Nature Cat: The Movie

theatrical movie poster

Todd Hannert

David Rudman

Todd Hannert

Adam Rudman,

David Rudman

Todd Hennert

Leonardo Navarrete

Jason Ritter

Sadie Stanley

Bobby Moynihan

Kate Micucci

Kate McKinnon

Chris Knowings

Huck Milner

Reece Caddell

Window To The World

9 Story Media Group

PBS Kids Films

The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Amberwood Entertainment

DeviantArt Entertainment

**Nature Cat: The Movie** is a 2023 Canadian-American live action/computer animated adventure family comedy musical film written and directed by Leonardo Navarrete (in his feature-length directional debut) and based on the PBS Kids educational animated television series *Nature Cat*. And the 2nd theatrical film based on a PBS Kids TV series Since Clifford's Really Big Movie. It stars the regular television cast of Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, Kate Micucci And Chris Knowings. New additions to the cast include Cobie Smulders, Jason Ritter, Leonardo Navarrete, Sadie Stanley, Huck Milner And Reece Caddell Produced by New Line Cinema, Spiffy Pictures, WTTW Chicago, 9 Story Media Group, DeviantArt Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, And PBS Kids and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film had its premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival and screened at the Microsoft Theater on April 7, 2023, and was theatrically released in the U.S. and Canada on April 14, 2023. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $650 million against a $45 million budget.

The film won 3 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects at the 90th Academy Awards, having tie-ins to Trolls: World Tour, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run, and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. It was also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Golden Globe Awards but lost to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run.

Filming Took Place In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Chicago, Illinois, Highland Park, Illinois, Las Vegas, Nevada And New York City, New York From June to September 2022.

## **Plot**

Fred (Taran Killam) is a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. After he transformed into Nature Cat, he decides to start the day exploring with his three friends, Squeeks (Kate McKinnon), Hal (Bobby Moynihan), and Daisy (Kate Micucci). Meanwhile, Fred's owner, Dave (Taran Killam) watches the news on TV, and becomes shocked when he finds out about the disease called "Humanious animailopius", known as "Talking syndrome", in which animals have human instincts and can talk, in which Dave decides to put them up for adoption.

After overhearing, Nature Cat and his friends decide to look around in the forest so that humans won't be able to see them talk. However, Ronald (Chris Knowings), a fat purple cat, begins a plan to remove and destroy anything related to nature for good.

While walking in the forest, the four begin to recall memories of all of the great things they did during the past, such as replacing plastic bags with bags made from cloth, using pumpkins for more things, and making Valentine gifts out of reusable items. Soon, they noticed that they have done so much to help their community and helping nature. So, the four decide to send a message out to the city. However, they manage to escape when Nature Cat sees his owners Dave, and his wife Amanda  (Cobie Smulders) and his two children Eric (Huck Milner) And Julie (Reece Caddell)

At the police station, Dave is talking with two officers to try to get the pets back. The two officers agreed to help and would call animal control.

After his owners left, Nature Cat and his friends would have to get to the TV station to broadcast their message to the entire city. With the help of the GPS on Daisy's smartphone, the quartet counts the blocks while on the subway train and finally arrive at the TV station.

After arriving, they decide to use the disguise to avoid getting past the huge crowd of people without them seeing that they have talking syndrome. They look at the TV screens and find out about Ronald's plan of becoming an industrialist. After overhearing, the four decide to get home. However, some trouble with the police and the animal control came up, so Nature Cat and his friends use camouflage so that the officers don't see them.

They then encounter Sadie, in which she then thanks Nature Cat for recreating the playground that he and his friends recreated for her. The hawk shows up and gives them a way of going back home, which is going south one block and then going east over the bridge for two blocks.

Along the way, Nature Cat Soon Befriends With Two Humans Jason (Leonardo Navarrete) And Veronica McKenzie (Sadie Stanley) in which their also nature explorers, but also likes drawing, sketching, and painting pictures, as well as making animations on their YouTube channel, and even making documentaries about nature.

After that, Hal and Squeeks then went to get a bucket of water from the stream and then dumped it onto Nature Cat, waking him up.

As they reached his house, Dave soon begins to tell Nature Cat and his friends that he has no choice but to put him and his friends up for adoption. However, Eric and Julie soon explain what it really means to put someone up for adoption. Daisy also explains all the great things they did to help animals care about and save nature. Nature Cat then explains that even though they still have talking syndrome, they still have the same features, such as still being afraid of water, and that Hal still has his doghouse and his chew toy, Mr. Chewinsky.

Soon, Dave decides to help Nature Cat and his friends Save Nature Along With Amanda, Julie, Eric, Jason And Veronica.

A few hours later in the Backyard, Nature Cat Is Off To The Bank. They tell Dave and his family about the bank manager and that they are just going to check on Ronald, to make sure that he is not doing anything bad.

The group soon begin to think of a way to stop Ronald from trying to destroy nature for good, in which they then begin to spy on Ronald to make sure that he will never do something bad. The group then spy on Ronald, and it appears that he is calling industrialists on the phone about getting rid of nature and he tells them to come to his backyard. After Ronald hung up, he began to think about why many people call him a bad kitty, thinking it was because he's just lazy to be a good cat and stay busy being evil.

Nature Cat comes up with a plan by wearing armor and having their bow and arrows. When they approach Ronald, But Ronald revealed his plan were not end well, soon the two security guards captures them and put them in a sack and give it to the animal control. Meanwhile, Rose suddenly overhears this and then realizes that she is also . She gets reinforcements to rescue Nature Cat and his friends. Ronald Also Escapes And Find A Way To Stop The Plan He Made. She rescues them out of the van and onto a grassy hole.

Soon, Hal then falls in love with a female dog, named Hayley (Vanessa Bayer), in which she also heard about Ronald's plan. Meanwhile, Ronald is with the bank manager Darren Kreison at the meeting room and telling about the plan. His plan includes cutting down more trees and expelling and killing animals. Meanwhile At The Chicago Bank Nature Cat Jason, Veronica, The Reef Family And Victor Diaz (Myles Davis) Visits Darren Kreison (Jason Ritter) The Bank Manager And The Bank's security guards Mark (Brandon Mychel Smith) And Derek (Doug Brochu)

Back at the forest, Nature Cat then comes up with another plan, which includes disguising as guards, and entering Ronald's house to foil Ronald's plans by burning all of the files for his plans down, including the one that will get rid of nature for good, so that Ronald will be caught by the animal control and getting sent to animal jail. The group agrees, and Veronica decides to make costumes of guards, meaning that she's also a costume designer and seamstress.

Veronica soon sets up her portable costume-making machine and drew the first design on the desk. The machine scans the design and it spawns a costume made from cloth. The rest of the group then continue sewing the costumes of guards and they put it on.

The five then run toward the gate to Ronald's backyard to try to blend in with his guards. Nature Cat decides that he needs some animals to distract them, so he takes out a fish from his pocket and places it on the ground, and one of the guards pick it up. All of a sudden, a gigantic herd of 9,000 bears appear and chase after the fish and break into Ronald's backyard. All of the workers run inside Ronald's house, however, the bears break into the house and attacked the workers.

After the attack, Nature Cat, and his Friends sneak into Ronald's backyard through the gate and into his house. However, along the way, they hear moaning, which was coming from one of Ronald's injured workers. Nature Cat then confronts the worker to tell him about Ronald's plan. Soon, Nature Cat tried to get more information, but the worker soon died, causing Nature Cat to burst into tears. Hal says "that is beautiful" and decides to give Nature Cat an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, which made him and the other group feel better.

Nature Cat and his friends then burst into Ronald's room and Ronald told them he give his plan to Darren

As Darren revealed that Ronald worked for him, Then Ronald quits working for him becomes alias of Nature Cat

## **Cast**

### **Animated Cast**

Taran Killam as Nature Cat

Bobby Moynihan as Hal

Kate Micucci as Daisy

Kate McKinnon as Squeeks

Chris Knowings as Ronald

Chris Parnell as Sir Galahad, Houston

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Sadie

Vanessa Bayer as Hayley

Hal and Hayley's kids are voiced by Hayden Rolence, Sadie Sink, Felix Avitia, Abby Ryder Fortson, Justin Felbinger, Scarlett Estevez, Owen Wilder Vaccaro, and Jacob Ewaniuk during the mid-credits scene.

