That Darn Cat is a
remake of the 1965 version of That Darn Cat. The film centers
around Patti, a rebellious teenager, and her cat D.C. (short
for Darn Cat) who lives in Edgefield, South Carolina.
Edgefield is a small town where everyone knows each other and
the town can be especially dull most of the time. Patti longs
for some excitement in her life and she gets it when one
evening D.C. comes home from an outing, wearing a wrist watch
around his neck. The next morning, Patti sees that same watch
in a picture in the newspaper on the wrist of a woman who had
recently been kidnapped. Patti receives her long awaited
excitement, as she and a FBI agent follow D.C. around the
city, looking for clues to the whereabouts of the kidnapped
woman.
Animal Action:
In one scene, D.C.
is seen walking on the roof-top of the school, as he goes to
meet Patti. He then exits down the fire escape, looks into a
classroom window and runs towards Patti, standing in front of
the school building. This scene was shot in cuts. For the
portion of the cat walking down the fire escape and looking
into the classroom, trainer #1 released the cat while trainer
#2 cued him to walk out of the frame and stop. When the cat
runs towards Patti, trainer #1 released the cat while trainer
#2 cued the cat with a buzzer.
As Patti's mother is
driving down the street, D.C., in Patti's lap with paws placed
on the door, hangs his head out the window as they drive past
a few shops. Upon seeing and smelling fresh fish being
unloaded, D.C. jumps out of the window and towards the fish.
This scene was shot in cuts. When the cat jumps out of the
window the vehicle was secured on a trailer. Trainer #1 was in
the back seat as trainer #2, waiting outside the vehicle, cued
the cat to jump where he was waiting to catch him.
Later, while still
in town, Patti sees D.C. sitting in the street and picks him
up and walks through town with him. After putting him down,
D.C. is seen walking across a tree branch to a window sill and
sits on the sill to watch a bird in it's cage. The bird
squawks as D.C. takes his paw and reaches out to the cage to
play. This scene was shot in several different cuts. After the
actor puts the cat down, the trainer cued the cat with a
buzzer to come. For the portion of the cat walking across the
tree branch, a special platform made out of foam plastic was
built under the tree branch so the cat could securely walk to
the window sill. Trainer #1 released the cat while trainer #2
cued the cat with a buzzer to walk along the branch. As a
safety precaution, additional trainers were strategically
positioned under the tree.
There is a scene
where D.C. sees a ham in a butcher shop window and goes in to
get a nibble. The scene was shot in cuts. For the A to B shot
from the door to the window, trainer #1 released the cat while
trainer #2 cued him to his mark with a buzzer and clicker. Cat
food was placed on top of the ham. Trainer #1 cued the cat
with a buzzer to the ham where he then licked and chewed at
the cat food, simulating eating the ham.
In another scene D.
C. is sitting and then lying on the stove. When the clock
chimes eight, he suddenly gets up and jumps off of the stove
and makes his way towards the window and jumps out for his
nightly prowl. D.C. runs down the sidewalk through a yard and
onto a box, where he jumps up to the top of a fence and onto a
tree limb. From the ground below, a rat pokes his head out of
a trash can and watches D.C.'s descent. D.C. slowly makes his
way across the tree branch towards Smokey, the neighbor's dog,
and his bowl of kibbles. A tree branch breaks and Smokey runs
towards the sound. Meanwhile, D.C. jumps down and starts to
devour the bowl of kibbles until he is spotted by Smokey. D.C.
makes a quick retreat towards a loose board in the fence.
After successfully making it through the hole, the board flips
backwards, hitting Smokey in the nose as he approaches the
hole. This scene was shot in several cuts. When Smokey is
supposedly hit with the board, the trainer very slowly brought
the board up to the dogs chin, lightly touching him underneath
the chin. This action was filmed from various angles. Later
the same action was filmed without the dog present and the
board was flipped up at a faster pace. During post production
both shots were spliced together making it look as if the dog
was hit with the board. The sounds were also inserted during
post production.
