Luna and Scruffs

Luna and Scruffs is a 1993 American traditionally-animated adventure romance comedy musical film produced by Encore Enterprises. Directed by Ralph Edwards from the script by John Bates and produced by Bill Hutton and Tony Love, the film follows a white Persian cat named Luna, who along with her kittens are about to inherit fortune from their owner, but her grandson Fred wants the fortune to himself. So he takes the cats to a junkyard where they meet a group of junkyard dogs lead by a mutt named Scruffs who falls in love with Luna. Meanwhile, Fred teams up with a dog collar company CEO named Robert Winkler who is planning to use Scruffs and his gang of junkyard dogs for his marketing campaign.

Luna and Scruffs was released by Paramount Pictures on May 14, 1993 and received mixed reviews from critics with it being praised for its animation, characters, voice acting, score, and musical numbers and being criticized for its plot and similarities to Disney's The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, and Oliver and Company. It was a box office success, grossing $82 million worldwide against its budget of $20 million. It has also gained a cult following since its release

Plot[]

In Cincinnati, Ohio, a mother cat named Luna and her three kittens, Natasha, Timmy, and Ben live with a wealthy elderly woman named Priscilla Schmidt and her 22-year old grandson, Fred. The cats are pampered pets that live a luxurious lifestyle and are very cultured in art and music, like their owner.

Meanwhile in the backstreets of Cincinnati, a group of junkyard dogs lead by a mutt named Scruffs live their daily lives by stealing food from people, teasing the animals in the Cincinnati Zoo and running away from the local dogcatcher. Scruffs wants him and his gang to become famous dogs and they find an advertisement for a dog collar company on their broken TV. Soon Priscilla tells her lawyer, John Fairfax that when she dies, she’s plans on giving her fortune to her cats and when they die, Fred will get them. Fred overhears this and plans to get rid of the cats because he wants the fortune to himself. He comes up with a plan to make the cats disappear by planning a surprise for them, he later puts them in a trash bag and sends them off to the junkyard as he says “It’s where trash like you goes”.

Soon, the cats are separated from their beloved owner and they’ve entered in a new territory they are unfamiliar with, while Priscilla, Frank Maxwell the mouse, and Fiona the horse discover their absence through Priscilla’s butler Greg and maid Eve. The cats try to find a place to stay for the night and they enter a house made out of trash. Soon, Doofus (one of Scruffs’ members) discovers the cats and think they are invading their property. He tells Scruffs about the visitors and he inspects them, Scruffs offers them to stay in their house and introduces the members through a song.

While this was going on, Fred came across a flyer for Winkler Collars. He later decides to go into the headquarters and meets Robert Winkler, the CEO of the company. He explains to Fred about his plans to get a group of nine dogs to star in his commercial promoting his collars. Soon, the cats wake up and Scruffs offers them breakfast made by Frida and Chip. Luna says that they are trying to get back home to their owner but Scruffs is amazed by Luna, her blue eyes and her soft white fur. Natasha, Daisy’s only daughter finds it to romantic while Timmy and Ben complain it as “sister stuff”. Fred and Winkler plan on ways for Fred to inherit his grandma’s fortune and Fred talks about his future plans about murdering every cat to make them into dog food. Winkler likes the idea and he begins to eye Luna and her children.

Scruffs and his gang decide to take Luna and her kittens on a tour of Cincinnati. They make a stop at the Cincinnati Zoo where they meet some of Scruffs' friends including Mr. Chimp and a vulture, as well as a hyena named Hector and a snake named Samuel. Hector is shocked that Scuffs is with a cat and is even more surprised that the cat has children. Samuel tells Scruffs if he likes to chase cats and Scrubs says "They are lost and I am trying to get them back home”. They soon go to a park where they meet a elderly duck named Lucas and he is surprised that a dog is with cats and asks where the father when he realizes that the “little ones” don’t have father, Luna makes a lie and says that their father is at home much to the dismay of Scruffs. Meanwhile, Winkler introduces Fred to his pet dog, Rocky and tells him that tomorrow he will bring the cats to him and he’ll be rich. Fred later receives a makeover from Winkler and they begin planning by hiring a dogcatcher.

