This movie is one of Disney’s classic films. Set in the highlands of Scotland in the early 1900’s, it is the story of Thomasina, an orange cat who manages to bring a family together. It’s quite a feat how she did it; this family was so very dysfunctional.
Mary is the six-year-old daughter of Andrew McDhui, veterinarian. They have only lived in their small village for a short time. The farmers have relied on their old, traditional ways of treating animals and aren’t sure if they trust this newfangled doctor with his medicines and ideas. Dr. McDhui feels that it’s time to move into the future.
Mary’s mother passed away some time before, and Mary turns to Thomasina for comfort. As a result, she develops not only fondness for the cat, but dependence. When Thomasina becomes injured and the wound gets infected with typhus, Dr. McDhui makes the decision to put the cat down, and it shatters Mary to the point where she considers her father as dead as the cat.
Meanwhile, a witch has come to live in the glen near their home. Well, she’s not a real witch, but to the children in the village, she might as well be. She has a special way with animals and heals them with love. She has the empathy that Dr. McDhui lacks, and it’s obvious from the start of the movie that they should end up together. Her name is Lori, and she has chosen to live apart from the village and from other people for reasons that are never explained in the movie, but that is only one of my concerns with the film.
Mary’s rejection of her father borders on mental illness. She refuses to acknowledge his existence at all, tells people he’s dead, and won’t eat. This is supposed to be a movie for children, but I didn’t feel it was appropriate to model this type of self-destructive behavior. At the end, the only thing that brings Mary out of it is the discovery that Thomasina survived and is fine. No attempt was made to reconcile with her father. The cat’s alive, so Mary’s all right with the world. When the cat is gone, Mary wants to die. There are deeper issues here than just the cat, but the way the film is constructed, we’re to believe that the return of the cat is the answer. So what happens if the cat gets hit by a car? Does it start all over again?
My daughter really enjoyed this film but I have to say, I did not. I guess this is just another one of those movies you’ll have to watch for yourself and see what you think.
As a side note: The child actors who played the two main roles in this film (Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber) went on to play brother and sister in the movie “Mary Poppins.”
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