of Advertising on YouTube]
References
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