Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie is a 2021 American live-action/computer-animated action comedy film directed by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and F. Gary Gray, produced by Talking Kitty Cat, LLC, Bron Creative, Perfect World Pictures and Original Film and distributed by Universal Pictures and is based on the YouTube series of the same name. The film is produced by Chris Morgan and Steve Cash's wife Celia DeCosta Cash (in her feature production debut) and executive-produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller based on a screenplay by Chris Morgan. The film is based on a story by Steve Cash, and written by Neal H. Moritz.
It stars Ryan Reynolds as Sylvester, along with Tom Kenny, James Corden, Kristen Wiig, Greg Tiernan and more. The movie is dedicated to Steve Cash and Sylvester, who died on April 16, 2020 and December 14, 2020 respectively.
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie premiered on January 26, 2021 at the Dolby Theater and was theatrically released on January 29 in the United States by Universal Pictures and internationally on January 31 by DreamWorks Pictures in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and IMAX formats. The film received positive reviews from critics, with critics praising its animation, humor, plot, visual effects, soundtrack and musical score by Hans Zimmer. It was a box office success, grossing $780.3 million against its $45 million production budget, quickly taking the number 1 spot as the highest-grossing live-action/animated film of all time after The Smurfs (2011). The success of the film spawned a series, Talking Kitty Cat: Animated!, that aired on March 18, 2021. A sequel with the working title Talking Kitty Cat 2: Sylvester's Abduction is in development with a planned release date of September 2, 2022, originally scheduled for a release date of March 28, 2023.
Premise[]
Recently, Sylvester has befriended two cats named Oliver and Tyler. The three cats rob supermarkets for wet food and have escaped karma for their actions. They have been planning to pull off their biggest, dangerous, and most difficult heist yet. Will they be able to conduct the heist successfully without getting in trouble for it?
Plot[]
The plot follows a black cat named Sylvester (voiced by Ryan Reynolds), who lives with Steve and Celia DeCosta Cash (Kristen Wiig and Greg Tiernan), living in a home in Nampa, Idaho. One day, Sylvester befriends two cats named Oliver, a Calico cat and Tyler, a white British cat. At night, the three cats approached the biggest supermarket chain in Nampa; WinCo Foods. They rob the supermarket of wet food and escaped with thousands of dollars worth of wet food without getting caught by Idaho Animal Control. A supermarket employee, Thomas (Tom Holland), was so stunned that he couldn't bother to call the police.
Sylvester stores his cut of the wet food in the cabinet. Steve and Celia have no idea as to why there was so much wet food in the cabinet, but they didn’t question it. The same day, Steve and Celia approach Sylvester and ask him why he's acting weird. Steve mentions Isabelle, or Izzy, and Sylvester has a flashback to when he was a devil to Izzy, and immediately felt bad after remembering the moment. Celia asked Sylvester about his brother, Gibson, who died in 2016. Sylvester, again, had a flashback to when he was a stepbrother to Gibson. He remained silent for the remainder of that day. While he was silent that day, he wrote his story and moments in his personal diary.
The next day, Sylvester was let out of the house, and he met up with Oliver and Tyler under a bridge. Oliver and Tyler have been planning the biggest and most dangerous heist yet and asked Sylvester to help them. He agreed, and looked into their plan. Their plan was to rob the highest security bank in Nampa, the National Bank of Nampa, without getting caught and taken to the pound by the federal law of the United States and the Idaho Animal Control. Sylvester, on the outside, absolutely loved the plan, though on the inside, he was a bit worried. What if he got caught? What if he wasn’t able to see his owners again?
That night, at around 11:30 p.m., Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler approach the bank. Oliver was the clever tech cat, and used a laser to cut a hole in the door. Once the three cats were inside, they avoided getting caught by guards who were in the bank. They then headed to the vault, and Tyler spun the wheel for the correct combination, and the vault opened. They stole the money from the vault and escaped through a vent, later escaping. Sylvester, with his cut of $1,250,000, entered the house after Steve and Celia had gone to bed. He left the money on the kitchen table and headed to his bed in the living room. Before he went to sleep, he wrote his story in his diary, though he added at the end of his day synopsis that he was worried about what would happen the next day.
