Las tres vidas de Thomasina

If you're fond of the little fur-bearing parasites this is a movie you cannot watch without a large hankerchief. It's superior to the current family movies in a number of reasons; lovely color, the realism of a vet's life, delightful Scots Highlands locations, a fine dramatic structure bolstered by that underrated actor Patrick Macgoohan and by a pretty, startlingly black-eyed starlet named Susan Hampshire (the two represent science and faith, respectively, and they come together with an ease you wish these two opponents would share today). But the film is mostly about the tragedy of losing a cat, and the childish, unkillable hope that one day they'll return. The sequence of cat heaven, ruled by the Goddess Bast, is reminiscent of the best of Michael Powell, explicitly referencing Powell's A Matter of Life and Death. The excellent animation is done by the pioneer of the cartoon industry Ub Iweks. A family movie in the day when kids were tougher, it was memorably broadcast on Disney's Wonderful World of Color on TV. I Expect wracking sobs in the scene where a rain- soaked Thomasina comes to the window. Jeez, I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it.

A movie with everything from first class acting to a storyline where fantasy meets reality.In this case the Cat...who is also a voiceover...is really the central part of the story. Patrick McGoohan plays the vet,whose daughter Mary (played by Karen Dotrice)is owned by the Cat. Its definitely a weepie but everyone lives happily ever after as Thomasina returns from an unusual resurrection performed by Susan Hampshire...supposedly a witch!!!

I am a holistic veterinarian and for years I have been trying to figure out where I got my inspiration for my work. A few days ago I remembered this Disney film and the "witch". My love of animals and the love that can heal is all contained in this movie. It was such a joy to watch it again and see my inspiration come to life.

I am also a singer and love to sing Celtic folksongs. I live in the country and am surrounded by animals though no wild ones necessarily. I did rescue a baby rabbit with a broken leg a few years ago. I made a splint out of a paper clip and kept him until the leg healed. Then my daughter and I turned him loose in a local park. I think Lorie was my role model in all that I have done with animals since I saw this movie when I was a young child.

Superb, sentimental live-action drama from Walt Disney concerns a young Scottish girl's love and devotion to her sickly pet cat, who gets a new lease on life from a "magical" mountain woman whom the townspeople believe is a witch. The screenplay, from Paul Gallico's book, tries packing too much plot into its 100 minutes and, as a result, the midsection of the movie doesn't feel fully played-out. Still, the majority of the film is captivating, beautifully shot, and the characters are engaging and believable. Karen Dotrice (best known as Jane from "Mary Poppins") is quite the little thespian here, and her tears and youthful anger are convincing; she's as good a child actress as I have ever seen (Walt must've had a soft spot for wholesome British lasses, Dotrice and Hayley Mills seem sprung from the same boarding school). The production is plush and Thomasina is one gorgeous feline. *** from ****

Strange and exciting Disney drama that seems forgotten today.

Very popular for about a month in 1965 in Australia, I saw this in its first release and remember it very well. Disney films of that period seemed to add particularly interesting adult themes into their films especially if they contained British kids. Like Pollyanna or The Moonspinners or Mary Poppins, this film is perfectly realized for children and has enough weight and wry humor for parents to feel the production works for many ages. I am surprised this film is so forgotten today and is almost completely unavailable. It is just as good as any of those mentioned above which are widely available.