This week Paramount Pictures releases A Quiet Place: Day One, the third in the franchise created by John Krasinski. The film will introduce us to an iconic new character who will become an icon of the silver screen, Frodo the cat.
In the film, Lupita Nyong’o plays Sam, so her cute cat’s name is clearly very fitting. The cat acts as her furry sidekick throughout the whole film, and even manages to convert Lupita into a cat person! She said, “I was afraid of cats when I started this movie. By the end of the movie, I was crying leaving that cat. Now I am definitely a cat mom. I have my cat’s fur all over me, and I think of it as a symbol of affection, which I never imagined I would.”
With that, let’s take a look at who Frodo’s joining in the cinematic Paws of Fame…
Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots may actually be the oldest feline on this list, by almost 400 years! The oldest known version of Puss in Boots dates back to 1634 in Cagliuso by Giambattista Basile. However, we all know and love the cheeky, furry little musketeer for his appearances across the Shrek franchise and his own two films, voiced by the incredible Antonio Banderas. With his adorable eyes, awesome sword fighting skills and pure charm, Puss in Boots won our hearts from his first appearance in Shrek 2 in 2004, all the way up until his last appearance in 2022 with the commercial and critically acclaimed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish even being nominated for an Oscar!
The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)
The nefarious Cheshire Cat was a mischievous, creepy-looking villain in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He is a confusing, morally ambiguous, enigmatic character who seemingly has magical powers such as teleportation, leaving only his eerie grin as the rest of his body slowly disappears … The Cat is one of the true iterations of an anti-hero, with no one knowing whose side he’s on. Alice first spots the Cat in the Duchess’s kitchen, and later on the branches of a tree. Here, the Cat appears and disappears at will, after engaging Alice in funny, but often perplexing conversation. The Cat sometimes raises philosophical points that annoy or baffle Alice, as well as cheering her on when he appears suddenly at the Queen of Hearts’ croquet field. When sentenced to death, the Cheshire Cat baffles everyone by making his head appear without his body, sparking a debate between the executioner and the King and Queen of Hearts about whether a disembodied head can indeed be beheaded. In Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the devious Cheshire Cat is very fittingly voiced by Stephen Fry, who sometimes guides Alice in the right direction, or betrays her and leads her towards doom.
Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat started off in the 1957 iconic, wacky and off-the-wall children’s book written by Dr. Seuss. The huge Cat comes to Sally and her brother’s house one day after their mother leaves and they exclaim how bored they are as the rain pours down. Despite the pet goldfish’s objections, the Cat shows the children loads of fun tricks and games and basically magic in an attempt to entertain them and make them have fun, trashing the house in the process, along with his companions Thing 1 and Thing 2, of course. As the children and their fish become more alarmed, at the last minute the Cat produces a machine that he uses to clean up all of the mess, and he disappears just as their mother returns home. Dr. Seuss, real name Theodor Geisel, was so frustrated with the limited word list he could choose from for his children’s story that he decided to create a story based on the first two rhyming words he found. The words he found were, obviously, cat and hat, and the book was met with immediate critical and commercial success! Mike Meyers hilariously played the towering troublemaker in the 2003 live-action film, with a new animated film scheduled for 2026.
Cat (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
Audrey Hepburn is one of the most iconic film characters of all time in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, so of course she passes this down to her feline sidekick. While Hepburn’s character is called Holly Golightly, her cat is never named. The cat plays a huge role towards the end of the film; when Holly exclaims she’ll move to Brazil, her cat leaps out of the cab door into the soaking rain. Paul then has to confess he loves Holly before they both chase after the cat. When Holly finally finds her pet, the couple embrace in the pouring rain, smushing the feline between them!
The Aristocats
All of the cats in The Aristocats are insanely talented. They sing, play a variety of instruments and, most of all, speak English. After an aristocratic lady promises her fortune to her kittens, her butler kidnaps them in order to gain the money for himself. When the mother cat is separated from her three jazzy kittens, an alley cat acquaintance helps them escape and return to them home.
