Cats & Dogs

Cats & Dogs is a 2001 American-Australian action-comedy film, directed by Lawrence Guterman. The screenplay by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra centers on the relationships between cats and dogs. The film was released on July 4, 2001 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Zide/Perry Productions and Rhythm and Hues Studios.
==Plot==
The movie begins with the jeep of the Brody family pulling up to the house. Mrs Carolyn Brody (Elizabeth Perkins) and her son Scott (Alexander Pollock) bring in the groceries and the family's Bloodhound Buddy immediately starts giving chase to a cat. His chase involves running through a park, into a neighbor's house, and more. Then he finds the cat lying 'dead' on the street, obviously faking. The cat gets up and runs away, and a blue van being driven by cats pulls up and kidnaps Buddy.
An Anatolian Shepherd dog named Butch (voiced by Alec Baldwin) watches from a window, then goes to his doghouse,and tells an agent of Buddy's kidnap. At Intel HQ, the head dog receives the news about Buddy and orders the best agents to accomplish the mission and defeat the cat menace.
Meanwhile at a farm, a small group of Beagle puppies converse and make fun of a younger puppy (voiced by Tobey Maguire), who wants to be free. The younger puppy tries an escape, but he fails and he ends up under a bucket. Suddenly, a chainsaw cuts a large hole in the floor and a group of young black Doberman puppies led by a large Doberman Pinscher force the Beagles to go underground, not noticing the younger puppy. Mrs Brody approaches, comes into the puppy pen, and the younger puppy comes out from under the bucket. She decides to adopt him and takes him home, naming him Lou after Scott sarcastically suggests the name "Loser".
Scott puts him outside and a dog biscuit attached to a balloon floats down. Lou goes near it, and Butch comes out and throws a stick at it, making it explode. Butch then takes Lou into Buddy's doghouse and shows him the network that dog agents use, then takes him to meet some more agents: Peek (voiced by Joe Pantoliano) is a Chinese Crested Dog who works in an underground tube and has computers, radar, sonar, television, communications, satellite, thermal imaging systems, security cameras, and such; Sam (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan) is a comical Old English Sheepdog. Lou is also briefed on the origins of the war between cats and dogs, which apparently dates all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Butch also mentions that Buddy was previously on the mission until he was captured by the cats, escaped from them, and retired from the spy business.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tinkles (voiced by Sean Hayes), a white Persian cat, plans to conquer the world by making all humans allergic to dogs with Mr Brody (Jeff Goldblum)'s research on a cure for dog allergies. He is briefly interrupted by Sophie the Maid (Miriam Margoyles) who needs to dress him upon seeing the comatose Mr Mason (Myron Natwick). Tinkles then tells his sidekick Calico (voiced by Jon Lovitz), an Exotic Shorthair, to send in the ninja cats (voiced by Danny Mann and Billy West) he hired to steal the research. He sends in Devon Rex cat ninjas to steal the research but Lou manages to prevent them from stealing the research. Lou then meets a former agent and Butch's ex-girlfriend named Ivy (voiced by Susan Sarandon), a Saluki who belly scratches him. Disappointed that the ninja cats failed him, Mr Tinkles then orders Calico to send a Russian Blue kitten (voiced by Glenn Ficarra) to steal the research. The Russian frames Lou for defecating in the house with a ball containing fake dog poop, then places a bomb on the lab door. Butch and Lou manage to get into the house through the window, but Peek and Sam are trapped outside after Lou knocks the window prop away. The Russian fires a series of boomerangs around the Brodys' house which break several vases and knock a lamp over; the boomerangs also make the curtain pole break. Lou then distracts the Russian while Butch tries to disable the bomb, but the Russian turns his attention on Butch and tries to kill him. Butch gets caught in a telephone wire, then Mrs Brody comes home looking for her cell phone and surprisingly does not notice her wrecked living room. Butch manages to escape and disables the bomb, but the Russian holds out a remote that will detonate the bomb and laughs until the lab door opens and hits him. The Russian is then captured and interrogated. The agent tells the gang that they pumped a few things out of the Russian's stomach, including a note written by Mr Tinkles.
After an incident involving Lou playing with Scott, Professor Brody's machine finally gets the positive combinations for the formula. As Mr Tinkles and Calico overhear the call between Professor Brody and a doctor, they decide to spring a trap for Dr Brody and his family. First, Mr Tinkles makes his sinister side known to Sophie,causing her to faint, then he and his cats take Mr Mason's comatose body to Mason's tree flocking plant, where Tinkles passes his voice off as Mr Mason to send the employees home and commandeer the factory for the next plot. The cats send soccer tickets to the Brody family, obviously a fake. The cats make a fake entry and when the Brody family pulls up, the cats throw a gas bomb into their car, which goes off and leaves the family unconscious.
