Cats in Movies- Orangey aka Rhubarb in Village of the Giants (1965)
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| Orangey as 'Cat' in Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn. This is a screenshot from a video of the film on YouTube which I hope is acceptable from the point of view of intellectual property rights. |
Orangey aka Rhubarb the cat appeared in some great movies, as well as Village of the Giants (1965), which either “totally sucks” or is a “minor cult classic”. Oh, and Orangey aka Rhubarb was not just one cat- Cats in Movies- solving the Orangey aka Rhubarb mystery.
The only online footage I could find of Orangey aka Rhubarb in Village of the Giants was via Episode 523 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as posted in longer version on YouTube. So, this snippet is a derivative of derivative of a..... (ack! the cat was eating that!!!) See the cat turn into a giant snarling cat... 2:03...
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| Orangey in Breakfast at Tiffany's with the fabulous Audrey Hepburn. Pic in the public domain. |
Sorry the video that was below has been deleted at source on YouTube. I have tried to find it on June 26, 2021 without success. Videos often fail over time I am afraid.
I have a full page on Orangey on another website which may interest you!
This, from the MST3K wiki explains important details for my snippet above, and the longer YouTube here:The series features a man and his robot sidekicks who are trapped on a satellite in space by an evil scientist and forced to watch a selection of terrible movies, especially (but not initially limited to) science fiction B-movies. To keep sane, the man and his robots make a running commentary on the film, making fun of its flaws and wisecracking (or "riffing") their way through the film in the style of a movie theater peanut gallery. The movie was presented with a superimposition of the man and robots silhouettes along the bottom of the screen.This is the Orangey aka Rhubarb filmography that I have so far: Orangey aka Rhubarb appeared in the movies Rhubarb (1951)*; This Island Earth (1955); The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957); Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)*; Gigot (1962); The Comedy of Terrors (1964)*; Village of the Giants (1965). I couldn’t find online footage of Orangey aka Rhubarb from “This Island Earth”. The list combines information from two pages at IMDB- here and here. I’ve used “*” to indicate movies where Orangey aka Rhubarb was “credited”. I’m not sure about the ins and outs of crediting, but my guess is that it has to do with the “face time” the “cat actor” got in a particular movie. This is Orangey in Village of the Giants-
Orangey aka Rhubarb was trained by Frank Inn (most renown Hollywood animal trainer of all time). Frank in also trained Benji, and every other sort of animal. I'm sure he provided the disco ducks in Village of the Giants. My firm suspicion is that the movie includes an uncredited appearance from Benji.
In the image above left is "Woof" who turns into a giant dog in Village of the Giants, and above right is Mooch (aka Benji) from Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971) via info here. Click through if for no other reason than to confirm that Mooch's wardrobe was provided by Frederick's of Hollywood. (Uh, if you lived there then, you'll know what I mean.)
Is “Village of the Giants a “cult classic”? I dunno. At least one person thinks so, and created a site to celebrate that view, here.
Click on "cats in movies" below for more... er... Cats in Movies.
Did Frank Inn train DC (that darn cat in the movie of that name)? Since DC had so much screen time was he really played by only one cat or like Orangey/Rhubarb was he played by several cats?
ReplyDeleteShakatany-
ReplyDeleteInteresting question- now that I've done what I can re: Rhubarb aka Orangey filmography, I'll start looking at other cat actors- DC was played by Syn Cat, but I haven't yet delved into the details. But I will. Same for Pyewacket.
This was asked months ago so I dont know if the asker will see it, but... re the title character in That Darn Cat! (1965) the trainer listed in the credits is Disney's William Koehler who at that time was their chief animal trainer. Don't think any other trainer is listed, but I guess there may be someone who did some work but was left off the credits?
ReplyDeleteThe cat was played by Syn, the same Siamese tomcat who starred along with 2 dogs in 1963's "The Incredible Journey".
but hearing about the multiple Orangeys/Rhubarbs has made me curious if there were stand-ins doing different parts in these films. It looks like the same seal point old style Siamese tomcat (noticeably "intact", too!) but I've never closely watched looking for discrepancies.
Meezers are very smart though and human-oriented & often will play fetch, can be trained to walk on leash etc., so maybe Syn was able to learn the whole parts.
It would be interesting to hear more about the making of those films.
I remember hearing or reading that "Cat" in Breakfast at Tiffany's was a cat named Rhubarb. Was this or another of the other Orangeys/Rhubarbs the clever (and symbolic tom cat) in Under the Yum Yum Tree?
ReplyDeleteI'm watching MST3K right now, and I'm certain I've seen their family dog before! At first I thought it was Benji too, but after comparing a few photos I realized it couldn't be - then I looked at some pictures of another familiar pup, and I'm almost positive it's Skippy, the dog who played Charlie in The Absentminded Professor and Andrew in Mary Poppins! Skippy was trained by Bob Blair, but I can't find anything other than a striking resemblance and a one-year difference between their filming dates to confirm my suspicions, anyone know?
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