### **Live Action Cast**

Huck Milner as Eric Reef

Reece Caddell as Julie Reef

Taran Killam as Dave Reef

Cobie Smulders as Amanda Reef

Jason Ritter as Darren Kreison

Leonardo Navarrete as Jason McKenzie

Sadie Stanley as Veronica McKenzie

Brandon Mychal Smith as Mark Wheeze

Doug Brochu as Derek Wheeze

James Franco as Robert Wheeze

Myles Davis as Victor Diaz

Tyrone White as Andrew Morris

Adi Hincu as Kate Morris

Jordan Landry as Jack Michaels

Dylan Sprouse as Animal Control #1

Cole Sprouse as Animal Control #2

Booboo Stewart as Animal Control #3

## **Production**

### **Development**

On December 25, 2019 a month After The Premiere Of A Nature Carol 17 Year Old Leonardo Navarrete Decide To Make A Movie Based On The PBS Kids TV Series Nature Cat In December 14, He Hold On Posters Of The Film And In December 16, 2019 He Announced The Film Release In Theaters July 17, 2020 In May 5, 2020 The Film Release Date Moved To July 16, 2021 Due To The COVID-19 pandemic and Later July 9, 2021 and September 17, 2021 and Now April 14, 2023.

### **Casting**

In December 18, 2019 He announced the cast of the TV series reprise their roles.

In December 21, 2019 He hired new cast in the film like Cobie Smulders, Jason Ritter, Huck Milner and Reece Caddell.

In December 24, 2019, Leonardo Navarrete Join The Cast Of The Film Along With Sadie Stanley

In January 22, 2020 He cast Jesse McCartney and Katie Peterson.

And In February 29, 2020 Myles Davis, Tyrone White, Adi Hincu, Jordan Landry, James Franco, Brandon Mychal Smith And Doug Brochu Join The Cast

### **Filming**

Principal Photography begin June 14, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Along With Wild Kratts: The Movie.

Filming Also Took Place In Chicago, Illinois And Highland Park, Illinois

Additional Principal Photography Took Place In Las Vegas, Nevada.

Principal Photography Wrapped Both Films September 12, 2022 In New York City, New York.

### **Animation**

The hand-drawn animation was done at 9 Story Media Group, and the CGI animated characters, backgrounds, and props were done by Brown Bag Films, 9 Story's subsidiary. Hal and Hayley's dream sequences were done by Canadian cartoonist, Michel Gagné. David and Adam Rudman hired him to animate the dream sequences of Hal and Hayley. The film's animation techniques are a combination of traditional hand-drawn animation, 2D digital Flash animation, and 3D computer-generated imagery.

###  **Visual effects**

Most of the visual effects were handled by CA Square, Digital Domain, and Sony Pictures Imageworks. Early tests began in September 17, 2022, with the majority of the effects work begin a week later and wrapping up in January 14, 2023

### **Music**

Leonardo Navarrete, announced that he will be working and collaborating with a live orchestra to composed and conducted the film's score and songs along with Bill Sherman.

### **Software**

The software used for this movie are Toon Boom Harmony (for 2D animation, clean-up, inbetweens, 2D effects, and digital ink & paint), Toon Boom Storyboard Pro (for storyboards), Adobe Animate (for 2D animation, building, rigging, and inbetweens), Adobe Photoshop (for visual development concept art, 2D layouts, backgrounds, 2D animation, clean-up, and inbetweens), Autodesk Maya (for CGI modeling, texturing, rigging, simulation, layout, animation, lighting, and rendering), Pixar's Renderman (for CGI simulation and rendering), Adobe After Effects (for visual effects and compositing), The Foundry Nuke (for compositing), Houdini Effects (for CGI effects), Avid Media Composer (for video editing), Audacity (for sound and dialogue editing), and Avid Pro Tools (for music editing and arrangements).

