Billy the Cat is an upcoming 3D live-action adventure comedy film that is based on the Comic Strip of the same name, created by the cartoonists Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg and it was produced by 20th Century Fox, TSG Entertainment, Pinewood Studios, Studio Babelsberg, Canal+, Cine+, France 3 Cinema, ZDF Enterprises, NC+ Poland, and all in association with the channels S4C Wales, ZDF and France 3 with supports from The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Telefilm Canada, Centre National de la Cinematographie, BFI Film Fund, Filmforderungsanstalt, Film und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Deustcher Filmforderonds and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Plot[]
The film takes a different approach to the scenario: Here, Billy's transformation to a cat is caused by an angry magician who decides to teach the boy a lesson after seeing Billy bullying a cat. In order to keep his family from worrying, the magician also uses his magic to make his cat, Dandelion, assume Billy's own form and live with his family.
The movie takes on a much lighter tone than the comic, largely thanks to the differing set-up, and is also much more scenes. When the film ends, Billy remains a cat and shows little to no interest to becoming human again, although this is not said explicitly by any character.
Cast[]
- Billy Colas (voiced by Angus Angel) − A young rogue turned into a cat by a magician.
- Mr. Hubert (voiced by David Tennant) − A white cat with a bowtie and Billy's guardian who teaches Billy how to survive on the streets. He lives in a Cadillac car in a junk yard and speaks with a British accent.
- Queenie (voiced by Elizabeth Olsen − A female cat who befriends and helps Billy, and is often hinted to be attracted to him.
- Jumbo (voiced by Charlie Day) − A pigeon who thinks and speaks like an airplane pilot.
- Sanctifur (voiced by Djimon Hounsou) − A fierce dark gray cat with a scar on his face. He is one of both Billy, Queenie and Mr. Hubert's worst enemies.
- Moonie (voiced by Rich Fulcher) − A Wire Fox Terrier and the leader of the villainous group called the Dead End Dogs, who enjoys bullying cats. He is also another one of both Billy, Queenie and Mr. Hubert's worst enemy.
- Ali Kazam The Magician (also voiced by Jon Hamm) − The man responsible for turning Billy into a cat after he saw the troublesome kid bullying a cat. After teaching Billy a lesson, he decided to turn his cat Dandelion into human Billy himself.
- Nick (voiced by Hayden Byerly) − One of Billy's former human friends, who doesn't like cats.
- Billy's Mother (voiced by Cobie Smulders) − Billy's worried mother who is allergic to cats.
Animation[]
Visual effects and CGI animation have been created by Lucasfilm-owned Industrial Light & Magic, BUF Compagnie, Scanline VFX, Pixomondo, DNEG, Rodeo FX, Platige Image, Lola Visual Effects, LLC, Crafty Apes, The Third Floor, Digital Domain, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Scarecrow VFX, Base FX, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Framestore, and Blur Studio.
Sound and Music[]
The sound design work was done at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California.