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Music, Animation, Comedy • 1988 • 7 min

This seven-minute Canadian animated short follows Mr. Johnson, a hapless man whose every attempt to ditch an unwanted yellow cat fails in increasingly absurd fashion. Directed by Cordell Barker and released by the National Film Board of Canada, it became a beloved oddity of late-1980s animation. The Leans Traditional label is modest and largely a default. There are no political angles, no identity themes, and no social messaging. The lone protagonist is a generic everyman, the comedy is slapstick, and the whole affair is cheerfully nihilistic about one man's losing battle with a cat. Absent progressive signals, and with nothing controversial to counterbalance, the needle drifts slightly traditional by omission rather than by intent.
Richard Condie
This seven-minute Canadian animated short follows Mr. Johnson, a hapless man whose every attempt to ditch an unwanted yellow cat fails in increasingly absurd fashion. Directed by Cordell Barker and released by the National Film Board of Canada, it became a beloved oddity of late-1980s animation. The Leans Traditional label is modest and largely a default. There are no political angles, no identity themes, and no social messaging. The lone protagonist is a generic everyman, the comedy is slapstick, and the whole affair is cheerfully nihilistic about one man's losing battle with a cat. Absent progressive signals, and with nothing controversial to counterbalance, the needle drifts slightly traditional by omission rather than by intent.
Richard Condie
The film's narrative focuses on an individual's comedic and increasingly desperate struggle against a persistent cat, presenting themes of futility and obsession without engaging with political or ideological concepts.
The animated short film features a single human character, a generic white male, and does not include diverse casting or character representation. The narrative focuses on a man's comedic struggle with a cat, without incorporating any explicit DEI themes or critiquing traditional identities.
The film primarily depicts a man's struggle with a persistent cat and contains no meaningful portrayal of family structures, roles, or values to evaluate.
The animated short film 'The Cat Came Back' does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The story centers on a man's comedic and dark struggle with an unwanted cat, with no elements pertaining to sexual orientation or gender identity present in the narrative or character portrayals.
The animated short film "The Cat Came Back" does not feature any identifiable transgender characters or themes. The story focuses entirely on Mr. Johnson's escalating struggle to rid himself of a yellow cat that continuously returns, with the narrative devoid of any elements pertaining to gender identity or expression.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
The Cat Came Back is an original animated short film. Its characters, including Mr. Johnson and the titular cat, were created specifically for this production and do not have prior canonical or historical gender baselines to be swapped from.
The Cat Came Back is an original animated short film. Its characters, including Mr. Johnson, were created for this specific production and do not have prior canonical or historical racial depictions from other source materials or real-world history to be altered.
Not depicted in the film.
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources























