Top Cat: The Movie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Top Cat: The Movie
Mexican theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alberto Mar
Produced by	Fernando de Fuentes Jose C. Garcia de Letona José Luis Massa
Screenplay by	Tim McKeon Kevin Seccia
Starring	Raul Anaya Jorge Arvizu Jesús Guzmán Eduardo Garza Mario Castañeda Ricardo Tejedo
Music by	Leoncio Lara
Editing by	Andrés Fernández
Studio	Anima Estudios Illusion Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	September 16, 2011 (2011-09-16)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish
Money made	MX$112.25 million (US$14.7 million)

Top Cat: The Movie (also known in Spanish as Don Gato y su Pandilla, literally "Top Cat and His Gang") is a 2011 Mexican-Argentine animated family action comedy film based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, Top Cat, which ran from 1961 to 1962 on ABC in the United States.

Produced by Ánima Estudios and Illusion Studios, the film was first released in theaters on September 16, 2011 in 2D and 3D formats, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was later released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2012, distributed by Vertigo Films, where it grossed £2.8 million, making it the highest-grossing Mexican film in the region. The film later received a limited release in the United States on 2 August 2013 by Viva Pictures, with the voices of Rob Schneider and Danny Trejo as Lou Strickland and Griswald respectively.

The film was a major commercial success, earning $43.5 million pesos on its opening weekend at the domestic box office and held the record as one of the biggest box-office openings in the Mexican cinema history. The film grossed a total of $112.25 million pesos domestically and $14.7 million worldwide.

A computer-animated prequel to the film and the series, titled Top Cat Begins, was released on October 30, 2015.

Plot

During lunch with Benny, Top Cat spots a female cat walking by them. Excusing himself, Top Cat quickly runs after the female cat, interrupted by Griswald, but soon gets him out of the way and meets up with the female cat, who introduces herself as Trixie. While she finds him amusing, an alley cat isn't her type.

At the alley, Top Cat catches news of the Maharajah of Peekajoo, known for his generosity and his rubies are just what Top Cat needs to impress Trixie. Top Cat and his gang head to the Connity Hall to meet the Maharajah, running into an obnoxious man named Lou Strickland. The gang steal his tickets and get him sent away. While the gang distracts Officer Dibble who is the Maharaja's escort, Top Cat makes a bet with the Maharaja and gets out of him a Maharaja Talk 5000 device with many functions, as the Maharaja hasn't any rubies.

The next morning, Officer Dibble is summoned to the police station to work for the Chief's son-in-law Strickland, who is taking over for the retired Chief. Strickland has replaced the staff with robots which he believes are more competent. Top Cat thwarts Strickland's attempt to evict him, preventing Strickland from getting the Mayor's funding for a robot police army. Upon discovering that they met, Strickland uses Trixie to keep Top Cat away from the alley while he carries out his revenge plan. Top Cat returns to the alley getting shunned by his gang, arrested by police and after a very brief trial (due to the judge having seen the false evidence before), convicted to the Dog Jail on a charge of stealing money from an orphanage.

With the arrest of Top Cat, Strickland is granted the Mayor's funding and establishes a robot police army and a major scale surveillance camera system that restricts privacy for the city. Meanwhile, Top Cat tries to keep a low profile in dog jail but later becomes popular having turned the jail into a paradise for the convicts. As for Top Cat's gang, they are struggling and begin to express their disbelief in him, which Top Cat notices from one of the security cameras.

Strickland abuses his authority and starts coming up with ridiculous laws to take absurd amounts of money off people for everything they do, intending to spend it on making himself even more 'handsome'. Tired of Strickland's tyranny, Trixie quits her job and turns to Officer Dibble, showing him evidence that a robot Top Cat was sent by Strickland robbed the orphanage, proving Top Cat's innocence. However, Strickland arrives and reveals his true intentions to Dibble, and that he's not the old chief's son-in-law. Dibble escapes to pass this to Top Cat's gang, but Trixie is captured by the police robots.

After Dibble tells the gang what really happened, they all head for Big Gus to help them break Top Cat out of prison, as he owes Top Cat. Big Gus leads them through an underground passage to the dog jail and leaves. The gang apologizes for their doubts about Top Cat. With their cover blown by the dogs knowing they've got cats with them, the gang and Dibble escape through a sewer hole arriving at Strickland's HQ.

The gang infiltrates the building in robot guises finding Strickland has imprisoned everyone in the city and stolen the city's cash. While Dibble distracts Strickland, the gang under the guise of robots make their way to Strickland's control center, but Top Cat's gang are locked in Strickland's vault having tripped a silent alarm, with Top Cat remaining outside. When Strickland arrives, he orders Top Cat to be annihilated by the robots. As a single robot enters, Top Cat realizes the whole security system was manufactured by the Maharajah of Pookajee. Top Cat takes out the Maharajah Talk 5000 which presumably controls all robots to get Strickland. In a panic, Strickland self-destructs the robot army except for the single one, revealed to be Fancy-Fancy still in his robot guise. Everyone imprisoned and Top Cat's gang are released in the self-destruction process. Strickland is rendered helpless and Dibble arrests him and (on Top Cat's suggestion) sentences him to the Dog Jail.

Top Cat and Trixie renew their relationship, Officer Dibble is promoted as the new Chief of Police, the gang enjoys themselves, and finally, Griswald asks for a place in Top Cat's gang, which Top Cat accepts.

Voice cast

Spanish cast

English cast

The English-language version was also included in the special features in the Mexican DVD release.

Prequel

A computer animated prequel to both the film and the original series was released on 30 October 2015 in Mexico, with Ánima Estudios once again producing.

See also

In Spanish: Don Gato y su pandilla (película) para niños