Pete the Cat (2021 film)

Pete the Cat is a 2021 American live-action/animated hybrid comedy film based on the character of the same name. The film is directed by Tim Story and produced by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Neal H. Moritz. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Ed Helms, Chloë Grace Moretz, Kevin Hart, and Jacob Tremblay. The film is scheduled to release on November 19, 2021 by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the blend of live-action and animation, performances, and score, though the plot and script were criticized.

The film was also a box-office success, grossing $250.8 million worldwide on a $95 million budget, making it the ninth highest-grossing film from Sony Pictures Animation, as well as the 19th highest-grossing live-action/animated hybrid film. There are currently plans to develop a sequel to the film, entitled A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas, a film slated to release on December 22nd, 2023.

Synopsis
Pete is a blue cat from Los Angeles, California. He is a professional guitar player, and dreams to play at the Hollywood Bowl. Along his way, he encounters crazy experiences, such as trying to fight with three bullies, and fitting in with the human world. Is he going to fulfill his dreams by playing at the Hollywood Bowl?

Plot
The film starts off with Pete (Jacob Tremblay) talking to the audience about the Hollywood Bowl, and how he wants to play there. By doing so, he does guitar-playing on a street, making many bystanders notice. As he performs, the people start to put in change. After raising enough money, Pete starts to pack-up, and replies, "Sorry, guys. The show's over!". This made many people furious.

Pete uses his skateboard to ride down the street to Hollenbeck Park, his next location. On his way there, he does crazy performances, such as riding down the skateboard on the road, jumps on many cars, and his insane one being a jump over the truck. After landing, Pete says to himself, "Let's not do that again.", and continues on his way to Hollenbeck Park.

In an office building in Downtown LA, Darren (Ryan Reynolds) is looking up some cat pictures to give to his brother Rob     (Archie Yates), when John (Chris Pratt) yells at him for not working. Darren apologizes, and John replies in disgust. As he looks at the pictures again, John calls a conference meeting. The chart shows that the business is declining, and Bobby (Ed Helms) shows how he could fix that. When Billy (Robert Sheehan) and Darren ask some questions, Bobby decides to ignore them. As no one asks their question, Bobby starts off before being cut-off.

As Pete makes it to Hollenbeck Park, he finds many animals, like Callie (Alyson Stoner) and Emma (Indie Nameth) doing many performances that people have never heard of before. Wondering how he can do something, he came up with an idea of performing many daredevil skateboard tricks done by a cat. He chooses a spot near the lake, whereas while doing so, all the performers start to notice him. Feeling noticed, Pete does the biggest stunt, and as he lands, his skateboard dangles on the edge of the path, into the water. Trying to keep his balance, Pete is able to prevent himself from falling into the water, but as he was about to get off the skateboard, a soccer ball hits him in the head, and causes him to fall into the water. The crowd gasps, but as he swims up to the surface, they cheer, and Pete gives them a wink.

After explaining all the things they can do to make the business recline, Bobby tells everyone they are dismissed, except for Darren. After everyone exits the room, Bobby comes to Darren, and tells him he knows what he thinks he is. Bobby tells him that he won't be able to achieve his dream, and that he will find a way for him to get fired soon. John calls him, and Bobby dismisses Darren, saying that he is lucky he called him.

Darren leaves work, and calls his friend Lily (Ellie Kemper) to call him and pick him up, and meets up with Alexander (Kevin Hart) and Theo (John Hasler) near the park. While walking on the walkway, they spot Pete getting out of the water, while two people reach for him. Theo asks what that is supposed to be, but Alexander replies, "No, that's just something common."

After getting taken out of the lake, Pete gets to know the other animals that were performing in the park, like Grumpy (Atticus Shafer), Gustavo (Felix Avitia), and Sally (Juliet Donenfield). While he appreciates all the praise, he still thinks he isn't good enough to fit in with the human world. Before leaving, he said to himself if he is confident enough to play at the bowl, in which the others don't know about. Callie finds something strange about him, so she walks over to Pete, in which he ignores.