Luna and Scruffs decide to go on a romantic night out in which Natasha joins them along with Tammy, her brothers, Chip, Doofus, and Frida. Luna and Scruffs converse on a nearby rooftop and get a view of Cincinnati while the kittens and Scurffs' gang listen at a windowsill. Luna's loyalty to Priscilla as well as Scruffs being a stray prompts her to decline Scruffs' marriage proposal and just as they are about to leave, the dogcatcher comes out of nowhere and grabs Scruffs and his gang while Ned and Ted (Winkler's bumbling assistants) capture Luna and her kittens and for the first time since they met, Luna and Scruffs are separated.

Ned and Ted soon bring the cats to Fred and he shows them to Winkler, Winkler says tomorrow is a big day for them. Luna and her kittens are locked in a chest in which they will be sent to Greece while Scurffs and his gang are in a pound in Winkler's office. Then the day arrives, Scruffs and his gang come up with an escape plan to defeat Winkler and Fred. First he frees Luna and her kittens, he then organizes his gang to defeat Winkler as he tries to get the cats and put them in a fryer. Fred and Rocky help with Winkler's plan to kill the Cats as Fred gets Luna while Rocky takes her kittens. Soon, the cats are about to get fried and when Winkler is about to appoint Fred to be the next CEO of the company when he retires, the junkyard gang comes crashing in. They get help from Frank Maxwell who tells them what to do, they get the kittens out but when they try to get Luna, she is taken by Fred and Winkler to a much bigger fryer which is much faster. Scruffs soon comes in, stops the fryer before it went off and saves Luna who is unconscious at first in which everyone is sad because they think she died. But she is still alive and says she used the sixth of her nine lives. The police shows up and arrests Fred and Winkler on the spot.

In the end, Priscilla adopts Scruffs into her family, making him the mate of Luna and the new father of the kittens while the junkyard dogs find new owners and families. The junkyard dogs come over to Priscilla's to celebrate Scruffs and the movie ends.

Cast[]

Steve Martin as Scruffs, a smooth-talking, street-wise German shepard/Jack Russell terrier/schnauzer/beagle mix. At the end of the film, He gets adopted by Priscilla Tillman and becomes the stepfather to Luna’s kittens as well as Luna's mate.
Olivia Newton-John as Luna, a pretty refined persian white cat who is overprotective to her kittens
Kristen Dunst as Natasha, a ginger kitten who is Luna's only daughter who is a dreamer and comes off as spoiled, often imperious, sassy or snobbish towards her brothers, but does her best to be like her mother. She supports her mother’s relationship with Scrubs and has a great singing voice.
TBD as Ben, Luna’s Calico kitten who wants to appear tough, but is actually fairly laidback and easygoing is a talent painter. At first he doesn’t want a Dog as a potential stepfather, but comes to the fact of it when Scruffs and Luna are separated by the Dogcacther where he says “Well, I almost had a Father”
TBD as Timmy, Luna’s black and white kitten who may seem quiet, but is quite mischievous. He is sweet-natured, but easily annoyed and hard to impress, often the first to make a snide remark. He can play the Trumpet. He thinks Natasha's supporting of their Mom’s relationship with Scruffs as “Sister Stuff”.
Johnathan Ward as Fred Schmidt, a 22 year-old college student who wants to eliminate the cats so that his Grandma’s fortune goes to him
Leonard Nimony as Robert Winkler, a businessman who Derrick teams up with as he plans to use Scruffs’ junkyard gang for his Dog Collar company
Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as Ned and Ted, Sullivan’s two dim-witted assistants
Jim Carrey as Chip, Scruffs’ second-in-command who is a chihuahua/husky/chinook mix
TBD as Frida, a saluki/Afghan hound who Alexander and Thomas thought was Scruffs’ girlfriend
Chris Farley as Doofus, a English sheepdog member of Scruffs’ gang who isn’t the brightest tool in the shed
Glenn Close as Tammy, a former Prize-winning poodle who ended up in the junkyard after she got lost from her owners. She is surpassingly kind to the kittens
Eric Idle as Butch, the toughest member of Scruffs’ gang who is a bulldog and speaks in a British accent
Ernest Borgnine as Harold, the oldest member in Scruffs’ gang who is a basset hound
Carl Weathers as Sherman, the smart one in Scruffs’ gang who is a Great Dane/tibetan mastiff/bloodhound mix
Daryl Hannah as Pixie, a hyperactive pomeranian/Brussels griffon mix who is an annoyance to Scruffs
TBD as Rocky, Sullivan’s pet rottweiler/doberman mix who used to be a member of Scruffs’ gang
Cloris Leachman as Priscilla Schmidt, a elderly, wealthy woman who is the owner of the cats
Will Ryan as Frank Maxwell, a mouse who is Jewish and friends with Luna and her kittens. He has a wife and a son.
TBD as John Fairfax, Priscilla’s lawyer who reports her cats missing and later brings Fred and Sullivan to justice
Dom DeLusie as Pigeon Joe, a pigeon who the cats meet
Joe Moglia as Fiona, a feminine horse with a masculine voice
Charles Nelson Reilly as Lucas, a duck who becomes friends with Scruffs’ gang as well as the kittens and has two nieces named Charlotte and Carolina
Jon Lovitz as the beaver, who Scruffs and the cats meet at the zoo
TBD as Mr. Chimp, a chimpanzee who helps the gang
TBD as a vulture, who lives in the same zoo as the Beaver and Chimpanzee.
TBD as The Dogcatcher, a dogcathcer that Sullivan and Fred hired to get Scrubs and his gang
Ralph Edwards as Hector the Hyena, a Hyena who lives at the zoo and laughs at Luna and her kittens
TBD as Samuel, a Snake who is lives next to Hector