But after Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler robbed the bank, the police and Idaho Animal Control were notified after the bank guards saw that the money in the grand vault was gone. Animal control units saw pawprints on the ground and scanned the prints, revealing it was the three cats. Police went to the three separate houses and turned the cats in. Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler were taken to the Idaho Federal Court and were found guilty of three counts of robbing a maximum security bank. The cat’s owners, Steve, Judy (Scarlett Johannsson) and Mike (Hugh Jackman) were shocked from what their cats have committed.
When Sylvester was being taken away first, he spoke out saying “I originally never wanted to rob the bank”. The crowd was shocked when he spoke. Sylvester went on to say “The plan that Oliver and Tyler laid out in front of me was by far the most terrifying thing for me to do. I was about to throw up on the inside because it was too risky”.
Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler were put in the pound, to be released on bail at $1,500. Steve and Celia returned the $1.25 million to the bank, while Judy and Mike returned the other $2.50 million. In total, Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler robbed a total of $3.75 million from the vault. As a reward for returning the money, each of them were awarded $2,000 each. They soon released their cats from the pound, and Sylvester unfriended Oliver and Tyler.
Unused part of plot[]
After Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler robbed the bank, the guards heard their pawsteps and surrounded the cats. When Tyler draws his knife, one of the guards shoots him in the head, killing him instantly.
Cast[]
- Ryan Reynolds as Sylvester, a black cat who lives with Random Kitty, GG (Gibson's Granddaughter), Shelby, Steve and Celia DeCosta Cash
- Tom Kenny as Oliver, a Calico cat and Sylvester’s former friend
- James Corden as Tyler, a white cat and Sylvester’s former friend
- Kristen Wiig as Celia DeCosta, Sylvester’s co-owner and Steve’s wife
- Greg Tiernan as Steve, Sylvester’s co-owner and Celia DeCosta’s husband
- Sandra Bullock as Random Kitty, Steve and Celia’s third cat
- Clancy Brown as Gibson, Steve and Celia’s second cat and Sylvester's who was shown in a flashback
- Jill Talley as Isabelle "Izzy", one of Steve and Celia's cats shown in a flashback when Steve brought up Izzy to Sylvester
- Scarlett Johannsson as Judy, Oliver’s owner and Shelby, a black lab with a voice collar (inspired from Disney-Pixar's 2009 film Up)
- Hugh Jackman as Mike, friends with Steve and Tyler’s owner
- Tom Holland as Cashier Thomas, a British supermarket cashier at WinCo Foods
Production[]
Development[]
Development on a Talking Kitty Cat movie first came to mind a few months after Steve Cash founded the company Talking Kitty Cat, LLC on April 28, 2019. Two production studios, being Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, approached Cash about a Talking Kitty Cat film adaption, however Cash declined their offers, even though the Talking Kitty Cat name and brand had been acquired by Paramount Global (at the time ViacomCBS) (50.5%) and WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery) (49.5%). Pat Casey and Neal H. Moritz approached Cash on a film idea, but Cash turned down on the idea. Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery then sold the rights of the Talking Kitty Cat name to Comcast, which owned Universal Studios. A few weeks later, Cash would start development on a script, after he had seen the rights were acquired by Comcast.
Steve Cash then reached out to popular voice actors Ryan Reynolds, Tom Kenny and James Corden, seeing if they were interested in the film. The three actors agreed and signed to record their lines. Reynolds played Sylvester, Kenny played Oliver, and Corden played Tyler. Cash then reached out to Kristen Wiig and Greg Tiernan, asking if they were able to portray him and his wife, Celia DeCosta. The two actors agreed and makeup preparation began in January 2020. Stated in a March 2020 interview, Cash said that due to his Bipolar disorder, he didn't feel overall comfortable performing as himself in the film. Sandra Bullock voiced Random Kitty, Steve and Celia DeCosta's third cat after Gibson. Clancy Brown voiced the latter cat, Gibson, as shown in a flashback. American Humane monitored animal action throughout the film.