Lily arrives in a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu, and Darren, Alexander, and Theo get inside the car. While heading on their way to Darren's house for a party, Darren explains that Bobby has interfered with him again, and that he is getting annoyed by this. When asked about why this all started, Darren explained back in 8th grade that him and Bobby were rivals, and kept fighting in the halls, and keep getting detention. Darren also says that when they graduated high school, they became full-blown enemies, but got worse than they got to the office. Alexander says that he can just quit the job, and find a different one, like be a cook, or be a grocery scanner. But Darren declined those jobs, and chooses to stay as an office worker. Along the way, they meet Samantha (Chloë Grace Moretz), Allison (Regina Hall), and Terry (Jack McBrayer), in which they need a ride to the cafe. Samantha introduces herself as a worker from an office building in San Francisco, as well as Allison and Terry. They are in Los Angeles for a business trip, and they will be back in a while. Darren also talks to them about his rivalry between him and Bobby. Samantha tells him that he should beat him up again, but Darren says not to, because he will get fired.

Pete continues to walk down the street on his way to the animal shelter, knowing that his skateboard got damaged when he got hit with the soccer ball. However, on his way, he finds three bullies bullying on what looks like to be Rob. Al (DJ Shadow) says in a mean way, "Heck, not even your brother can save you, because he thinks you're so ignorant!". Rob begs them to stop, but continues to get beaten up in many painful ways. The alley gang turn their heads to see Pete, who is standing ominously in front of them. Al tells him to scram, before he and his pals Tony (Peter Dinklage) and Stu (Daniel Radcliffe) beat him up. Not ignoring his warning, the gang approaches Pete, but because he is a cat, he uses his claws to fight with them, as a fight cloud forms. After the fight, Pete celebrates his victory by doing several popular dance moves. Rob thanks him for beating them up, as soon as he left.

Pete arrives at the animal shelter, as he enters, a song plays as Pete sings "Alone in LA". When the song ends, the screen cuts to Bobby and John, walking down a street. Bobby tells his hate about pets, and that he wants them to be killed. John replies that that's way too harsh. But in return, Bobby says that it's not a big problem, it's just hate. John also says that a cat named Pete is supposed to be in the animal shelter near the park. This gave Bobby the idea to exterminate him, once and for all. But John says "Isn't that animal cruelty?!" Bobby says it's just like killing a spider. He sings "Easy as Pie", when the characters become animated, as Bobby sings on how John can be able to achieve his dream.

Back at Hollenbeck Park at night, Callie is planning on heading out, to find Pete. But Grumpy says that it's too dangerous out there, and that she needs to wait for him to come. While walking, Callie gets jumpscared by Kal (Kal Penn), in which she falls into the lake the same way as Pete. Kal talks about how they can use a device called the "Animal-Finder 3000". When it is used, it can find the animal within a 10-mile radius. When they use it, they find that there are 3 cats named Pete. So they have to split up to find him.

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Live-action actors

 * Ryan Reynolds as Darren Smith, a hard-working employee, and the deuteragonist of the film.
 * Ed Helms as Bobby Brown, the main antagonist of the film, who attempts to get rid of Pete.
 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Samantha, one of the workers at an office building.
 * Kevin Hart as Alexander, Darren's best friend, and a baseball player.
 * Ellie Kemper as Lily Williams, Darren's friend, and is a visitor from Canada.
 * Chris Pratt as John Hayes, the secondary antagonist, who bosses Darren around.
 * Archie Yates as Rob Smith, Darren's little brother, who befriends Pete after being saved by him.
 * Jack McBrayer as Terry Donovan, the regional manager and boss of Samantha.
 * John Hasler as Theo, Alexander's adopted brother.
 * Regina Hall as Allison, a worker and assistant for Samantha.
 * Mila Kunis as Julie.
 * Robert Sheenan as Billy.
 * DJ Shadow as Al, the leader of the Alley gang.
 * Peter Dinklage as Tony, a member of the gang.
 * Daniel Radcliffe as Stu, a second member of the gang.
 * Lizzo as herself.
 * Kal Penn as himself, who makes a cameo in the film.
 * Seth Rogen as a police officer.
 * Tim Story as Reginald.

Voice actors

 * Jacob Tremblay as Pete the Cat, the main protagonist of the film, who dreams of playing at the Hollywood Bowl.
 * Alyson Stoner as Callie, the tritagonist, and a friend of Pete.
 * Juliet Donenfield as Sally, a squirrel living in Hollenbeck Park.
 * Atticus Shaffer as Grumpy, a frog also living with Sally in Hollenbeck Park.
 * Indie Nameth as Emma, an artistic pug.
 * Felix Avitia as Gustavo.
 * Naomi Scott as Fiona, a stray kitty.