Additional voices[]

Coming soon!

Production[]

Development[]

Development for the film began in 1986, After the success of The Chucklewood Critters. Bill Hutton and Tony Love wanted to make a feature-length animated project. They thought of the idea of a feature film being about a pampered female show dog who gets lost in a junkyard and meets a street-smart stray male mutt and they fall in love. They pitched it to various Hollywood studios like Warner Bros., Universal, and 20th Century Fox in which they all turned it down due to similarities with Lady and the Tramp. After the turned down offers, they meet with Chucklewood writer, John Bates who suggested that the film included elements of The Aristocats as he saw a re-release of it recently. "He was the one who chose the pampered cat falls in love with a street Dog" idea recalled Hutton in an interview. During production of the film, then-Disney executive, Jeffery Katzenberg accused Hutton and Love of plagiarism of The Aristocats and Lady and The Tramp. Love said that "We were trying to make a good original movie that’ll become an animated classic and we were very inspired by Disney movies we grew up with, but Jeff said we "stole" from his studio. The public feud between Encore and Disney, was one of the reasons why Katzenberg left Disney to form DreamWorks Animation SKG in 1994.

Writing[]

By late-1990, concept art and a rough draft of the script had been procured but the studio had not attached a director to the project. Serendipitously, a senior member of Encore's was watching a new episode of Barbie's Fantastic Adventures which was about Barbie dealing with the death of a loved one. He thought the episode was very emotional. He phoned Hutton after the episode finished and told him "You missed the new episode, but I think we found our director!". Hutton then saw the episode later on and later returned to the phone to state his agreement. Through a series of phone calls, Ralph Edwards was called in to the studio where he was told the premise of Luna and Scruffs and that it was "practically made for him" (in Love's words). Edwards recalled that it "was, beyond all semblance of doubt, the weirdest experience of (his) entire career", but he soon accepted. As some Encore higher-ups expected, Edwards examined the script's rough draft and felt it was lacking "edge and wit". While he was permitted to make alterations to the screenplay, Hutton started to feel agitated by and eventually proceeded to spar with Edwards over their differing approaches to the project; Hutton wanting something "cute, heartfelt yet kinda cheeky" and accusing the director of being "a pretentious know-it-all", while Edwards wanted to avoid giving the audience something "saccharine and weak with jokes" and denouncing Hutton and Love as overly controlling.

