Tags
cats, Cinderella, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, Lady and the Tramp, Lucifer, pet peeve, Scary Fun, Si and Am, stereotype, Villains, Walt Disney
Cats and Their Bad Press in Fiction
Have you ever wondered why cats are often portrayed as villains, the thug, or evil — or minions of evil — in fiction and film … even cartoons? There’s Lucifer, the villain cat in Walt Disney’s Cinderella and Si and Am in Lady and the Tramp. Those are two of the happiest movies ever. And the cats are villains! Don’t even get me started on the old Tom and Jerry cartoons.
You’ll hardly ever see a main cat character like this:
No. It’s usually something more like this:
This time of year especially brings out the negative imagery for our feline friends. What with Halloween’s stereotypical witches and black cat companions. [images from morguefile.com]
So…I was thrilled when I found the following montage spoof on “scary cat” scenes in movies.
Scary Cat Montage
What’s your “fictional” pet (no pun intended) peeve?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Elizabeth Fais 
Dogs are villains in “Oliver & Company” as well as other cartoons/films.
You’re right. Figaro in “Pinocchio” was sweet; he was even friends with Cleo the gold fish. In In the Aristocats, the cats were the protagonists we were cheering for. I was speaking to the broad stereotype here, mainly so I could use this montage. 🙂
Well that video was a who’s who in television and movies. I especially loved seeing the clip from Romancing the Stone, one of my all-time favorites.
😉
I love Romancing the Stone too! I was surprised that they didn’t include the scary cat from one of the Aliens movies. I never realized that type of scene was so widely used. Pretty of funny when you watch them back to back like that.