I remember the 1997 movie "Cats Don't Dance" purely from its home video VHS release, which we had and rewatched with reasonable frequency. If you had asked me, I'd have sworn it was a straight-to-video movie that never had a theatrical release, since I was fairly tuned-in to movies from trailers and magazines (although I was a little young to go to the theaters at the time). Apparently, it WAS a theatrical film, originally produced by Turner Feature Animation, and distributed by Warner Bros. after their companies' merger. Not surprising for a merger, the movie got virtually no marketing at all, and was a commercial flop, although there are still occasionally fans of it in online posts.But even after being told that, it LOOKS like a lower-budget, made-for-tv movie. Colours were flat and lacked shading and detail, animation and comedy was fast-paced, and the whole thing clocked in a lean runtime of 1 hour and 15 minutes. It looked like a Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes cartoon, just with a real story. It was fun to watch as a kid, but I didn't think else of it. Decades later, when shuffling through my nostalgia and giving up on a Bluray release of the movie, I bought a DVD copy to rewatch. And I was impressed: "Cats Don't Dance" is great for kids, but also has a lot to offer for adults interested in Hollywood and the movie industry. The movie is a classic "newcomer tries to make it in Hollywood" story, with the twist being that it stars an antrhopomorphic cat, among other animals. In the early 1900's, Danny (an orange tabby cat) waves goodbye to his friends in a rural Indiana town as he gets on a bus to Hollywood, where "the streets are paved with gold." He's set to make it as a dancer and actor in the movies. He even has a checklist-plan to how things will go! Of course, he's as green and naive as they come, encouraging ridicule from the other animal performers who work as extras, most recently for the next Darla Dimple picture (loosely based on Shirley Temple). You see, it's hard to make it in the movie business, and IMPOSSIBLE for animals to get lead roles - audiences just won't accept their name in lights. Perhaps this is commentary on race or other forms of real-life bigotry in movies, but we'll keep things simple and say this is just about the cartoon animals; regardless, it's about them not being given a fair chance. While the others have given up on their dreams and talents (ranging from music, dance, acting and more), Danny won't let that stop him, and his energy slowly encourages the others to join him, leading to a spectacular finale that shows the world what they can do. Not without some sabotage by leading star Darla (a girl who's sweet on camera but a spoiled brat off) and her butler Max (a 20-foot pale-faced monster in a suit). One thing that'll hit you is how fast and manic the movie is. Danny is bursting with energy, jumping around and always prepared to tap-dance down the block. Even the others talk fast, like actors tended to in the old days. And visual and dialogue jokes fly a mile-a-minute, a good excuse to rewatch the movie to see what you missed. It's a little exhausting, and seems intended for (and perhaps written by) children with ADHD, but it also elevates the unique charm of the movie. 
The story is predictable, but endearing, thanks to the initial pragmatism of the other animals that try to bring Danny down to Earth. Sawyer, who becomes Danny's love interest, initially gets off to the wrong start and wants nothing to do with him, a classic and entertaining opposite lead. Darla's presence gives the story a fun antagonist to hate. The voice cast is spot on throughout, particularly Scott Bakula as Danny: he's unrecognizable from later roles (like the lead in TV's "CSI: New Orleans"), but fits the classic wide-eyed optimistic cartoon lead here. I think for adults, the realist theme of how hard it can be to "make it" doing what you love hits home, elevating any movie that features it. "Cats Don't Dance" is a great archtype for the story, even if it inevitably leads to a happy ending, as most of these movies tend to do. A part of what made the movie seem like a TV-movie was the cartoon aesthetic. Designs are good, there's a lot of bright colours. But those colours are also flat, and designs have bold outlines. There's no mistaking that this is a cartoon with cartoon characters. Regardless of the design, the animation makes it seem better, with a ton of quick, fluid and energic movement. An average movie-goer might not recognize it, but an animator can tell this was an expensive movie to make. Small use of CGI is used for certain scenes in non-noticable ways, blending well with the established style. This is also a musical by the way, with varying degrees of success in the songs - the first two opening songs and the finale are 10 / 10 smashes at least. A brief note on the DVD: the copy I bought in 2023 had a 4:3 cropped fullscreen aspect ratio. Apparently, the newer "Warner Archive" reissue DVD (from 2016) has a 16:9 widescreen version. That version isn't as easy to find today however, and neither would replace the hope of a remastered Bluray (although the DVD video did transfer nicely thanks to flat colours, and looks relatively sharp). "Cats Don't Dance" was a simple but reliable movie to watch as a kid, but it's grown on me more as an adult. It might be nostalgia for the movie indusry as it portrayed it, lavish musicals with big dance numbers (Gene Kelly was a consultant on this film's choreography before passing away - the movie is dedicated to him in the credits). Also nostalgia for 2D animation that wasn't afraid to be a cartoon. In so many ways, they just don't make them like this anymore, and it's comforting to watch from time to time.