Feline Summer Movie Fun!

School is almost OUT! Huzzah! But raindrops are plunking against the window, the amusement and water parks haven’t opened yet, camping is out, and roasted hot dogs and S’mores are another month away.

- Candilee Jackson

So what can busy cat lovers (especially those with children...) do until then. How about a movie?!

But alas, what to watch? True cat lovers “appreciate feline furballs in all of their forms – in real life, in literature, in music, on the Internet, in paintings, and in the movies.”2 The genre is full of choices from real life action cat films to harrowing mysteries, and of course, animated favorites aimed at children of all ages.

So let’s take a look at some feline-themed movies, both recently released and “blasts from the past.”

Animated Movies

Garfield (2004) will kick off a party with a classic wherein the comic book strip comes to life on screen, complete with his passion for lasagna and mischief. The original movie also spawned four sequels.2

Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010) are grouped together as each movie involves the same character, Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas. Puss is a “combination of a little Indiana Jones with a dash of Zorro,”1 with a great display of cattitude.

Puss In Boots (2011) is part of the Shrek franchise, with voice-overs by Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Billy Bob Thornton. A successful box office film, “the story takes place years before Puss met Shrek and company, but it’s just as funny.”2

The Secret Life of Pets (2016) begins “a terrier’s story, but every cat lover will enjoy the adventures of the tabby, Himalayan, and Sphynx cats featured in the film,”1 along with other animals. A sequel came out in 2019.