Cats & Dogs - like cats and dogs

Movie
German title	Cats & Dogs - like cats and dogs
Original title	Cats & Dogs
Country of production	United States , ; Australia
original language	English
Publishing year	2001
length	83 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Lawrence Guterman
script	John Requa , ; Glenn Ficarra
production	Christopher DeFaria , ; Andrew Lazar , ; Craig Perry , ; Warren Zide
music	John Debney
camera	Julio Macat
cut	Rick Finney , ; Michael A. Stevenson
synchronization
chronology
	Successor → ; Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Kahlohr

Cats & Dogs - Wie Hund und Katz (Original title: Cats & Dogs ) is a comedy film from 2001 by director Lawrence Guterman . In 2010 a sequel was released under the title Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Kahlohr .

action

Without people knowing it, dogs and cats wage a fierce battle against each other. The cats under the leadership of the tomcat Mr. Tinkles want to usurp world domination. The dogs try to prevent this by all means. As agents of a secret organization, they face the cats. In order to keep the organization secret, however, they play a primitive, less developed role for their masters and only talk to one another, not in the presence of people.

The human professor Brody is working on a cure for dog allergies. Since the success of this work would bring the dogs a decisive advantage, he and his family are monitored around the clock by agent dogs to protect them against attacks by the cats. The attempt to smuggle an agent dog into the family fails, instead the untrained puppy Lou joins the family. As the attempts of the cats to get the meanwhile finished product pile up, the dogs don't have the time to exchange Lou for a professional agent and so he has to take over the task.

The cats manage to kidnap the Brody family and get the formula for the remedy. You want to reverse the formula so that instead of preventing an allergy, the remedy will trigger it. Mice are said to infect people all over the world with the agent.

The dogs' agents storm Mr. Mason's factory, which Mr. Tinkles and his cats had taken over to produce the drug. When the factory explodes, it seems like Lou dies in the process. He survives and speaks for the first time to Scotty, whom he tells that he is his friend.

The dogs manage to prevent the cats' evil plan and Mr. Tinkles now lives with Mr. Mason's domestic servant Sophie and her sisters, who force him to wear strange clothes.

synchronization

Role name	species	actor	German voice
Professor Brody	human	Jeff Goldblum	Arne Elsholtz
Mrs. Brody	human	Elizabeth Perkins	Susanna Bonaséwicz
Scotty Brody	human	Alexander Pollock	Filipe Pirl
Sophie	human	Miriam Margolyes	Marianne Gross
Mr. Mason	human	Myron Natwick	(no speaking role)
Lou	beagle	Tobey Maguire (voice)	Oliver Petszokat
Butch	Anatolian Shepherd Dog	Alec Baldwin (voice)	Heiner Lauterbach
Mr. Tinkles	Persian cat	Sean Hayes (voice)	Rufus Beck
Ivy	Saluki	Susan Sarandon (voice)	Hannelore Elsner
Peek	Chinese crested dog	Joe Pantoliano (voice)	Ilya Richter
Sam	Bobtail	Michael Clarke Duncan (voice)	Stefan Fredrich
Jacada	Bodyguard cat (mackerel)	Jon Lovitz (voice)	Dr. Michael Nowka
The mastiff	Mastiff	Charlton Heston (voice)
russian kitten	Russian blue	Glenn Ficarra (voice)	Manfred Krug

Age rating

Since Cats & Dogs was approved by the FSK for ages 12 and over, but the target group of the film was intended to be under twelve, the film had to be cut by 41 seconds in order to be approved for ages 6 and over. On VHS and DVD was Cats & Dogs only published in the edited version. In 2010 the film was finally re-examined and approved for ages 6 and up. The German Blu-ray contained the completely uncensored version of the film for the first time.

background

Filming began on June 19, 2000 and ended on November 17, 2000. The film was shot in Vancouver and Victoria .
Production costs were estimated at around $ 60 million. The film grossed around 200 million US dollars in cinemas worldwide, including around 93 million US dollars in the USA and around 4.8 million US dollars in Germany.
It was released in the US on July 4, 2001, in Germany on July 19, 2001.

Reviews

Markus Ostertag wrote on moviemaze.de: “The story and the basic idea behind it are definitely pleasing. [..] Unfortunately, this aspect alone does not make a good film. If the corresponding characters and a funny and crisp narrated plot are missing, even the best idea cannot save over a running time of almost 90 minutes. [..] The characters are superficial and do not develop significantly over the course of the plot. [..] Children will certainly like this, as they can identify with it to a certain extent, but for adults there is simply no certain something here. "
Reinhard Bradatsch wrote on allesfilm.com: “With sayings like“ This flea bag will definitely go the nozzle ”(the German dubbing has done a great job here too) one is ultimately inclined to ignore the stereotypical allusions to Russian fighting machines and Chinese animal parliamentarians who Trample human rights to gain something positive. Yet author John Requas' ironic blade is dull and, if at all, only lethargic in action. The backbreaking work was left to the animators and computer designers. Conclusion: Instead of smart dialogues, there is cold action from the assembly line. "
Der Spiegel : “A high-tech battle for rule is breaking out between dogs and cats. So far, so cute, but the comedy, which is elaborately composed of real film, animal puppet tricks and computer effects, [..] even picks up the successful gags into a commercial mush that even animal lovers can only call celluloid dog food. "
Lexicon of international films : “Turbulent cartoon adventure with parodic borrowings from current agent and action cinema. Moving to a large extent within the framework of the usual family films, the film takes the side of the dogs, whereby its appeal lies above all in the four-legged friends that are appealingly animated by animal training, puppet shows and computer tricks. "

Awards

John Debney won an ASCAP award in 2002 for film music .
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Charlton Heston won the 2002 Gold Raspberry negative award in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his speaking role in this film and Planet of the Apes and City, Country, Kiss .