Animation[]

Budgeted at $13 million, the film was produced entirely in traditional cel animation, as opposed to the digital ink-and-paint method used by Disney during their Renaissance era, with many scenes subcontracted to TMS Entertainment, Sunrise, Mushi and Studio Deen in Japan, A. Film A/S in Denmark, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, Hanho Heung-Up in South Korea, Premier Films in the United Kingdom and Phoenix Animation Studios in Canada. Some scenes were done with computer animation in order to speed up the animation process and save money, albeit traced over with cels like many animated films at the time.

While the staff intended to keep a consistent visual style all throughout, Edwards suggested employing variant art styles for certain scenes (such as the opening credits and Luna visualizing how she feels about Scruffs) to better stand out and emphasize plot points/emotions to the audience. This lead to studio artists pitching in with various entries, Hutton ultimately accepting a few simpler and "more pleasing" styles (including a UPA influence) because animators testing candidates found them easier and less costly to work with. This nearly breached Encore's policy of assigning less significant scenes to overseas animators, because co-founders Bill Hutton and Tony Love feared animation mistakes would diminish what was intended to be conveyed in more impactful moments.

Overall, the film spent close to 33 months in production, with much of the developmental phase beginning in April 1990 and it was completed by January of 1993, in time for a planned but delayed theatrical release date.

Casting[]

Jim Carrey was offered the role of Scruffs, he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. Hutton and Love then chose Steve Martin as the replacement after watching his performance in 1987's Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Martin accepted the role, and Carrey was later offered Chip after TBD turned it down. Other actors considered for Scruffs included Robin Williams, Bill Murray, Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox. For Luna, Holly Hunter, Sally Field and Renee Russo where considered for the role before Encore selected Olivia Newton-John as Luna after seeing her performance in 1978's Grease. According to Love, he said that she was a perfect fit for a family musical film. Leonard Nimony was chosen as Robert Winkler after actors like Tim Curry, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, and Gene Hackman turned the role down.

Music[]

The film's score was composed by Alan Silvestri and the songs were written by Dianne Warren. The film's soundtrack was released on CD and cassette by MCA Records on May 10, 1993, three days before the film's release. The film contains the following songs sung by the following characters:

Junkyard Dog Song - Scruffs and his gang
Always Here For You - Luna and Scruffs
How Can I Be Feeling Right Now? - Luna and Scruffs
She’s Never Been Alone - Luna
What I Want - Fred Schmidt and Robert Winkler
Majors and Triads- Luna and her Kittens
The end credits version of Always Here For You is performed by Olivia Newton-John and Daryl Hall. The pop version peaked at Number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Release[]

Luna and Scruffs was originally set to be released on November 25, 1992 by Orion Pictures, but Orion fell into bankruptcy causing them to lose the film. Paramount acquired the film and moved it to May 14, 1993 to avoid competition with other family films of Holiday 1992. Paramount chose to acquire the film as they wanted a more family-friendly option against their upcoming animated film which were more adult-ordinated, Cool World and Bebe's Kids. They liked the film because it was really relatable and they would spent $7 million marketing the film with Encore.

Marketing[]

Because most fast-food chains were busy promoting then-popular films, Pizza Hut was available to promote the film in North America, with finger puppets of Luna and the kittens and Scruffs' junkyard gang-themed collectible cups free with every Luna and Scruffs-themed Kids' Pizza Pack.

A storybook adaptation was written by John Bates and illustrated by Ralph Edwards (the director) and published by Scholastic the week after the film's release. Scholastic also released books based off the film as well as a coloring book

The film also spawned toys manufactured by Hasbro, including plush toys, a Lite-Brite paper set and character-and-scene playsets. Colorforms also released two vinyl adhesive toy sets and a Shrinky Dinks character image set. Milton Bradley produced at Board Game based off the movie.

Kellogg's also promoted the film by giving out collectable trading cards made by Topps in their cereal and Nutri-Grain bar packages and held a sweepstakes with a trip to Los Angeles (via American Airlines) as the grand prize.

