Cats were on the screen long before Hollywood decided to put them there. In fact, two of the first cats featured in a film were performers from Henry Welton's "cat circus." In 1894, inventor William K.L. Dickson and director William Heise made the short silent film "The Boxing Cats (Prof. Welton's)." Just like its title says, it features two felines with boxing gloves engaging in a boxing match of sorts.
What's more, it was a catalyst for cinema technology, too. Apparently, Dickson was so obsessed with filming the cats that he invented 35 mm perforated film. He was Thomas Edison's employee, and the film was shot in Edison's Black Maria studio in New Jersey. Today, experts praise the film for its innovative camera work and editing, while others even say it's possibly the first-ever cat video.
Although the cats in the film were circus performers, Dickson had to train them extensively. He wanted it to seem like the cats embodied the culture of physical fitness and required them to move in certain ways. The short film wasn't much appreciated during modern times, although enthusiasts and experts alike are starting to develop an interest in it and call it "a very interesting and amusing project."
In 1895, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine sang its praises: "Each picture when taken is actually only one inch in size, but is several times magnified. It is illuminated by an incandescent lamp whose rays are interrupted forty-six times a second while the pictures shoot past, the latter being only momentarily lighted up just as they reach the eye."
"So smooth is the mechanism, however, and so swift is the succession of graded pictures, that the mind or eye is aware of no break any more than would be perceived by the execution of movements in actual life."
"The Boxing Cats (Prof. Welton's)" only featured two felines. Today, it's common practice to use several animals for one role. Perhaps one of the most famous cinematic cats is the one from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Or rather, two – sources claim that the cat in that film was played by at least two different animals.
Insiders referred to the cat as Orangey, although it's hard to say just how many Orangeys there were in Hollywood at the time. A similar cat also starred in Rhubarb, and it's said that Orangey won two PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) Awards. The thing is that, in Rhubarb, more than 60 cats played the role, so, to whom did the trophy really go?
Some people suggest that Orangey was a type of cat rather than a certain animal. The industry had people believing that Orangey had a 16-year-long career in movies, but there is little evidence to support those claims. In general, pets have a pretty poor reputation for being reliable actors, and that's true for both cats and dogs.
Joel Coen, for example, called the cat featured in Inside Llewyn Davis "a pain in the [rear]." Stranger Things actor David Harbour also hated working with the canine that played the Byers' family dog. "I hated that [dog] so bad," the actor said in an interview. "Take after take, it would wander off or do something. And then I remember the trainer on the sidelines going, 'Come on! We got to make our money.'" Perhaps that's why using many different cats has boded much better for directors in the past.
Nevertheless, having cats in a movie is not easy. They're much harder to train than dogs, yet somehow, they're becoming quite sought after in the industry. Some believe it's because influencer cats bring in more audiences. An animal talent agency Pawsitively Famous owner Dawn Wolfe explained to The Times that it's hard to make a cat actor do anything.