On April 16, 2020, Steve Cash died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, as addressed by his wife, Celia DeCosta Cash. The film was nearly at its completion, and Pat Casey, Neal H. Moritz, and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller kept the film in production. Production wrapped on December 14, 2020, and its finished budget was $45 million. The film was dedicated to Steve Cash and his cat, Sylvester, who died on December 10, 2020.
Visual effects and animation[]
Visual effects and animation were produced by Rhythm & Hues Studios. It was Rhythm & Hues’ last subsequent film to be produces before their operations ceased and later rebranded to Rhythm & Hues Entertainment in February 2021. The animation was made as hyper-realistic computer-animation, like the live action Alvin and the Chipmunks films. Blur Studio assisted with visual effects.
Music[]
Main article: Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
| Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Film score by
Hans Zimmer | |
| Released | January 24, 2021 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 35:06 |
| Label | Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment |
| Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie soundtrack chronology | |
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie's score was composed by German film composer Hans Zimmer. Songs by rappers Fort Minor, Juice WRLD, as well as featuring two song by Steve Cash which was released the day before his death, on April 15, 2020. The soundtrack album was released on Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment through Universal Music Enterprises on January 24, 2021.
Steve's featured, The Mean(er) Kitty Song, was a remake of The Mean Kitty Song by SMP Films.
Movie soundtrack[]
| No. | Title | Length | Writers | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Remember The Name | 3:47 | Takbir Bashir, Ryan Maginn, Mike Shinoda | Fort Minor, Styles of Beyond |
| 2. | Dreams of Being Rich | 3:02 | Pharrell Williams | Pharrell Williams |
| 3. | Conversations | 3:01 | Jarad Higgins, Ella Terzo, Gabriel Guera | Juice WRLD |
| 4. | Bad Boy | 2:37 | Jarad Higgins, Jeffrey Williams, Jordan Jenks | Juice WRLD, Young Thug |
| 5. | Bad | 4:07 | Michael Jackson | Michael Jackson |
| 6. | Bad Ass Criminal Kitty | 3:29 | Marshall Mathers, David (D.A. Got That Dope) Doman, Luis Resto, Brandon Benjamin, David Biral, Denzel Baptiste, Scott Mescudi, Curtis Jackson | Eminem, Kid Cudi, 50 Cent |
| 7. | Burn The House Down | 3:32 | Adam Met, Jack Met, Ryan Met | AJR |
| 8. | Bad Kitty Cat | 3:09 | Pharrell Williams | Pharrell Williams |
| 9. | Stupid, Stupid World | 1:58 | Steve Cash | Ryan Reynolds |
| 10. | The Mean(er) Kitty Song | 2:37 | Steve Cash | |
| 11. | All We Need Is Love | 3:16 | Ricki-Lee Coulter, Stuart Crichton, Ilan Kidron | Ricki-Lee Coulter |
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie Score[]
All music is composed by Hans Zimmer.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sylvester's Daily Life | 2:03 |
| 2. | Oliver And Tyler | 0:54 |
| 3. | Befriending Oliver And Tyler | 0:39 |
| 4. | Robbing The Supermarket/Give Us The Damn Wet Food! | 3:09 |
| 5. | Sylvester's Flashbacks | 1:13 |
| 6. | Remembering Gibson | 0:31 |
| 7. | Diary Time 1 | 2:14 |
| 8. | Meeting Under The Bridge | 0:47 |
| 9. | Plan Layout | 1:28 |
| 10. | Approaching The Idaho Bank | 0:49 |
| 11. | Reviewing The Plan | 1:12 |
| 12. | Robbing The Bank | 4:38 |
| 13. | Taking The Money Home | 1:13 |
| 14. | Diary Time 2 | 3:19 |
| 15. | Police Investigation | 2:01 |
| 16. | Cats Go To Court | 3:52 |
| 17. | Sylvester Speaks The Truth | 2:28 |
| 18. | Unfriending Oliver And Tyler | 0:42 |
| 19. | The New Life | 1:54 |
Release[]
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie had many early test screenings before being premiered at the Dolby Theater on January 26, 2021. It was later theatrically released in the United States and in other territories on January 29, 2021 by Universal Pictures. It was later released in other territories by DreamWorks Pictures on January 31.
