Les trois vies de Thomasina

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.

Mary McDuie (Karen Dotrice) is a young, motherless girl living in Scotland at the turn of the 20th century. Of course, she does have her father, veterinarian Dr. Andrew McDuie (Patrick McGoohan) but he's been cold and distant since her mother died. Therefore, her only real solace is her cat Thomasina, a beautiful orange tabby with personality. It does help that her housekeeper is quite nice and the children of the neighborhood are her dear friends. On the outskirts of the village lives a lady, Lori (Susan Hampshire) who the children think is a WITCH. She does have a yard full of rescued animals and a magic way about healing the creatures. Thomasina goes in and out Mary's bedroom window by the help of a tall tree and often goes out at night. Unhappily, Thomasina eats the wrong food, becomes sick and appears dead, even though Dr. Mac promised to save her. Mary is so upset she ignores everything her father says, hinting that he is "dead" to her. But, when the children take the box with Thomasina to the town's edge, planning to bury her and hold a funeral, the "witch" appears and scares them away. Only she notices that Thomasina is still alive and takes her home to nurse her. Will Thomasina survive? Will the village drive the "witch" away? This lovely story has the rarity of being about a cat, not a dog, and a clever, patient one at that. Dotrice is winning as the young girl who dresses her cat in clothes and takes him on buggy adventures. McGoohan is also fine as the stern father and Hampshire is sweet and lovely as Lori. Other cast members, scenery, costumes, script and direction are all nicely fitting. Beware, parents, that Thomasina appears to die and there are many tears that may fall. However, cat lovers, Disney fans, and family film friends will welcome this title as an oldie but goodie.

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!!!

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.

In sparkling 1912 Scotland, an orange tabby named "Thomasina" explains how she came to live with little Karen Dotrice (as Mary), her stern veterinarian father Patrick McGoohan (as Andrew McDhui), and housekeeper Jean Anderson (as Mrs. MacKenzie). The cat amusingly states the family originally named her "Thomas" until they "…got to know me better." At this moment, you know you're going to like this animal. We also learn the cat, speaking marvelously through Elspeth March, has been murdered. This extraordinary opening perfectly introduces the cat's personality, and prepares you for its death.

The opening theme song, written by folk singer Terry Gilkyson, is purrfectly infectious.

The story intensifies when "Thomasina" is crushed under an avalanche of crates, while prowling a fish market. With her young friends' help, Ms. Dotrice finds the cat, and brings "Thomasina" to her father. You'd think Mr. McGoohan, a veterinarian, would do everything possible to save his daughter's pet, which he promises to do - but, McGoohan is saving the life of a blind man's seeing eye dog, and orders "Thomasina" put to sleep. Before this, we've seen him make this decision about other animals, and wonder if his decisions are being made in haste. Later, we learn he suffers from guilt regarding his wife's death.

McGoohan thinks he can simply replace "Thomasina" with another cat, and cannot understand why Dotrice is taking the death so hard. Dotrice's friends, Vincent Winter (as Hughie), Denis Gilmore (as Jamie), and "Mary Poppins" co-star Matthew Garber (as Geordie), give "Thomasina" a child-like funeral, which is interrupted by a woman they both admire and fear - spooky Susan Hampshire (as Lori MacGregor), the superstitious town's resident "witch". Ms. Hampshire takes the animal, which, we learn, is NOT dead. But, before this, it has what could be described as a "near-death experience." Or, is it "Cat Heaven?"

It's all cleverly plotted, from Paul Gallico's original novel, with enough room to support differing interpretations.

Dotrice's depression worsens. She will have nothing more do with McGoohan, telling others, "My father's dead," and, "My daddy's dead. I killed him." Her young friends successfully plot to end McGoohan's veterinary practice. "Thomasina" recovers, but with amnesia; she stays with the witch, aware something is wrong with her life. When his daughter falls deathly ill, "man of science" McGoohan tries to reconnect with his Christian faith, lamenting, "I've forgotten how to pray." He also begins to connect with Hampshire, which leads to the most unimaginative part of the story. Still, this is an excellent, underrated film.

******** The Three Lives of Thomasina (12/11/63) Don Chaffey ~ Patrick McGoohan, Karen Dotrice, Susan Hampshire, Elspeth March