Toon Boom Harmony has been used in most of the 2D animated sequences, while Adobe Photoshop is used for the rest of the 2D animated sequences.

## **Marketing**

### **Trailers**

The film's teaser trailer was released on March 27, 2020 and was attached to theatrical showings of Disney's Mulan. A second teaser trailer was released on April 3, 2020, and was attached to theatrical showings of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway the film's first theatrical trailer was released on April 17, 2020, and was attached to theatrical showings of Trolls World Tour  A third trailer was released on May 22, 2020, and was attached to theatrical showings of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run The following month, TV spots also aired as well. A fourth and final trailer was released on June 26, 2020, and was attached to theatrical showings of Top Gun: Maverick.

### **Merchandise**

TOMY released plush toys and figurines based on the film in September, 2021 to coincide with the film's release. A video game based on the film title, *Nature Cat: The Video Game* was released on August 4, 2020 For PlayStation 4, XBOX One And Nintendo Switch.

McDonald's also produced 10 toys in their Happy Meals that were given away if anyone bought a kids' meal with an adult's paid order.

Scholastic released five books for the film: Nature Cat: The Movie: The Junior Novel, Nature Cat's Amazing Nature Adventure, Nature Cat: The Movie: The Essential Guide, Darren Kreison's Revenge!, and Nature Cat: The Movie: The Story Book.

### **Rating**

*Nature Cat: The Movie* was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “action violence, adventure, peril and brief mild language”, making it the first film based on a PBS Kids TV show since 2004's *Clifford's Really Big Movie*. and the first PBS Kids film to be Rated PG.

### **Screenshots**

Screenshots of the film were presented at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in November 24, 2021. More were taken

## **Release**

The film was released on April 15, 2022. The film also had its premiere at both the Chicago International Film Festival and the Microsoft Theater on April 8, 2022. The film also had a television airing on PBS Kids on October 14, 2022, and on Family Charged on October 21, 2022. The Film Originally Released July 17, 2020 but pushed to September 17, 2021 and later April 14, 2023.

### **Home media**

The film was released on Digital HD on January 9, 2024, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on February 12, 2024 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Special features include deleted scenes, games such as "Make Your Own Guard Costume", "Find the Directions", and "Interactive Storybook", and the music videos of "Electric City", "You Get Me", and "Dog Gone Dance".

The Canadian release offers previews for "Wild Kratts: The Movie", "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run" and "Trolls: World Tour", and a Government of Canada Stop Hating Online PSA.

### **Video games**

A video game, titled *Nature Cat: The Video Game*, was released on October 4, 2022 and was published by Activision and developed by Vicarious Visions.

A second tie-in video game, *Nature Cat: Save Nature!* was announced to accompany the film's release. It was developed by Electronic Arts And Published By Rockstar Games in 2019 and it was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,and Xbox One on October 18, 2022, in North America and on October 25, 2022, in Europe. As Microsoft is not publishing the game Ubisoft published the tie-in game.

## **Reception**

### **Critical response**

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 79%, based on 175 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Nature Cat: The Movie*has a brilliant story to go with the usual hand-drawn animation and computer animation, and with a creative idea of "talking syndrome", and Darren Kreison being the film's main antagonist. with Ronald as supporting protagonist" On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 69 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

### **Box office**

As of August 10, 2020, *Nature Cat: The Movie*has grossed $520 million in the United States and Canada and $130 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $650 million, against a production budget of $45 million, making it currently the fourth highest grossing animated film behind .

In the U.S. and Canada, *Nature Cat: The Movie* was released in theaters July 17, 2020 and is projected to gross $11 million from 3,900 theaters during its opening weekend. It made $4.8 million from Thursday night previews and $64.3 on its first day.

### **Accolades**

The film was nominated for many awards including Best Animated Feature. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature but lost to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run. At the 46th Annie Awards, it received 2 nominations for Best Animated Feature and Directing in an Animated Feature Production. At the 91th Academy Awards, it won 3 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing.

## **Transcripts**

For the main transcript, see Nature Cat: The Movie/Transcript

For the trailer transcripts, see Nature Cat: The Movie/Trailer transcripts