Top Cat Begins

Parents need to know that Top Cat Begins is a dire, mean-spirited origin story movie about the cartoon cat who first appeared on TV in the early 1960s. Top Cat (voiced by Jason Harris) is a selfish hustler whose sole aim is to get money by stealing and scamming. The cruel tone of the movie makes the abundant slapstick violence feel sinister rather than lighthearted. Characters are punched in the face, choked, shot at, threatened with a multitude of weapons, and told they'll be killed. A scene in which a woman gets her face shoved hard in her food twice sums up the movie's approach to women. There are no positive female characters, with the few that do appear being sexualized. In one scene, Top Cat's sidekick Benny (Chris Edgerly) spies on a woman getting undressed. There are also stereotyped portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community, while orphan children are depicted as dirty-faced street thieves. In a scene that sums up the offensive tone of the whole movie, Top Cat buys a "premium" air ticket that means he can use an unhoused person as a footrest on the plane. The movie also includes explicit references to the very adult movies The Exorcist and Reservoir Dogs. Some mild language -- such as "idiot" -- but Top Cat does scream the first syllable of "f--k," with the rest bleeped out and with a large "censored" card over his mouth. It's yet another example of a gag that feels inappropriate for the movie's target audience. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.