The Cat's Meow November 2020 Exercise Thread

Next up on our Disney cats adventure, we have Dinah from Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Figaro from Pinocchio (1940).

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From Disney Fandom:

"Dinah is a small red kitten and a character in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. She is the cat of Alice and her sister.

In the film, Dinah is Alice's cat. She is first seen sitting with Alice in a tree and listening to Alice's sister read from a history book. Alice then makes a crown out of flowers and puts them on Dinah's head, crowning her the flower girl cat. Then Alice's sister tells Alice to pay attention to her history lesson. Alice refuses to because the book has no pictures in it and tells her sister that in her world there would be books with nothing but pictures in it. Her sister believes this is nonsense. When Alice hears this, she picks up Dinah and tells her that in her world everything would be nonsense, because everything would be what it isn't. For example, animals would talk and live in houses because Alice's World would be a "Wonderland." Suddenly, Dinah and Alice spot a White Rabbit with a coat on and a pocket watch and they chase after him to the Rabbit Hole. Alice falls down into it and waves goodbye to Dinah as she falls.
Dinah is later mentioned by Alice at the Tea Party with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and The Dormouse which frightens him when he hears that Dinah is a cat causing a large fuss over it.
Dinah is finally seen at the end when Alice awakens from her dream where she sleeps on her apron (she was also seen sleeping on her before she wakes up). Alice picks her up and takes her home for tea along with Alice's sister.
Trivia
  • A test cell setup of Alice, Dinah, and Alice's sister from the final scene of the film shows that Dinah was a black cat, not orange. Also, in a Big Golden Book by Al Dempster, the colored image of Dinah shows her as a black cat. Early designs for Dinah were lifted directly from a Figaro model sheet."


Which brings me to this handsome kitty . . .

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There is a lot more to Figaro than I could have ever guessed. Did you know that after his appearance in Pinocchio, Walt rehomed him with Minnie Mouse? You can read all about that along with the rest of Figaro's story here.
 




So I really have been living under a massive rock. Charles Dickens is one of my most favorite authors and yet I have never seen the movie starring our next Disney cat. Yes, that would be Oliver from the 1988 movie Oliver & Company. Shaking my head and making a mental note to correct this asap.

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Oliver is an orange tabby cat that joins Fagin's gang of street dogs in order to survive. Oliver is brave, caring, and kind but is also capable of feeling angry when betrayed. Joey Lawrence voices Oliver.

And here is a list of Oliver trivia from Disney Fandom:

  • Oliver isn't actually named Oliver until Jenny buys him his collar. Jenny is the only one in the movie whoever calls him Oliver - otherwise, he is called "kid", "kitty", or "cat". One interesting note is that Jenny actually calls Oliver by his name once before buying his collar. However, at the end of the movie, Francis and Tito refer to him as Oliver.
  • Unlike the other kittens from the beginning of the movie, Oliver is the only cat with more long hair between his ears and three dark orange stripes on his back.
  • Oliver is the sixth main protagonist whose film is a musical, but who does not sing any number; the other three are Peter Pan, Arthur Pendragon, Robin Hood, Tod, and Basil. Of course, Arthur does sing with Merlin, but it's all simultaneous, whereas Robin sings acapella to the tune of "Rock-a-Bye Baby," but neither sings a number alone. Oliver, on the other hand, does not sing at all, making him the second not to sing in a musical, period, Basil being the first in this case (though he is heard humming to himself at some point).
  • Near the beginning of the movie, when Oliver climbs out of the gutter during the rainstorm, the "Kitties Need Home" sign is visible in the close-up, but disappears in the wide shot. Also, Oliver moves from near the curb to a few feet in on the sidewalk.
  • In "Why Should I Worry", Oliver jumps out of the wet cement onto the sign that says "Wet Cement", with no cement on his front paws. Shortly after, he jumps down off the sign, and he has cement on his paws.
  • Throughout the movie, Oliver is sometimes shown to have either orange eyes matching his fur color or green eyes.
  • During Jenny's birthday, Oliver is seen wearing a birthday hat but then it disappears from a distant then later, reappears again after a close-up.
  • When Oliver pulls the same high-five paw trick on Dodger as the former did before, his collar disappears but reappears again after a close-up. The same thing happens in some scenes during the subway chase.
  • To promote the French release of "Oliver & Company" in 1989, Anne Meson made a song about Oliver called "Oliver", which was a hit in France [1]. Between 1989 and 1992, Oliver (alongside Dodger, Tito, and Francis) was featured in a series of music videos interacting with her. During the inaugural year of Disneyland Paris' (then "Euro Disney") in 1992. She performed the song at the park alongside Oliver and Dodger.
  • Oliver made numerous appearances at the parks with Dodger, Jenny, Tito, Francis, and Georgette in the years following the movie's release. He was retired in the late 1990s but appeared with Dodger at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005.
If you want to read more about Oliver, you can find info here.
 
Today's Disney cat is from the very popular 1993 film Hocus Pocus. That's right, it's Thackery Binx.

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Thackery Binx was a 17th century boy who tried to rescue his sister from the Sanderson sisters but was turned into an immortal black cat instead. Centuries later, he befriends Dani Dennison who, along with her brother and his girlfriend, saves Thackery from the Sandersons' spell and reunites him with his family. Thackery Binx, voiced by Jason Marsden, is brave, caring, and determined.

Did you know? "In 2015, Binx made his Disney Parks debut in the opening of the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular show during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom, in which the Sanderson Sisters, newly returned, try to wreak havoc and create a Halloween party potion with assistance from multiple Disney Villains. He does not physically appear, although it can be assumed that his spirit has invisibly returned to give this short dialogue as a voice-over prior to the show:
"Good evening, friends. Tonight on All Hallow's Eve, your world and the magical world collide for but one night: A night filled with a new trick, a little treat, and a bit of... 'hocus pocus.'" " (Disney Fandom)

Hopefully MNSSHP will resume next year and Thackery Binx will once again make an "appearance".
 
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