A24’s ‘The Encyclopedia of Movie Cats’ Catalogs More Than 1,000 Felines Across Film History
From Jones in ‘Alien’ to unnamed alley cats, the buckram-bound hardcover packs over 1,900 stills and original essays.
Summary
A24 has published a 420-page reference book dedicated entirely to cats that have appeared on screen
Entries run alphabetically and cover everything from famous characters to uncredited extras and real-life animal actors
Original essays and spotlight entries group felines by the roles they tend to play in cinema
A24 has unveiled The Encyclopedia of Movie Cats, a hardcover reference guide documenting more than 1,000 cats that have appeared in film. Organized from A to Z, the book treats screen felines as a cast in their own right, cataloging marquee characters and fleeting cameos with equal care.
The premise starts with range. Across film history, cats have been cast as companions, antagonists and partners in crime, and have turned up aboard spacecraft, dressed in people’s clothes, named as heirs to fortunes and even transformed into half-human creatures. The encyclopedia argues that few animals have been handed such a wide spread of parts, and sets out to track all of them.
That scope shows in who gets an entry. Household names like Puss in Boots and Mr. Bigglesworth sit alongside Holly Golightly’s orange tabby and Jones from the Alien franchise, but the book gives just as much attention to the anonymous strays and skittish cats that dart through a single scene. It also reaches back into myth and folklore, featuring the messengers of the goddess Bastet and witches’ familiars, and profiles real working cat actors whose credits are long enough to fill an IMDb page.
Navigation follows a strict alphabetical order. The entries open with Abby Barnes’ Cat from The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) and close with the Zip-A-Tone Kitten from Zip-Tone-Cat-Tune (1972). Woven between them are original essays sorting felines into recurring screen archetypes, including Bad Omen Cats, Cat Lady Cats and Talking Cats, plus highlighted entries that map out individual feline filmographies and the most notable cats in cinema.
A24’s physical build matches the reference-book ambitions. The encyclopedia is bound in a buckram-wrapped hardcover, runs to 420 pages and measures 7.75 x 10.25 inches, with more than 1,900 film stills illustrating the entries throughout.
The Encyclopedia of Movie Cats is available to order now via the A24 Shop and ships by October 23.
