The Cat from Outer Space

Engaging Disney movie about a cat who comes from the local pet store, no, sorry, I mean outer space.

I was initially disappointed when it turned out that the titular martian moggie could talk, however this quickly became a good thing, enabling as it did a great deal more story to get packed-in.

Said kittie - Zunar J5/9 Doric 4-7, aka "Jake" - befriends several humans in his quest to repair his spaceship and return home. They're all quite lively characters, enabling Jake's super-powered collar to fire the imagination in precisely the way that these things are meant to.

Again, the film looks initially to have too many different villainous factions, but by the end this complication does make for a much more satisfying story.

McLean Stevenson and his M*A*S*H replacement Harry Morgan pleasingly appear in similar roles throughout this, often together.

The last scene – in which the cat successfully applies for American citizenship – is the only one that really made me cringe. Which I'm politely deciding is a good thing. Y'know - because it's-so-bad-it's-good. (somewhat at loggerheads with the rest of the film, which is just plain good)

Exciting, fun, imaginative, and with a lead character who's well over 16 - this is everything that kids' flicks used to be.

They should make eight more of these.