Big Kitten

Big Kitten is the deuteragonist in the novel A Dog's Way Home and its 2019 film adaptation.
She is a cougar who is found by a lost dog in the forest named Bella after her mother's death at the hands of hunters and becomes her adopted daughter.
Her vocal sound effects were provided by , who also provided the vocal sounds of Dragon in Shrek, Tick-Tock the Crocodile in Peter Pan, Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series and Momma Dino in Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs.
==Personality==
In her early childhood, Big Kitten was emotional, mourning the death of her mother before being quickly drawn to Bella. Despite her age, the little feline turned out to be easily resourceful while feeling that she could trust Bella. As a teenager, Big Kitten knew how to hunt fish on her own and friendly share her catch with her foster mother, showing that she really cares a lot about Bella, as their brief embrace also shows after they play on the ice. She was also very wary of humans, fleeing whenever they got too close. When Bella was forcibly taken out of the forest, Big Kitten was remorseful of not being able to do anything for stopping this. After reaching adulthood, Big Kitten has become a strong and feared predator, literally preying on coyotes that she feared in her youth to save Bella. Her feelings for her adoptive mother have not changed at all and have even grown stronger, as their touching reunion showed. Although she wanted Bella to stay with her for good, Big Kitten accepted her adoptive mother's departure before exchanging a final farewell with her.
==History==
Big Kitten is first seen after her mother is shot. She meows in despair at her late mother as hunters examine the body of the adult cougar. The little feline then notices Bella and instinctively begins to follow her. After the two animals are drunk to the river, Big Kitten takes Bella to the body of a dead deer, presumably killed by her mother earlier to eat.
Gaining sympathy for the cougar cub due to reminding her of the loss of her own mother, Bella spent the following weeks feeding Big Kitten food stolen from humans. A little later, a now teenage Big Kitten begins to become self-sufficient when it comes to hunting, even sharing a fish with her surrogate mother. One morning, Big Kitten and Bella are ambushed by a pack of coyotes. The cougar takes refuge on top of a tree while Bella defends herself from the predators until a group of hikers scare them away. Suspicious of humans, Big Kitten leaves the scene. In the evening, she approaches the camp and scares off the hikers, who flee by car, allowing Bella to take away some salmon that she shares with Big Kitten.
When winter arrives, Big Kitten and Bella go for a walk in the snowy woods. Stopping at a pond, Big Kitten tries to catch the fish under the ice, but ends up slipping on them and ends up in the middle of the freezing water where she still tries to catch her prey underwater. Bella joins her and the two animals begin to play on the ice playfully until Big Kitten's bad movement causes them both to slip into the snow. After an exchange of affection, they returned to the den. The next day, Big Kitten and Bella surprise a man buried in an avalanche after his dog, Dutch, is barking. Big Kitten stays at a distance as Bella helps Dutch unearth his master, also getting help from two skiers. Once the injured man has been transported by the rescue services, Big Kitten watches helplessly as her foster mother is taken away by the skiers.
A year later, a now grown up Big Kitten notices Bella being attacked by the same coyotes in the middle of the forest and confronts them, easily managing to fight and drive the pack away, saving Bella's life in the process. Joyfully reunited with Bella, Big Kitten shares a touching embrace with her while licking away Bella's wounds caused by the coyotes. After a day spent together, Big Kitten gives Bella a place to sleep at night. At daybreak, Bella joins Big Kitten on a hill overlooking Denver, Bella's hometown. Big Kitten wishes she would stay with her, but still determined to find Luca, her owner, Bella accepts that Big Kitten's place was in nature and shares a tender and sincere farewell with her adopted daughter before their path parted.
Big Kitten is last seen walking through the night observing Denver from afar, thinking of her adoptive mother and quickly joined by her own child. For her part, a happily reunited Bella with her family is sure to have found her place just as she knows that Big Kitten is where she belongs.
==Gallery==
Big Kitten Cub.jpg|Big Kitten as a cub.
Bella Sleep.jpg|Big Kitten and Bella sleeping together.
Big Kitten Feed.jpg|Big Kitten and Bella sharing a piece of meat.
Big Kitten Fish.jpg|Big Kitten, as a teenager, sharing her fish with Bella.
Big Kitten Tree.jpg|Big Kitten taking refuge in a tree to escape a pack of coyotes.
Big Kitten Light.jpg|Big Kitten illuminated by the light of an iphone of one of the hikers.
Big Kitten Ice Fish.jpg|Big Kitten trying to catch fish under the ice.
Big Kitten Ice.jpg|Big Kitten trying to walk on the ice.
Big Kitten Smile.jpg|Big Kitten grinning happily at Bella.
Bella and Teenage Big Kitty.jpg|Big Kitten and Bella snuggling up.
Big Kitten Trunk.jpg|Big Kitten running through a trunk.
Big Kitten Alone.jpg|Big Kitten helplessly watching Bella be taken away.
Big Kitten Roar.jpg|Big Kitten, as an adult, confronting the coyote pack.
Big Kitten Fight.jpg|Big Kitten fighting the coyotes to save Bella.
Big Kitten Growl.jpg|Big Kitten growling angrily at the coyotes as they retreat in terror after saving Bella.
Bella Reunited With Big Kitty.jpg|Big Kitten reuniting with Bella after a year.
Bella Big Kitty Moving.jpg|Big Kitten and Bella sharing a happy hug.
Bella Big Kitten Goodbye.jpg|Big Kitten saying goodbye to her adoptive mother.
Big Kitten Child.jpg|Big Kitten with her cub.
==Trivia==
*Big Kitten is portrayed entirely by CGI.
*Many people compare Big Kitten's fight against the coyotes to Mufasa's fight against the hyenas. Ironically, coyotes are known in real life to often steal prey from mountain lions much as hyenas sometimes steal meals from lions. In the wild, coyotes prey on young cougars, the latter often only managing to escape them by climbing, similar to how Big Kitten escaped the coyotes in the movie.
* In the French Dub, Big Kitten is wrongly identified as a male. The error is due to the fact that the word "Kitten" is said to be masculine in France.
*Hikers briefly mistook Big Kitten for a lynx due to the half erased spots on her fur she lost once fully grown.
*With cougars having a particularly high growth rate, Big Kitten was approximately two months old when she met Bella and would visibly be more of six months old later in the film, meaning Big Kitten and Bella lived together for at least four months before being separated.
*In real life, cougars have been known to lash out at dogs as soon as they encounter each other, as is most cases with wild predators. Cougars bred in captivity may also feel natural animosity towards dogs, but it is also possible that some show less hostility. Since Big Kitten was raised by Bella when she was very young and all alone, it's hard to know if a similar event in real life would lead to such a good relationship between a dog and a cougar.
Category:Female
Category:Animals
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Mute
Category:Damsels
Category:Ferals
Category:Predators
Category:Parents
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Category:Lethal
Category:Misanthropes
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Category:Sympathetic
Category:Selfless
Category:Bond Creators
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Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Live Action Heroes
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Category:Brutes
Category:Dreaded
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Category:Neutral Good
Category:Strong-Willed