New York Cats: Lost in Los Angeles (1996 animated film)

New York Cats: Lost in Los Angeles is a 1996 animated feature film directed by Peter Thompson and released by Paramount Pictures on June 7, 1996, it is a sequel to the 1994 film New York Cats. The film revolves around the protagonists from the first movie, as well as Trashy and Charlotte's kittens, who attempt to stowaway on a trip to San Francisco, but they end up in Los Angeles, separated from Madame Bourgeois.

The film was produced by Hyperion Pictures, Film Roman and TMS Entertainment.

Summary
The film takes place a month or so after the end of the first film; by that time, Trashy and Charlotte have had two kittens, named Suzette and Rob. The owner of them, Madame Bourgeois, has to travel to San Francisco to help out at a fashion show, but they don't want to be left alone in the aid of Mrs. Guttenmeyer, a good but over-protective and near-sighted pet-sitter, so they stowaway in a suitcase heading to San Francisco. However, Bourgeois' suitcase and another suitcase get mixed up at the airport and the suitcase they're hiding in ends up in Los Angeles. While they have to search for the fashion show in San Francisco, Quentin Scamett (under a false identity, in disguise and with two new cohorts) plans to have the cats made into coats for the fashion show.

Cast/Characters
Patrick Swayze - Trashy - the leader of the gang and the father of Suzette and Rob. His intelligence and good planning come in handy in this film. Madonna - Charlotte - the beautiful and wealthy Angorra cat and the mother of Suzette and Rob. In this film, she is shown to be a very good fighter when angry. Rob Schneider - Loopy - the dim-witted member of the gang, who is one of two sources of comic relief in the film (the other being Christine) Tone Lōc - Tuff-Jazz (T.J.) - The smooth-talking musical cat of the gang, whose old, long-lost friend Rockie-Roll lives in Los Angeles. Daryl Hannah - Christine - The no-nonsense mother figure of the gang and also a source of comic relief. Susan Sarandon - Madame Bourgeois - A wealthy but compassionate and motherly fashion designer from Paris who has to help present her newest line of clothing at the fashion show in Los Angeles. Rupert Everett - Quentin Scamett - the villain from the first movie who has escaped from jail and enlisted the aid of two cohorts. Danny DeVito - Hambone - Quentin Scamett's male crony who is short and fat. Rhea Perlman - Lulu Longlegs - Quentin Scamett's female crony who is tall, skinny and impatient. Malcolm McDowell - Samuel E. Sykes - The corrupt, greedy, chauvinist and larcenous director of the fashion show who is (unbeknownst to Bourgeois or anyone else involved with and watching the fashion show) in league with Quentin. David Bowie - Rocky-Roll - The streetwise, rock-loving, musical and smart alley cat in Los Angeles, who has been friends with T.J. since they were young. Edie McClurg - Darla - Madame Bourgeois' maid. Andrea Martin - Mrs. Guttenmeyer - the near-sighted local pet-sitter who is (unbeknownst to her) feared by any pet she has taken care of because of her over-protective and overly-loving nature.

Production
The film's idea was discussed shortly after the script and storyboard for the original film were made. Fortunately, the cast members from the original movie were available to reprise their roles. Joe Brian considered releasing it direct-to-video due to the moderate theatrical gross, but when it became a video rental hit, he decided to release it in theatres instead. In 1994, after completing the original film, he traveled to England to create and develop a PlayStation/Saturn/PC game, and allowed Peter Thompson to direct, while Joe Brian wrote the screenplay and drew character designs, faxing them to Thompson frequently.

Like before, the film's animation was produced by Film Roman and subcontracted to Natterjack Animation in Canada, A. Film A/S in Denmark, Sunrise, Mushi and TMS in Japan, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, Hahn Shin Corporation and Hanho Heung-Up in South Korea and Milimetros in Spain. In total, the film cost $15 million, more than the original.

Reception
With the film competing mainly with Dragonheart, Mission: Impossible and Flipper on its opening weekend, the film managed to gross $25,688,970 in the USA and Canada, only slightly more than the gross of its previous film. With an additional $9.5 million internationally, the film grossed $35,188,970 worldwide, making the film a success.

The film was given positive audience reception but more mixed reception from critics than its predecessor. Roger Ebert gave it 3 stars out of 4 and wrote, "Usually, when a sequel to a good movie comes out, it's not as good as the original. But since there were better jokes and more character development in this one, it's just one exception. The songs in this film are clever and amusing, so are the jokes, and the artwork still portrays Los Angeles even better. Again though, the plot is more like an Aristocats wannabe."

Like before, the film won The Dove Foundation Seal of Approval and the Award of Excellence, but also won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film in 1996.

Home media
The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc on October 1, 1996 by Paramount. The VHS contains the video trailer for Harriet the Spy, the promos for Paramount Family Favorites and Paramount Comedy Films as well as an advertisement for the video games.

Music
The film's score was composed by David Newman with the songs written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Also included in the movie, is the Randy Newman song I Love L.A.

Merchandise
McDonald's released a set of Happy Meal toys to promote the movie, and even sold a New York Cats-themed Extra Value Meal for older customers. To promote the movie, the original film was even released on VHS along with Bebe's Kids at McDonald's restaurants in exclusive editions across the USA & Canada.

A video game based on the film was published by Konami for Sega Genesis and SNES. A different video game was developed by Realtime Associates for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64. A third game was published by Konami for the Game Boy, which was also Super Game Boy compatible.

The 16-bit game was a side-scrolling platformer with a similar plot, and the game's music and visuals were similar to those in the movie. The game is often praised by fans for its perfectly fair difficulty level and legitimately challenging parts the player have to solve.

The PlayStation/Saturn/Nintendo 64 game is a 3D-platformer (albeit with limited camera movement outside of following the character) but the graphics are known to glitch when the camera is commanded by the player to make certain movements. This game also has voice acting and remixes of music from the movie as well as newly-composed tunes.