The Top 10 Best Movie Cats

These Movie Cats Are Simply Purr-Fect.

I’ve always been more of a cat person, which is why I thought it was weird that I’d pulled together a list of the best movie dogs, but not movie cats. Well, today I’ve decided to rectify that mistake by pulling together a list of the best film felines of all time. For this list, I decided to put two rules in place: 1) The cat has to have a name (So, Blofeld’s and Vito Corleone’s cats wouldn’t count). 2) I’m sticking to house cats (so no lions or tigers or anthropomorphic nightmares). Even with those in mind, there are still dozens and dozens of movie cats out there that I’d love to have curled up in my lap, purring away. Sure, kitties have a reputation for being aloof @$$%#&!$, but I can’t help loving them even when they’re at their most destructive. So, stock up on catnip and get your petting hand ready, because these movie cats need all your love and affection right meow!   

10. Mr. Jinx- The Meet the Parents Trilogy

Kicking off this list of movie cats is one that managed to melt the heart of a former CIA interrogator (Robert De Niro). Mr. Jinx is a beautiful Himalayan-Persian who was smart enough to be trained to come when called, wave, and even use the toilet instead of a litter box. He’s also one of the main sources of trouble for poor Greg Focker. The most notable of which is when he escapes outside and goes missing. Like most kitties though, Mr. Jinx knows where his food bowl is and eventually comes back home when it suits him best. Some might say that Mr. Jinx is a bit villainous in the films, but any cat owner knows that he’s actually a little sweetheart just doing cat stuff. After all, cats are chaotic neutral by nature.

9. Ulysses- Inside Llewyn Davis

Movie cats often find themselves simply wandering into adventures alongside their human companion. Case in point, the orange tabby, Ulysses, from Inside Llewyn Davis. This rascal doesn’t even belong to the titular singer/songwriter (played by Oscar Issac) but decides to head out from his home when Llewyn does. He quickly becomes Llewyn’s responsibility since he doesn’t want to lose Ulysses before he can return him. Of course, Ulysses doesn’t want to make Llewyn’s job easy and escapes from Llewyn. Several identical cats appear over the course of the film distracting Llewyn from his journey of self-discovery, but like many of the movie cats on this list, the real Ulysses returns home looking for a bowl of food and a warm lap.  

8. DC- That Darn Cat

The next entry on this list of movie cats is the beautiful Siamese, DC, from the classic 1965 Disney film, That Darn Cat. Like many cats, DC thinks everything the light touches is part of his domain. He spends his days wandering around town, harassing dogs, stealing food, and just leaving everything more of a mess than how he found it. However, he also manages to get mixed up in a bank robbery/ hostage situation when he discovers criminals have abducted a teller in preparation for their heist. Realizing that DC might know where the hostage is being held, the police tail the cat around town hoping he will lead them to her. They learn the hard way that cats never do anything they don’t want to, and DC leads them on one wild goose chase after another. Eventually, he does help to save the day, but it’s easy to understand why some call him “That Damn Cat.”  

7. Keanu- Keanu

You’re going to be hard-pressed to find any movie cats cuter than the brown tabby kitten, Keanu. The kitten starts the film in the care of a drug lord executed by two mysterious assassins. Fleeing the scene, Keanu stumbles upon the heartbroken Rell (Jordan Peele) and teaches him how to love again. Their time together is cut short when Keanu is cat-napped by a local gangster. Rell though isn’t ready to let Keanu go so easily, and with the help of his friend Clearance (Keegan-Michael Key) he sets out to recover the kitten. Things get complicated fast though because everyone who meets Keanu falls in love with the little guy, and soon more and more dangerous underworld figures discover that they’re cat people after all. 

6. Mr. Bigglesworth- The Austin Powers Trilogy

One of the only movie cats to be played by not one, but two species. Inspired by Blofeld’s own white Angora cat, Mr. Bigglesworth suffers a mishap while frozen with his master, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers). Emerging hairless (and now played by a Sphynx named Ted Nude-Gent), Mr. Bigglesworth spends most of his time sitting comfortably on Dr. Evil’s lap and offering emotional support every time his owner fails to kill his super-spy nemesis, Austin Powers. Alas, Mr. Bigglesworth didn’t appear much in the two sequels, but he never failed to make an impression each time he showed up on the screen. As evil as Dr. Evil is in the film, it’s important to note that he never fails to try to rescue Mr. Bigglesworth when his plans are thwarted, something only a cat owner would understand.