Top Cat Begins

Top Cat Begins
Directed by Andrés Couturier[1]
Produced by Fernando de Fuentes
Jose C. Garcia de Letona
Screenplay by James Krieg[1]
Doug Langdale[1]
Jorge Ramírez-Suárez[1]
Based on Top Cat
by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Starring Raúl Anaya
Mauricio Pérez
Jesús Guzmán
Gerardo Alonso
Mario Filio
Octavio Rojas
Music by Leoncio Lara Bon[1]
Edited by Patrick Danse
Production
company
Ánima Estudios[2]
Discreet Arts Production[1]
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures (Mexico and India)[2][3]
Kaleidoscope Film Distribution (United Kingdom)
Release dates
  • October 30, 2015 (2015-10-30) (Mexico)[4]
  • May 27, 2016 (2016-05-27) (United Kingdom)[3]
Running time
 90 minutes[5]
Country India
Mexico[1]
United Kingdom
Language English
Spanish
Budget $8 million[6]
Box office $4.6 million[7]

Top Cat Begins (also known in Spanish as Don Gato: El Inicio de la Pandilla, translated to Top Cat: The Start of the Gang) is an Indian-Mexican[1] computer-animated comedy film, produced by Ánima Estudios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in Mexico.[2] Based on the animated television series, Top Cat, made by Hanna-Barbera, this film will be a prequel to both the series and the movie, taking place before Top Cat met his gang.[6]

The film premiered in Mexican theaters on October 30, 2015. The film was later released in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2016, distributed by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution and Warner Bros. UK.[3][8][9] The film has received generally negative reviews, with critics criticizing the cheap animation and writing, and was a box office bomb, grossing $4.6 million on an $8 million budget.

Plot

The film is an origin story, explaining how Top Cat met Benny and how he created his gang.[2]

Cast

Character Spanish voice actor English voice actor
Top Cat Raúl Anaya Jason Harris Katz
Benny Mauricio Pérez Chris Edgerly
Choo-Choo Jesús Guzmán Jason Harris Katz
Brain Jesús Guzmán Jason Harris Katz
Fancy-Fancy Gerardo Alonso Matthew Piazzi
Spook Mario Filio Benjamin Diskin
Officer Dibble Octavio Rojas Bill Lobley
Mr. Big Darin De Paul TBA

Animation

Unlike the previous film, which was animated in 2D Adobe flash, the film was animated entirely in computer-generated imagery, according to producer Jose Garcia de Letona.[2] Animation production is handled by Discreet Arts Productions in India.[1]

Writing

The film's screenplay is written by James Krieg,[1] (known for writing the Scooby-Doo television shows), Doug Langdale,[1] and Jorge Ramírez-Suárez.[1]

Casting

For the English version, Jason Harris Katz, the voice of Top Cat and other characters from the first film, has announced via his Twitter that he will reprise his role as the same character.[10] It was also announced that voice actors, Chris Edgerly, Bill Lobley, Hope Levy, and David Hoffman, have also joined the English cast.[8]

Release

The film's Mexican release trailer premiered on July 1, 2015,[11][12] followed by second trailer, released on September 14, 2015.[13]

The film was released on October 30, 2015 in Mexico, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Mexico and confirmed to release in the rest of Latin America.

The film is followed by a United Kingdom release on May 27, 2016, distributed by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution and Warner Bros. Pictures UK.[3][8] “We are very excited to be working with Ánima Estudios, [by] bringing this latest chapter of Top Cat to a worldwide audience., said Spencer Pollard, CEO of KFD.[8] "As a leading global animation brand, we’re looking forward to T.C. and his friends hitting [the] screens everywhere in 2016.”[8] The film's UK release and English-language trailer was released on March 8, 2016.[14]

Box office

On its opening weekend in Mexico, the film debuted at #3 behind Goosebumps and Crimson Peak, earning $18,138,843 pesos ($1,092,066 USD),[15][16][17] performing weaker than its predecessor.

On its opening weekend in the United Kingdom, the film was a major box-office bomb, debuting at #15, with X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through the Looking Glass leading, only earning £69,784 ($100,683 USD).[18][19][20]

Reception

The film has received negative reviews, with critics criticizing the animation, directing, pacing, and writing, but praising the film's dubbing and attempt to revive the original show's characters. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 20%, based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 3.2/10.[21][22][23]

Carlos Del Río of Cine Premiere gave this film a 1 star rating, saying that the film has "[c]heated again. [The] Top Cat film fails to approach the spirit and humor of the TV series."[24] Eddie Harrison, writing in The List, gave the film 3/5 stars, saying, "The feline favourite returns for a likeably familiar, knockabout animation. As with J. J. Abrams' first Star Trek movie, there's a reasonable amount of fun in seeing how the iconic characters originally met each other...director Andrés Couturier's film wisely scales things down as it attempts to get back to the comedic values of its source material."[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Don Gato: El inicio de la pandilla". Conaculta. Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 de la Fuente, Anna Marie (September 17, 2014). "Anima Brings 'Top Cat Begins' to the Bigscreen". Variety. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Semlyen, Phil De (7 March 2016). "First Top Cat Begins trailer and poster lands". Empire - Movies. Empire. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "TOP CAT BEGINS - British Board of Film Classification".
  6. 1 2 Rojas, Robinson (21 September 2014). "'Don Gato' regresa con película sobre el inicio de su pandilla (in Spanish)". La Tercera. La Tercera. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Don Gato: el inicio de la pandilla (Top Cat Begins)".
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Wiseman, Andreas (1 November 2015). "'Top Cat Begins' gets sales deal". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight Limited. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Top Cat Begins".
  10. ↑ Harris, Jason. "Jason Harris on Twitter - "Great group day for @TheAmericansFX - Now..."". Twitter. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Beck, Jerry (2 July 2015). "TRAILER: "Top Cat Begins"". Animation Scoop. Indiewire. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "WB Pictures México on Twitter". Twitter.
  13. ↑ "DON GATO: El Inicio de la Pandilla - Trailer 2 - Oficial Warner Bros. Pictures". YouTube. Warner Bros. Pictures Latinoamérica. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Top Cat Begins UK TRAILER 1 (2016) Youtube
  15. ↑ "Mexico Box Office".
  16. ↑ "Canacine". Canacine. Canacine. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  17. ↑ TG, Esteban (2 November 2015). "Taquilla mexicana (30 oct-1° nov-2015): Guillermo del Toro en la cima con la "Cumbre Escarlata"". Cine3. Cine3.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Alice sequel slips up as X-Men maintain a heroic hold on the UK box office
  19. ↑ Weekend box office figures - May 2016
  20. ↑ "United Kingdom Box Office May 27–29, 2016". Box Office Mojo. Amazon. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "Top Cat Begins (Don Gato, el inicio de la pandilla) (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  22. ↑ Muñoz, Mauricio (29 October 2015). ""Don Gato: el Inicio de la Pandilla"". En La Butaca. enlabutaca.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015. (in Spanish)
  23. ↑ "RESEÑA DON GATO: EL INICIO DE LA PANDILLA". Play Reactor. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015. (in Spanish)
  24. ↑ Del Río, Carlos (29 October 2015). "Cine PREMIERE - DON GATO: EL INICIO DE LA PANDILLA". Cine Premiere. Cine PREMIERE. Retrieved 4 November 2015. (in Spanish)
  25. ↑ "Top Cat Begins - The feline favourite returns for a likeably familiar, knockabout animation". The List. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
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