Garfield
Possibly the most iconic fictional cat of all, the big orange furball that is Garfield has been around since his very own comic strip in 1978. Originally called Jon in the Pendleton Times in 1976, the comic strip centred on his down-on-his-luck owner. After readers loved and laughed at his lazy personality, his popularity skyrocketed, and Jon became Garfield in 1978. Garfield currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip! Following his huge success, Garfield starred in many animated TV series and primetime specials throughout the 80s and 90s, until his live-action/CGI hybrid movie came out in 2004. Starring none other than Bill Murray himself, with a sequel out two years later, his films were hilarious box office hits. This year, Garfield returns, being voiced by Chris Pratt alongside a huge cast with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Nicholas Holt, Hannah Waddingham and many more.
Jonesy (Alien)
In the iconic sci-fi smash hit Alien, Sigourney Weaver’s badass character Ellen Ripley has a cute ginger American Shorthair cat as a sidekick. Portrayed by four lookalike cat actors, Jonesy is the crew’s cat on the Nostromo, and even got his own spin-off book where he’s the protagonist, titled ‘Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo’. When the terrifying Xenomorph began stalking the ship’s occupants, Jonesy was of little interest to the creature, so he survived the incident without a scratch. However, he was indirectly responsible for the death of Brett. As he tried to rescue Jonesy through the ship’s cargo hold, the cat accidentally lured Brett into a room where the Xenomorph hid. Jonesy watched on, emotionless, as the Xenomorph heaved Brett’s body into the air shafts with ease. Ripley later found Jonesy and put him in a carry case. At one point, Ripley was forced to abandon Jonesy to the Xenomorph, but, while it was notably distracted by the cat, it did not attack. After escaping with Ripley, Jonesy was put into hypersleep aboard the Narcissusand flew off to safety.
Mr. Bigglesworth (Austin Powers)
Mr. Bigglesworth is Dr. Evil’s hairless cat throughout the Austin Powers movies. A parody of Blofeld’s cat from the Bond films, Mr. Bigglesworth lost all his hair when he was forced to escape with his owner, Dr. Evil, in a cryogenic capsule. Played in the first film by a sphinx cat named Ted Nude-Gent, he apparently had lots of love for Mike Myers, often found to fall asleep on his lap. Appearing in one scene in Goldmember, Mr. Bigglesworth could be seen in the school flashback, with a younger Dr. Evil hold him as a kitten, full of hair. Here, he was portrayed by a 12-week-old kitten named Chloe. Mini-Me also had a Mini-Mr. Bigglesworth of his own, played by three kittens named Mel Gibskin, Paul Nudeman and Skindiana Jones!
Binx (Hocus Pocus)
In the cultiest of cult classics Hocus Pocus, the black cat Binx, an iconic Witch companion, actually works against the three Witch sisters. Mary, Sarah and Winifred Sanderson kidnap a young girl and turn her brother Binx into an immortal black cat. Classic witch behaviour. Centuries later, after the Witches come back into action in the modern day, Binx comes to the rescue as he protects a teenage boy and his little sister from the Sanderson sisters. After the Witches are defeated and spells destroyed, Binx is finally capable of passing onto the other side and reuniting with his sister in the afterlife.
Salem Saberhagen (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch has a jet-black feline companion as most witches do. He also talks! Similarly to Hocus Pocus, Salem Saberhagen is a 500-year-old man who was sentenced to spend 100 years as a cat! He was sentenced by the Witches Council as punishment for attempting to take over the world. Despite his megalomaniac intentions, evil actions and dreams of world domination, Salem is generally portrayed as having a good heart and being a loyal friend to Sabrina. Sounds like a normal cat to me.
Based on a story by John Krasinski & Michael Sarnoski and characters by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck, A Quiet Place: Day One is written and directed by Michael Sarnoski. The film stars Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff and Djimon Hounsou.
The film comes to UK cinemas on June 27, 2024.
