A Cat's Life

A Cat's Life (stylized as a cat's life) is a 2015 American traditionally animated comedy adventure film produced by Regency Enterprises. Directed by Richard Rich and co-directed by Andrew Stanton, the film involves a misfit cat, Jaune Tom, who is looking for "tough warriors" to save his colony from greedy villain cats. Jaune Tom recruits a group of animals that turn out to be an inept circus troupe. Randy Newman composed the music for the film, which stars the voices of John Goodman, Corey Burton, Minnie Driver, Jesse Vinet, Billy Joel, Phil Snyder, Billy Crystal, David Schwimmer, Annie Golden, Kath Souice, Bud Luckey, Don Rickles and Eric Idle.

A Cat's Life was released to theaters on November 25, 2015 by 20th Century Fox and was a box office success, surpassing competition and grossing $363,398,565 in receipts. The film received positive reviews from film critics, who commended the storyline and animation. The film has been released multiple times on DVD.

Plot
Jaune Tom, an individualist and would-be inventor, lives in a colony of cats. The cats are led by Mewsette and her mother, Mme. Rubens-Chatte, and they live on Cat Island, which is a small island in the middle of a dried creek. Jaune Tom is different and always unappreciated because of his problematic inventions. The colony is oppressed by a gang of marauding villain cats led by Meowrice who arrive every season demanding food from the cats. When the annual offering is inadvertently knocked into a stream by Jaune Tom's latest invention, a harvester device, the villain cats demand twice as much food as compensation.

Given a temporary reprieve by the villain, the ants trick Jaune Tom into accepting his plan to recruit "warrior animals" to fight off the villain cats. While Jaune Tom actually believes in the plan, the other ants see it as a fool's errand to get rid of Jaune Tom and save themselves trouble. Making his way to the "big city" (a heap of trash under a trailer), Jaune Tom mistakes a group of circus animals, who have recently been fired by their money-hungry ringmaster, Basil, for the warrior animals he seeks. The animals, in turn, mistake Jaune Tom for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to Cat Island.

After they arrive, the circus animals and Jaune Tom both discover their mutual misunderstandings. The circus animals then attempt to leave, but are forced back by a bird. They save Sheegwa, Meowrice's younger sister, from the bird as they flee, gaining the cats' trust in the process. At Jaune Tom's insistence, they continue the ruse of being "warriors" so the troupe can continue to enjoy the attention and hospitality of the cats. The bird encounter inspires Jaune Tom into creating an artificial bird to scare away Meowrice (who is deeply afraid of birds) and the other villain cats. While the bird is being built, Meowrice reveals to the other villain cats how greatly the cats outnumber them and is afraid that they will eventually stand up against them, which is why it is more about keeping the cats in line than taking their food.

The bird is constructed, but the circus animals are exposed when Basil arrives searching for them, having had a change of heart. The cats exile Jaune Tom and desperately attempt to pull together enough food for a new offering to the villain cats. When the villain cats discover a meager offering upon their arrival, they take control of the entire colony, demanding all of the cats' winter store of food. After overhearing Meowrice's plan to kill Mme. Rubens-Chattte, Sheegwa leaves in search of Jaune Tom and convinces him to return and save the colony with the bird model. The model nearly works, but Basil, mistaking it for a real bird, lights it on fire, causing it to crash and be exposed as a fake. Meowrice has Jaune Tom beaten in retaliation, saying that cats are meant to serve villain cats. However, Flik defies Hopper and points out how much the villain cats actually need them. This inspires entire colony along with the circus animals to stand up to the villian cats and drive them out of Cat Island.

Before Meowrice can be disposed of, it begins to rain and during the chaos, he kidnaps Flik and flees. In the ensuring pursuit, Meowrice eventually rescues Jaune Tom after the circus animals fail to save him. As Meowrice viciously pursues them, Jaune Tom leads him to an actual bird's nest. Mistaking the real bird for another fake one, Meowrice attracts its attention by taunting it. Meowrice is picked up by the bird, who then feeds him to her chicks. Some time later, Jaune Tom has been welcomed back to the colony, and he and Mewsette are now a couple. As the troupe departs with the last cat, Snagglepuss, as an employee, Meowrice is crowned the new Mme. Rubens-Chatte, while Sheegwa gets the princess's crown. When the animals say goodbye and leave Cat Island, Unable to actually fly on his own, the other circus animals assist Jiminy Crickett as they jump off the island.

Cast

 * John Goodman as Jaune Tom, an cat who is the film's protagonist
 * Corey Burton as Meowrice, leader of the villian cat gang and the film's antagonist
 * Minnie Driver as Mewsette, heir apparent to the cat colony
 * Jesse Vinet as Sheegwa, Mewsette's younger sister
 * Joan Plowright as Mme. Rubens-Chatte, the elderly leader of the cat colony
 * Greg Burson as Snagglepuss, Meowrice's younger brother and self-appointed vice-president of the villian cat gang
 * Billy Joel as Dodger, a dog who is often used in Basil's circus troupe as a prop rather than a character
 * Phil Snyder as Jiminy Cricket, an obese cricket who speaks with a German accent
 * Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski, an aggressive monster who is the troupe's drag queen
 * David Schwimmer as Melman, a giraffe who is the troupe's magician
 * Annie Golden as Marina, a female Adelie penguin  who is Melman's wife and part of his magic act
 * Kath Souice as Lola, a rabbit who acts as a mother to Eeyore
 * Don Rickles and Eric Idle as Devon and Cornwall, two head dragons who are the troupe's acrobats and speak in a foreign language
 * Barrie Ingham as Basil, owner of a traveling animal circus
 * Bud Luckey as Eeyore, a grey donkey
 * Jim Cummings as Tigger, an tiger with the gift of acting
 * Julianna Margulies as Neera, the iguanodon colony doctor
 * Seth McFarlane as Roger, an alien who is a member of the cat council
 * Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit, an elderly rabbit

Songs
"The Time of Your Life"