Kuckoo Kat: Spy, Spy Again (2005 film)

Kuckoo Kat: Spy, Spy Again is a 2005 animated action spy comedy directed by Maxine Becker and written by Jeffery Armstrong. It is the second animated film that stars Kuckoo Kat, following Kuckoo Kat and the Ink Splatter (1994) and stars Roger Yates in the title character, alongside Hilda Walton, Otis Underwood, Reginald Townsend, Cathy Hardy, Rafael Ramos, Sheila Vasquez, and Jeff Brooks in other roles. The film stars Yates as Kuckoo, who gets recruited to become a part of the secret spy agency, S.T.R.E.T.C.H, along with two new studio janitors, Susan Matthews (Walton) and Dominic Fletcher (Underwood) and are tasked with stopping the evil organization, S.Q.U.A.S.H, led by a has-been kids TV star, Squishy (Brooks), who plans to steal the Dizzy Diamond.

The film was originally going to be entirely computer-animated, but the studio decided to use digital ink-and-paint to animate it, with CGI being used to animate certain aspects of the film. When it was released on March 24, 2005, it competed with some big names during its theatrical run, from animated films like Robots and Madagascar, to big-name blockbusters like Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Batman Begins, but it was a major success with the critics and the box-office. Critics praised it for its fun story, wacky animation, and amazing action, and at the box office, it grossed $580 million worldwide against a $70 million budget, making this Gryphon Animation's second highest-grossing film of all time.

Plot
At the Gryphon Pictures studio lot, where humans and toons work together, Kuckoo works as a movie star, while two newcomers, Susan Matthews and Dominic Fletcher get hired to work as studio janitors. However, at the latest meeting, Kuckoo gets fired due to his wild antics at the studio and gets kicked out of the studio. With nowhere else to go, he decides to sneak inside the trunk of Dominic and Susan's car. After they drive back home for the day, they find Kuckoo in their trunk and after he begs, they decide to let him stay with them. Susan is reluctant at first, but eventually is cool with Kuckoo living with them. Meanwhile, a secret spy organization is trying to find new recruits to become spies, and eventually settle on Susan, Dominic, and Kuckoo.

Production
After the success of Ink Splatter, the crew at Gryphon Animation tried thinking of different concepts for another movie starring Kuckoo, including an adventure comedy that would've been a spoof on the Indiana Jones movies, one where Kuckoo and his friends would've traveled to Hollywood in the 1930s to become famous movie stars, or one that would be a true sequel to Ink Splatter.