D.C. is then seen
looking at his girlfriend through a glass door, but when he
hears someone approaching he runs down a fire escape. He is
then seen walking up to a gas station where he approaches a
vending machine. With his paw, D.C. presses the milk button
and a few droplets of milk come out and he slurps it up. He
then makes his rounds to the butcher shop and diner, looking
in the windows. D.C. is later seen coming out of a trash can
and running up some steps to a door where he goes in through a
hole in the bottom. He sees a lady tied to a chair and jumps
up into her lap. This is when the woman puts her watch around
the cats neck in hopes of someone finding her. D.C. then goes
back out of the door and hops onto a garbage truck for a free
ride home. This scene was shot in several cuts. The trainer
placed the cat on his mark and cued him with a buzzer. For the
segment of D.C. visiting Snowball, his girlfriend, four
trainers were used for this scene. A buzzer was used to cue
the cats inside and out to their marks. When the cat is seen
pressing the button to get some milk, this was a pre-trained
behavior with a buzzer used to cue him.
When Zeke and his
men are staking out the cat, Zeke is inside Patti's house
waiting for D.C. to go prowling about the town. After the
clock strikes eight, D.C. just sits on the table flicking his
tail around. Just when they are about to give up, he jumps on
Zeke's head using it as a launch pad and jumps out the window.
He starts to follow the same route he does every night with
the exception that FBI agents are following him. When he gets
to Smokey's yard he runs through the flap in the fence and
enters the yard. He then climbs up the tree and walks on the
branch and jumps down to the bowl. The agent following him,
climbs the fence and falls on his descent. Smokey hears the
commotion and attacks the agent, leaving the bowl of kibbles
unprotected. Smokey makes one more attempt on the agent as he
grabs his pants when the man climbs over the fence to escape.
D.C. hurries and makes a quick escape out through the flap in
the fence. The loose board smacks Smokey in the face and one
of the agents in the head. This scene was shot in several cuts
and from various angles. When the board supposedly hits the
dog in the face, the same procedure as described earlier was
used. Both the cat and dog were pre-trained for this scene.
The trainer placed the dog on his mark and cued him with
verbal and hand commands.
D.C. makes another
stop at Snowball's house. When the two see each other,
Snowball becomes excited and hisses, surprising the agent
below and he falls from his hiding place, discharging his gun
into the air. D.C. jumps off the fire escape and onto the hood
of a car below and makes his way to the gas station. At the
station, D.C. is walking around one of the agents legs when he
sees a rat. He immediately runs after the rat with the agent
not far behind. The scene was shot in several cuts. For the
segment at Snowball's house six trainers were used. Four
trainers were inside using verbal and hand commands to cue
Snowball, while outside, trainer #1 released D.C. with trainer
#2 inside to cue him to paw towards the agent. When D.C.
chases the rat and the portion of the rat running, three
trainer were used. The rat was buzzed from A to B with a
buzzer for short ten to fifteen feet runs. Two rats were
alternately used for the scene. The cat and rat were not
filmed at the same time. Two trainers cued the cat with a
buzzer. When the cat jumps on top of the car, trainer #1 cued
the cat with a buzzer to jump on the hood of the car and to
stay. Trainer #2 cued the cat to jump off and run towards the
door.
Later, D.C. is seen
running around a corner, through an alley, and up some steps,
to the old woman's window where the bird sits. D.C. stretches
towards the bird cage and jumps onto the top and swings back
and forth. After teasing the bird, he jumps off the cage and
back down the steps. This scene was shot in several cuts.
Three trainers were used for this scene. Two trainers were off
camera to cue the cat for simple A to B shots. A stuffed prop
cat was used for the shot of the cat on top of the bird cage.
A trainer hidden off camera maneuvered the cage back and
forth. When the cat jumps down the steps, the trainers cued
the cat with a buzzer for a short A to B shot. As D. C. is
seen running down the alley, two trainers off camera used
buzzers to cue the cat.
Mr. Randall, Patti's
father, sees D.C. in the street that same night and picks him
up. He does not realize he is being watched by the FBI and
when they approach him, D.C. jumps down and onto the hood of a
car, escaping. He is later seen walking across the top of a
stone fence, up a tree branch, and then entering a room. This
scene was shot in cuts. Two trainers were used. Trainer #1
released the cat and cued him with a buzzer onto the hood
while trainer #2, off camera, buzzed the cat out of the shot.
There is a scene
where Patti sees D.C. digging in the garden in the town square
and where he finds a piece of cloth. She follows him to the
kidnappers, where she and D.C. are caught as well. When D.C.
is seen in the garden, trainer #1 placed the cat on his mark
and cued him to stay. The cat was pre-trained to hold the
cloth in his mouth. A piece of monofilament was also used to
assist in keeping the cloth in his mouth. When D. C. takes off
down the alley, trainer #1 released the cat as trainer #2 cued
him with a buzzer down the street and into the alley.