Home media[]
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie was released on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on May 21, 2021. Its sales produced around $274.5 million, with $57 million being produced in DVD sales, $125.1 million in Blu-ray sales, $50.3 million in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray sales and $42.5 million in Blu-ray 3D sales. The film was later released on Netflix and Peacock for digital streaming. The DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film contained behind-the-scenes footage, casting sessions with Ryan Reynolds, James Corden and Tom Kenny, an animation development featurette, and a
Reception[]
Box office[]
Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie opened with 4,500 screens in approximately 3,485 theatres. Specialized in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D and Dolby Cinema formats, the film was released on January 29, 2021 in the United States and other territories by Universal Pictures. Its estimated projections for both the United States and other territories was around $30-45 million. It grossed $29.1 million in its opening weekend in the United States and grossed $32.8 million through other territorial theatres, shattering box office expectations. In its opening week, the film made over $87.3 million in the United States and Canada and over $102.8 million in other territorial theatres, hitting #2 at the domestic box office and #1 at the overseas box office. The film proceeded to break numerous COVID-19 pandemic box office records, and estimated projections were around $50-65 million. In its second opening weekend, the film projected $89.3 million in the United States and $103.2 million in other territories. Box office projections continued throughout 2021, until August. Projections finished on August 19, 2021 and the film grossed a total of $257.3 in the United States and Canada and $523.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $780.3 million. It broke several pandemic records, quickly becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2021, and dethroned The Smurfs (2011) as the highest-grossing live-action/animated film of all time.
Critical response[]
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 92% based on reviews from 128 critics, with an average rating of 8.15/10. Its critical consensus reads, "As a tribute to such a legendary YouTuber and a story so well written, with the greatest performances by Ryan Reynolds, Tom Kenny and James Corden, Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie is visually a masterpiece." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigns the film a rare grade of "A+" on its A+ to F scale, while PostTrak says 91% of filmgoers gave the film an overall positive review, with 83% of audiences saying they would definitely recommend it.
Odie Henderson of RogerEbert.com gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that Talking Kitty Cat: The Movie was a "visually appealing masterpiece", and says that "the tribute to Steve Cash and his cat, Sylvester, is perfect". While he praised its CGI animation as "astounding", its visual effects as "out of this world", its musical score as "dramatically fantastic" and its plot as "coherent", he criticized the runtime.
Todd McCarthy of Variety praised the film's animation and visual effects as "possibly the best animation a live-action film has ever witnessed", and wrote that the plot was "by far the single greatest thing about the whole film. The plot just works perfectly".
The late Steve Cash's wife, Celia DeCosta Cash, praised the film and says that if "[she] were to have my husband back, [she] would show him the movie, and he would love it to bits". She praised the animation, and gave massive praise to Rhythm & Hues Studios, saying that "R&H blew my mind right out of the water with their animation. It's so on point to the animals that it's unreal."
Controversy[]
Unused part of plot deleted scene[]
A deleted scene surfaced on LiveLeak, showing a scene with Sylvester, Oliver and Tyler being surrounded by bank guards. When Tyler drew his knife, one of the guards shot him in the head, killing him instantly. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the deleted scene, and approached Rhythm & Hues Studios and Universal Pictures for an explanation. Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer stated in an article on BBC News that "[he] and others at Universal Pictures originally asked Rhythm & Hues to make a scene referenced on the part. We shown it to test audiences, who almost threw up while watching". Rhythm & Hues stated in a separate article on BBC News that they "felt overly uncomfortable while working on the scene".
The scene, however, was taken down by Universal Pictures for infringing copyright of the film. The film included the deleted scene in the special features of the DVD and Blu-ray, however.
Trivia[]
- It is the first Talking Kitty Cat production to be produced by Universal Pictures.
- The film was dedicated to Steve Cash and Sylvester Cash, who both died in 2020.
- It is a film that Celia DeCosta Cash, Steve's wife, reviewed and praised.
- Celia DeCosta Cash produced the film with Chris Morgan.
- It was one of Halyna Hutchins' last films to be cinematographed by until her death during the production of the 2021 suspended film Rust.