 * Pitbull as Gerald, a cat.
 * Evan Agos as Dennis.
 * Phill Jupitus as Wilson, a night owl, who wanders around LA in the night.
 * P.J. Bryne as Brody.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as an unnamed cat.

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Additionally, Frank Welker was originally cast to play as Pete, but was replaced by Jacob Tremblay, as Tim Story thought Pete would sound too old.

Development
In 2017, there were plans to develop a Pete the Cat animated film during the development of Pete the Cat: A Groovy New Year. The film was also originally going to be produced at Paramount Pictures, and that Dan Lin, and Roy Lee would serve as producers. The film was also going to be a fully-animated film, but was later put on turnaround.

In January 2018, Universal and Illumination announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were developing a live-action/animated hybrid film titled Cat Dayz. This would've marked the first film where Lord and Miller would collaborate with Illumination. In May 2018, Tim Story would serve as director, while Mark Archer and Pamela Ribon would write the film. In June 2018, it was announced the film would be transferred to Sony Pictures Animation. Sometime in January 2020, images of the film were leaked on Twitter.

Casting
On May 3, 2019, Ed Helms was revealed to have joined the cast. The following week, Neil Patrick Harris and Ellie Kemper would join. In July, Regina Hall, Archie Yates, Kevin Hart, and Daniel Radcliffe would be cast. Later in August 2019, Peter Dinklage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, and Lizzo were revealed to have joined the cast. In September, Jacob Tremblay, P.J. Bryne, Naomi Scott and Dee Bradley Baker had joined. Neil Patrick Harris was later replaced by Ryan Reynolds, due to creative differences.

Animation
Animation was done at Sony Pictures Imageworks, with Pete being 2D-animated, with some CGI elements. Other animal characters were also animated, similar to the 2021 film Tom & Jerry. However, some animals will not be animated if they are not being focused.

Filming
Filming began on September 3, 2019, in Downtown Los Angeles under the working title Cat Dayz, and ended on November 26.

Music
On June 19, 2019, it was confirmed that Mark Mothersbaugh will compose the film. There were 2 original songs in the soundtrack, the first being “World of the Pets” by DJ Shadow, featuring Flo Rida. The second is “Ballad of Pete” by Jason Mraz.

Release
Pete the Cat is scheduled to release on November 19, 2021. It was originally scheduled to release on June 12, 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the film was removed from the release schedule. In August, the film was shown to release on November 5, 2021, before being delayed 2 weeks to avoid competition with Paramount Pictures film Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Marketing
In May 2021, it was announced that SPA would partner with Hasbro by making toys to promote the film.

Three months later, in August, a Pete the Cat special, entitled Pete the Cat: The Grooviest Show was released on Amazon as a Prime original, also to promote the film.

Home media
Pete the Cat was released to digital by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on January 21, 2022, with Blu-Ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray releasing on February 12. Some deleted scenes from the movie were cut, but were added to the bonus features on the Blu-Ray version.

The film was later released on Netflix in April 29, 2022, and Amazon Prime Video on June 10, 2022.

Box office
The film was released in the US, alongside King Richard, and Mission: Impossible 7. The film has grossed $100.2 million in the US and Canada, and $150.6 million in other territories, in a total of $250.8 million against a $95 million dollar budget.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received an approval rating of 56% based on 155 critics, with an average rating of 5.35/10. The website’s critics consensus reads, “With the adventure of the grooviest cat has been deemed short, Pete the Cat isn't one of the most greatest voyages of the cat's journey.” Audiences polled on CinemaScore gave the film a “B+” on an A+ to F, while PostTrak showed that 80% of audience members gave the film a positive review, with 60% saying a "definite recommend". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted score of 55 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.

IGN gave the film a 7/10, stating, "While Pete the Cat isn't an entirely animated film, they do still have references to the books and the show. Some of the characters aren't well written enough, but the film's still a good one."

The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore said, "Tim Story's Pete the Cat is not a big motion-picture starring the grooviest cat in Los Angeles on the big screen. Though he can do some never-before-seen stunts, like the Xtreme Circle, he is not one of those skaters that can glide down handlers."

A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas
A sequel, entitled A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas was released on December 22nd, 2023. In this film, after finding out that no presents have arrived across the world, Pete and his friends embark on a wild adventure to the North Pole, only to find that someone has been trying to end Christmas.