Shortly thereafter,
Zeke finds Patti and D.C. at the kidnappers tied up with the
original kidnap victim. The scene was shot in several cuts.
For the portion of D.C. tied up, a portion of the cats body is
seen inside a burlap sack with his head sticking out and a
blind fold over his eyes. The cat was pre-trained to lay still
inside the cloth bag which was loosely tied at the neck area
along with a loose piece of cloth pulled over the eyes. The
blindfold was similar to a cloth stretch head-band worn by
humans. When the cat jumps over the agents head and onto the
pinball machine, the cat was buzzed from A to B and cued to
stay. The cat is seen riding in the back window of the truck.
For this shot a box was built up on the bench seat with a
carpet surface. The cat was wearing a waist tie down as
trainer #1, positioned behind the seat, was holding the tie
down.
During the chase
scene, D.C. swats at Zeke's face before getting fed up and
jumping out the truck window, when stopped. The truck was
towed behind a process truck going about fifteen to twenty
miles an hour. The trainer doubled for the actor for the
portion of the cat swatting at the agent. He cued the cat to
paw at his jacket or face. When the truck is stopped, the
trainer behind the seat releases the quick release mechanism
on the tie down. Trainer #2, waiting outside the truck, cued
the cat with a buzzer to exit out the truck window.
There is a scene
where Smokey enters a cat show which causes complete chaos.
This scene was shot in several cuts. When Smokey discovers the
cat show, the dog is cued A to B and the cats seen in the
background were trained cats, carried by their trainers. When
Smokey runs under a mans legs, causing him to fall with a cat
in him arms, the actor holding the cat was actually a stunt
person, who fell on a mat with the cat held away from the
fall. When the cats are seen running under Smokey's legs, the
dog was cued to stand with the trainer off camera. The cat
trainers released the cats from each side of the room and cued
them with a buzzer to run under the dog to the opposite side
of the room and into catch crates. There are several segments
where Smokey is seen pulling table cloths and such off of the
tables in pursuit of the cats. To accomplish this type of
stunt, trainers looped a dust ruffle loosely around the dogs
neck so that when he moved, the cloth would come away. When
the cats run out of the hall, they are cued A to B with a
buzzer with extra's following behind. All of the people
involved in this scene with animals were trainers or stunt
people instructed by animal trainers. Most of the objects seen
knocked over or simply falling around the animals, were
accomplished through special effects. They were tied with
monofilament and triggered by the special effects technicians.
There is a segment where a banner is seen falling and a cat is
hanging on the banner, a prop cat was used for this scene. At
no time was a real cat used for that shot.
In the meantime,
D.C., riding in a tow truck with Patti and Zeke, notices all
the commotion. When Zeke stops the truck, D.C. immediately
jumps out of the window onto the street. Trainer #2 was inside
the pick-up behind the back seat. The cat was sitting on the
special platform behind the front seat with a quick release
tie down around his waist. Trainer #2 released the cat and
trainer #1, outside the truck, cued the cat with a buzzer out
the window and off camera.
During the chase
scene, the kidnappers are seen speeding past town hall, just
as the cats are fleeing the cat show. All of the commotion
causes the kidnappers to wreck their vehicle. For this scene,
two cats are seen being carried by extras as the other cats
are buzzed from A to B. to catch crates waiting for them. To
accomplish the segment of the cats jumping from roof-top to
roof-top, a building facade was built. One side of the facade
was eight feet tall with a platform behind and the other side
was six feet tall. For safety precautions, traction was added
on a two foot wide walk area on top of the platform with a
stunt pad below.
In the ending scene,
D.C. is seen with his girlfriend and several little kittens
exiting an alley and walking across the street. Several
trainers were used for this scene. D.C. is cued with a buzzer
into the frame and then Snowball is cued into frame. Trainers
at point A release the kittens while trainers at point B cued
them with a buzzer to their next mark, with food as a reward.
The area was fenced with an opening at each end.
Other basic animal
action involving the cat, is when he is seen lying or sitting
on the stove at breakfast. In several scenes he is seen being
carried or stroked by one of the actors or walking from A to
B. There is also a scene where D. C. jumps out of the car
window to join Patti on her excursion to the FBI. offices.