Best Cat Appearances on Screen
by Saramina_Zimmat | created - 10 months ago | updated - 10 months ago | PublicA list for cat lovers. These all feature "real" cats--most use actual cat actors, but all portray cats in a realistic way that "cat people" will recognize. These cats are characters in the film and not just props.
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1. Cat People (1942)
Not Rated | 73 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
Votes: 26,000 | Gross: $4.00M
This film captures the spirit of cats in a unique way.
2. Bell Book and Candle (1958)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A modern-day witch likes her neighbor but despises his fiancée, so she enchants him to love her instead.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs
Votes: 13,128
Siamese named Pyewacket is a major character in the film.
3. That Darn Cat! (1965)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
After a kidnapped bank teller uses a neighbor's wandering cat to send an S.O.S., the F.B.I. assigns a cat-allergic Agent to the case.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Hayley Mills, Dean Jones, Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 7,916 | Gross: $28.06M
Siamese named DC is one of the main characters and drives most of the action.
4. Rhubarb (1951)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Family, Sport
Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the ... See full summary »
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley
Votes: 846
A red tabby named Rhubarb inherits a baseball team and challenges ensue.
5. The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986)
G | 76 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
The adventures of a young cat and a dog as they find themselves accidentally separated and each swept into a hazardous trek.
Director: Masanori Hata | Stars: Kyôko Koizumi, Dudley Moore, Chatran, Pû
Votes: 12,730 | Gross: $13.25M
Milo is a red tabby.
6. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
G | 103 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi
Votes: 165,609
This is a Japanese animated urban fantasy film with a main character that is a talking back cat named Jiji. If cats could talk they would be like this.
7. Kedi (2016)
Not Rated | 79 min | Documentary
A profile of an ancient city and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.
Director: Ceyda Torun | Stars: Yaman Barlas, Sari, Arzu Göl, Kemal Suncu
Votes: 15,880 | Gross: $2.83M
A documentary about street cats in Turkey. This one is a must for cat lovers.
8. Captain Marvel (2019)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck | Stars: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law
Votes: 610,936 | Gross: $426.83M
Goose is a red tabby who is a main character in this film and plays a key role in multiple plot elements.
9. Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien.
Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman
Votes: 135,174
Grudge is a Maine Coon that is just beautiful to watch.
10. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
TV-PG | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton
Votes: 136,119
Android Data has a red tabby cat named Spot what appears occasionally in some episodes.
11. The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
G | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Three scientists help an Alien feline, stranded on Earth, to repair its damaged spacecraft in order to return home but their efforts are hampered by inept army officials and foreign spies.
Director: Norman Tokar | Stars: Ken Berry, Sandy Duncan, Harry Morgan, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 6,100
In this one a real Abyssinian cat plays a catlike alien named Jake/Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7. This one is a stretch for this list but titular alien is played by beautiful Abyssinian siblings Rumpler and Amber. I am not aware of another film that features this beautiful breed.
12. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 951,219 | Gross: $78.90M
Red tabby Jonesy is a scene stealer throughout.
13. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 192,198
A red tabby named Cat is main character in the film.
14. Keanu (2016)
R | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When the adorable kitten of an L.A. crime kingpin unexpectedly enters the life of two cousins, they will have to go through tough gangs, pitiless hit-men, and ruthless drug dealers who all claim him, to get him back. How hard can it be?
Director: Peter Atencio | Stars: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man
Votes: 51,987 | Gross: $20.57M
The titular character is a red tabby.
15. Harry and Tonto (1974)
R | 115 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
When his apartment building is torn down, a retired lifelong New Yorker goes on a cross-country odyssey with his beloved cat Tonto.
Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: Art Carney, Ellen Burstyn, René Enríquez, Herbert Berghof
Votes: 6,219 | Gross: $1.26M
Tonto is a red tabby and a main character in this classic road movie.
16. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
As her 16th birthday nears, Sabrina Spellman must reconcile her dual nature as a half-witch, half-mortal while fighting the evil forces that threaten her, her family, and the daylight world humans inhabit.
Stars: Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo
Votes: 108,548
Salem is a black cat. This feline character appears in several episodes and at times his actions drive the plot.
17. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
G | 97 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Two mysterious orphan children have extraordinary powers and are chased by a scheming millionaire. But where do these kids really call home?
Director: John Hough | Stars: Eddie Albert, Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence, Kim Richards
Votes: 11,358 | Gross: $20.00M
Winkie is a black cat who appears in multiple scenes and his actions drive the plot.
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