While trying to decipher Mr. Tinkles's location, the dogs are unaware that the Brodys have been led into a trap and are kidnapped by the said cat. After receiving a video from the cat demanding Mr. Brody's research as a ransom, the dogs from around the world assemble at a meeting run by the Mastiff (voiced by Charlton Heston). When the dog agents are unable to give up the formula after the meeting of the world's dogs, Lou angrily confronts Butch for not helping him. Butch then explains that when his owner went to college, he left him with his grandmother and storms off, cutting off all of Lou's communications with Peek and the others so Lou wouldn't seek help to save his family. Lou gives in and brings Mr Tinkles the research and is betrayed. Butch manages to find the depressed Lou and, along with Ivy, the two stage an ambush of Mr Tinkles's factory where the latter plans to use mice to spread the now mass-produced allergy to dogs. While Butch, Ivy, Peek, and Sam fight Tinkles's cat forces, Lou frees the Brodys and Calico (who was betrayed by Tinkles), revealing he can speak in the process. Lou defeats Tinkles and rescues Butch, but the claw of the excavator hits his head and a flocking tank, causing an explosion that destroys the factory. Butch manages to save Lou, but the latter is unresponsive. After a few hurtful moments of sadness (in which Scott, feeling genuinely remorseful for referring to Lou as "Loser", apologizes to Lou), Lou awakens and all rejoice. Lou decides to be a normal dog and not an agent yet, but one day he will be.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tinkles is sent to live with Sophie and her sisters, who dress him in ridiculous outfits.
==Cast==
=== Live-action ===
* Jeff Goldblum as Professor Brody.
* Elizabeth Perkins as Mrs. Caroline Brody.
* Alexander Pollock as Scott Brody.
* Miriam Margoyles as Sophie the Maid.
* Myron Natwick as Mr. Mason.
=== Voices ===
* Tobey Maguire as Lou (Louis), the Beagle, who lives with the Brody family.
* Alec Baldwin as Butch - An experienced field agent and Lou's mentor.
* Sean Hayes as Mr. Tinkles - Leader of the cat agents who wants to have world domination.
* Susan Sarandon as Ivy - A former dog agent Lou meets when he trains to be an agent. She is also Butch's love interest.
* Charlton Heston as The Mastiff - The leader of the dog agents.
* Jon Lovitz as Calico - Mr. Tinkles's second in command.
* Joe Pantoliano as Peek - A dog agent.
* Michael Clarke Duncan as Sam
* Billy West as Ninja Cat #1
* Danny Mann as Ninja Cat #2
* Glenn Ficarra as The Russian - A Russian blue agent sent to steal Professor Brody's research.
* Paul Pape as Wolf Blitzer of CNN
* Richard Steven Horvitz as Puppy at Barn (Uncredited)
* Charles Howerton as German Shepherd at HQ (Uncredited)
== Danske Stemmer ==
* Jette Sievertsen: Carolyn Brody
* Mads M. Nielsen: Mr. Brody
* Rasmus Albeck: Scott Brody
* Grethe Mogensen: Sophie
* Mathias Klenske: Lou
* Kristian Boland: Butch
* Jens Jacob Tychsen: Peek
* Lasse Lunderskov: Sam
* Vibeke Dueholm: Ivy
* Ole Fick: Mr. Tinkles
* Søren Ulrichs: Kaliko
* Peter Zhelder: Russerkat
=== Additional Voices (Denmark Dub) ===
* Vibeke Dueholm
* Thomas Kirk
* Lars Lippert
* Lasse Lunderskov
* Mads M. Nielsen
* Anja Owe
* Anne O. Pagh
* Peter Røschke
* Torben Sekov
* Lars Thiesgaard
* Jens Jacob Tychsen
* Søren Ulrichs
* Peter Zhelder
Category:2001 films
Category:Films
Category:Comedy films
Category:Village Roadshow films
Category:Warner Bros. films
Category:Action
Category:Cats & Dogs
Category:Directorial debut films
Category:Films starring Alec Baldwin
Category:Films starring Billy West
Category:Films starring Miriam Margolyes
Category:Films starring Susan Sarandon
Category:Films starring Jeff Goldblum
Category:Films starring Elizabeth Perkins
Category:Films starring Tobey Maguire
Category:Films starring Sean Hayes
Category:Films about talking animals
Category:Rated PG