That Darn Cat (1997): The ’90s Disney Remake That Turned a Cat Into a Detective

A sassy cat leads a small-town FBI chase in the ’90s comedy caper That Darn Cat (1997).

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That Darn Cat (1997)

Walt Disney Productions is now synonymous with animation, but during the 1960s, its primary focus was live-action family films. The studio system’s practices of actors signing multi-picture deals with one company were starting to wane, with That Darn Cat! (1965) completing the six-picture deal child actor Hayley Mills had with the studio, following the success of her debut film, Pollyanna (1960). In the 1990s, following the Disney Renaissance that fueled a shift toward animation, the company wanted to prove its prowess in live-action filmmaking. Seemingly convinced that remaking some of their most popular films would guarantee success, they modernized classics like The Absent Minded Professor (1991) with Flubber (1997), gave live-action updates to The Jungle Book (1967 & 1994) and 101 Dalmatians (1961 & 1996), and revisited two of Hayley Mills’ blockbusters, The Parent Trap (1961 & 1998) and That Darn Cat! for a new generation. 

Early Reception

That Darn Cat (1997) was not well-received despite having all the makings of a bonafide classic. Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today wrote, “The script trips all over itself to be hip and flip before it takes a desperate dip into utter conventionality: dull car chases, explosions, inept slapstick.” Mal Vincent of The Virginian Post gave the film two stars. Fearing it would send a negative message to children at home, he wrote, “Of questionable taste is a running gag in which tires are regularly punctured and automobiles vandalized (possibly suggesting to young audiences that this is a routine thing).” There is nothing like a moral panic inspired by a children’s movie to get the blood pumping!

Christina Ricci starred as Patti Randall; she was already a household name thanks to Mermaids (1990), The Addams Family (1991), Casper (1995), and Now and Then (1995). Bess Armstrong of My So-Called Life (1994) played her mother. And after Disney’s financial successes with Cool Runnings (1993) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), they brought in Doug E. Doug to play Agent Zeke Kelso, a role given to Dean Jones in the 1965 version (who also has a minor cameo in the remake). Also updated was the casting of DC (which stands for “Darn Cat”), who was a mixed-breed despite the original film using a Seal Point Siamese. This change upset some hardcore fans of the original.

Perhaps it was sour grapes from fans holding the original near and dear to their heart, feeling less-than-represented by the new film, but children found great joy in That Darn Cat regardless of the critical reception. The Disney Channel, looking for supplemental material between their original programming, played the film ad nauseam, establishing this adaptation of the novel Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon as their version. With an increase in moments of slapstick comedy, sound-effects heavy audio jokes, and a more sardonic Patti to reflect the growing trend of intellectual and apathetic teen girl protagonists of the 1990s—That Darn Cat resonated with the young millennials and teenage Gen Xers coming of age and looking for their cat-led adventure to save them from the droll existence of small-town living. 

Patti Randall is a shining example of the “Not Like Most Girl” heroine, a girl too cool, edgy, intelligent, bored, and devil-may-care to relate to anyone in her community. She is not a total shrew, though. Patti has a kind heart and a willingness to do the right thing, even when the adults around her are unwilling to listen. At the start of the film, Patti presents a critical poem she wrote about her quiet Massachusetts hometown of Edgefield in front of her class, inspiring her teacher to ask her if there is anything about Edgefield she likes. “I like my cat,” Patti replies, echoing the sentiments of every teen witch with an animal familiar in history. While Patti is decidedly not a witch, by playing the token goth girl in town, she effectively fills a similar role as Sabrina Spellman of Sabrina the Teenage Witch or Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service. Perhaps casting DC as a black cat would have been too on-the-nose, even for Disney.

DC

The story kicks into high gear when DC inadvertently stumbles upon a hostage situation in Edgefield, crossing paths with the kidnapped maid of a wealthy Boston couple who have hidden out in the sleepy town where law enforcement officials are bumbling fools with badges whose biggest stressor on any given day is rescuing a cat from a tree. DC finds the maid on his nightly adventure throughout Edgefield, where it sees a side of the town that no one else sees. The butchy butcher is a glamorous femme fatale with a crush on a security officer, the older couple who owns the candy shop are up to some hijinks, the dueling mechanics are sabotaging each other’s vehicles, and the sweet older lady who depends on her neighbors to do her grocery shopping stays up all night making crank calls to antagonize the community. There is a lot more adventure in Edgefield, after all. 

As is the case in the original film, DC is given a watch with the word “HELP” written on the back, with the “P” incomplete, making the word look like “HEll.” As a mouthy and sardonic teenager, Patti has no problem saying the word, much to her mother’s chagrin. A swear word being an essential part of the plot in a family-friendly film adds an edge to the story that could only be accepted by general audiences if associated with a cat person. Had Patti been a girl with a bird or, heaven forbid, a hamster, Disney audiences might not have been on board. For whatever reason, be it culturally or societally, we accept cats as the edgier, sassier animals of the pet kingdom. It is hard not to think of the cat in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) or the Robot Chicken sketch “Cats are Jerks,” which has since spawned a culture of cat video compilations on social media of cats getting into mischief. If any animal were going to get away with wearing a curse word around their neck in a Disney movie, it would be DC.

DC may be a “darn cat,” but it is also an extension of familiar cat tropes: a tom cat (has a girlfriend), a prowler (gets into hijinks), a cat burglar (is a bit of a thief), and the leader in a game of cat and mouse (is in constant pursuit). Patti may be DC’s companion, but her parents, too, are cat fanatics. Her mother wears cat-inspired accessories, and she convinces her family to see a local production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats to get them out of the house. Also, the climax features a cat show run by the Randall’s with an honored guest appearance by a man famous for his brand of pet food. Agent Kelso slinks around Edgefield pretending to see things from DC’s perspective. His fellow FBI agents prank him by putting a cat mask over a painting of his father in his office and using cat puns whenever talking about the case. Is it a bit overkill? Perhaps. But this is a film looking to impress pre-teens and their guardians.

It is also worth pointing out that everyone in Edgefield knows DC and even asks Patti where the cat is when not in tow. Even when DC gets into hijinks (like eating the meat hanging from Lu’s butcher shop), the locals view the animal as endearing. Patti and DC are soulmates because, as much as their behavior is obnoxious or unpleasant, the locals love them just as they are.

Patti, DC, and Agent Kelso rescue the maid and save the day; they are all hailed as heroes. Patti’s classmates, who initially found her strange, suddenly start wearing black leather jackets, emulating her look and wanting to be more like her. We can only hope this means that everyone in town will become a cat person. After all, Patti could not have saved the day without that darn cat.

This essay on That Darn Cat (1997) was previously published in the book Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies.

About the author

BJ COLANGELO is an entertainment journalist and film theorist working out of Los Angeles, California, by way of the Midwest. Her work has been featured in magazines like Fangoria, Birth. Movies. Death., HorrorHound, Creature Features, and Delirium, as well as the books When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children, Crazy Bitches, Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks, and Haunted Reels. Online, her work has appeared on Vulture, Playboy, Bloody Disgusting, Dread Central, Daily Dead, Bitch Flicks, Autostraddle, and Day of the Woman. She is also the co-host of the popular coming-of-age film podcast This Ends at Prom with her wife, Harmony, and The Wives Colangelo recently authored the book Sleepaway Camp with DieDieBooks. You can find her on social media @bjcolangelo.

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