#The Best Cat Movies of All Time

Everyone loves a good animal movie. Whether dogs, cats, birds, or some other cute creature, audiences love to cheer on the innocent and adorable, rooting for them as they overcome hardship and peril. Cats are a little more complicated, though– some are simply sweet, others are monstrously ferocious, while still more are nearly sarcastic in their indifference toward human affairs.
There have been many movies made throughout the years about these feline friends. Many of these were excellent while others were questionable. Some hairball choices include the cinematic Cats (2019), Catwoman (2004), and Fritz the Cat (1972), which was the first X-rated animated movie and shocked the world with its adult content. While these movies have been critically abhorred, there are many good cat films worth watching. Thus, if you’re looking for the purr-fect movie to watch, alone or with your cat companion cuddled close, here are our picks for the best cat flicks of all time.

7 Garfield

The 2004 Garfield movie is loosely based on the popular American comic strip created by Jim Davis. While this movie may not have landed well with critics, it is goofy, fun and enjoyable to watch, thanks largely to the strangely perfect casting of Bill Murray as the titular kitty (even if he swears to have only taken the role because he believed one of the Coen Brothers was directing). While this is no Tragedy of Macbeth, it’s still a lot of mindless fun. Join Garfield and Odie as they get into mischief and learn the true meaning of friendship, sort of.

6 The AristoCats

“Everybody wants to be a cat.“ In The AristoCats, there simply is no better life. Duchess and her three cats (Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse), live a pampered life in Paris with their owner. However, everything changes when the family butler drugs Duchess and her kittens and abandons them in the countryside in a scheme to claim the family fortune. As Duchess and her kittens journey home, they make many new friends along the way, including the handsome Thomas O’Malley. This classic cat character study features great old-school music, ebullient voice acting, and a light, pleasant vibe throughout.
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5 Puss in Boots

Shrek was a major success for DreamWorks Animation, with everyone falling in love with the clumsy, loveable green ogre. In 2004, DreamWorks released the sequel, Shrek 2, introducing the world to a new character– the adorable, fluffy Puss, who audiences loved so much that he got his own spinoff movie in 2011, Puss in Boots. Chronicling the epic tales of Puss and his adventures before meeting Shrek, the film features delightful voice acting from Salma Hayek, Billy Bob Thornton, Zach Galifianakis, and Amy Sedaris, but the real draw is watching the cute kitty incongruosly voiced by the sexy Spaniard Antonio Banderas.

4 Homeward Bound

This 1993 Disney classic is actually a remake of the 1963 film The Incredible Journey, which is also based on the book of the same name and inspired by true events. In Homeward Bound, the pets Shadow, Chance, and Sassy are all left at a friend’s ranch when their owners go on vacation. However, the animals worry that they have been left by accident, so they embark on an incredible journey through the California wilderness to try and find their way back home to family. Homeward Bound stars Michael J. Fox as Chance, the energetic and curious American bulldog, Don Ameche as Shadow, a wise golden retriever, and Sally Field as Sassy, a prim and proper cat who steals the show with her snappy dialogue. The real-life animals are brilliantly trained and a joy to watch.

3 Coraline

Based on the dark children’s fantasy novel of the same name by English author Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a girl who is tired of living life in her ordinary world. While exploring her new home, Coraline (Dakota Fanning) discovers a secret door that leads to an alternate world much like her own. However, this new world appears to be much better, but has a strange, haunting catch, so Coraline recruits the help of a talking cat to rescue her parents and save her world. The cat is a perfect manifestation of all the indifferent, individualistic but still loveable feline friends in the world– snarky, sarcastic, and more intellectual than any dog could ever be.
Related: Jennifer Hudson Defends Cats: It’s Unfortunate That it Was Misunderstood

2 The Ghost and the Darkness

Most cat movies are family-friendly, but The Ghost and the Darkness is one exception. Based on true events, the film is a fictionalization of an actual event regarding two male lions which attacked and devoured workers in Tsavo, Kenya during the building of a new railway in 1898. Directed by Stephen Hopkins, this 1996 historical adventure film stars Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer as the two men sent to tame (or kill) the bloodthirsty beasts. The film received mixed reviews among critics and moviegoers, yet is hauntingly remembered as one of the most quietly terrifying films about wild animals, using its Oscar-winning sound effects editing to create a dark, growling tension.

1 The Lion King (1994)

The Lion King is one Disney’s most successful animated films, grossing over $1 billion and garnering intense adoration from critics and fans alike. This movie is a celebration of the animal kingdom, with specific attention to the best of friendships, hardships, love, and sacrifice between cats. Additionally, the film immortalized classic songs like “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata,” along with a beautiful set of songs by the renowned Sir Elton John and a cast of famous voices like James Earl Jones, Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jeremy Irons. The Lion King once again took over the big screen with the controversial The Lion King remake in 2019 after many years of success on Broadway, and a prequel is set to be released soon. Surely, the film features the most recognizable and adored cats in cinema.

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