No Fear produced T-Shirts and Sweaters for the film, New Era made Baseball Hats, Lunch Box and Thermos sets were made by Aladdin Manufacturing, and a one-hour “making-off” special aired on HBO

Home media[]

Luna and Scruffs was released on VHS and Laserdisc on December 7, 1993, by Paramount Home Video. It featured a promo for the film's video game and a special PSA staring Steve Martin (the voice of Scruffs) telling kids to stay away from drugs. Pizza Hut and Kellogg's return to promote the movie on home media with Pizza Hut offering ornaments based off the characters. It was later re-released on VHS in 1996 as part of Paramount Family Favorites. It’s first DVD release was in 2001 and featured a sneak preview of Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius with widescreen and full-screen options, 5.1 surround sound and more special features like the theatrical trailer and English, French and Spanish options as extras. It later got a Blu-Ray release in 2010.

Later on, in 2021, it was made available on Paramount+ in worldwide.

A remastered DVD and Blu-ray were announced for release in the fall of 2023, in honor of its 30th anniversary.

Reception[]

The film opened with mixed reviews from mainstream critics. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave it 2 out of 4 stars and wrote, "In a time where Disney has a monopoly on animated feature films, this film does not necessarily offer a better product for children. The animation is colorful and the background artwork properly illustrates life in the junkyard, but the story is like a rehash of Disney's The Aristocats and Lady and the Tramp."

Audience reception was much more positive, with one IMDB review crediting the film for only portraying a corrupt human as a threat to the dogs unlike many children's films involving dogs, the romance between Luna and Scruffs for having actual chemistry and also praising the character of Natasha.

The film was nominated for the 1994 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie but lost to Jurassic Park and two Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for the song "Always Here For You" by Daryl Hall and Olivia Newton-Jon, but it lost to Philadelphia for the song "Streets of Philadelphia".

However, it won the Film Advisory Board's Award of Excellence and the Seal of Approval from The Dove Foundation.

In 2011, Doug Walker, known for his online show The Nostalgia Critic, stated that he wasn't going to review the movie because he saw the movie in a theater as a kid and enjoyed it, even liking the songs and romantic elements better than most Disney Renaissance films, and also gave it credit for the film only using humans as a threat to cats, giving the romantic relationship more chemistry than you often find in fiction and the character Chip for being a good point of humor, but felt it was one of few times that Leonard Nimony was good playing a villain.

Box office[]

The film opened at number three at the box office. This was due in part of a lack of family films around this time. In North America, it made a total of $27 million and made $53 million in other countries. Despite the success, the film managed to sell better on home video, especially in the form of rentals at Blockbuster Video stores across North America. Ralph Edwards said in an interview that the film probably would've done better if the release was better timed like during the Summer, but he was glad that it managed to turn up profits and that some people enjoyed it.

Legacy[]

Video game[]

A video game was published by Konami and developed by Virgin Games for the Sega Genesis and ported by Realtime Associates to the SNES and Game Boy. The 16-bit game loyally adapts music from the movie and the graphics are also faithful representations of the film's artwork. In some levels, the player can choose between Luna or Scruffs via select screen, while other levels give you the option to play as Natasha or Chip. Each character has a basic "jump on enemy to kill" ability, but each character has a different attack (via button combination) that is worth a different amount of damage. The game is praised by fans of the movie for these reasons.

The Game Boy game is limited to playing as Chip or Natasha, since the game's plot is to rescue Luna and Scruffs. The game is also Super Game Boy compatible. Fans of the film praised the gameplay and music, but criticized the choice of playing only as Chip or Natasha, since they were not the sole characters doing the rescue in the film.

Sequel[]

Coming soon!

References in other media[]

- Frank Maxwell had a speaking cameo in an episode of Family Guy where he is mistaken for Fievel Mouskewitz from An American Tail.

- It was referenced in How Beautiful It Is To Survive in which Penny was looking through Goodwill and found a VHS of the movie. She said to herself "Wait, Disney made us a secret Lady and The Tramp and Aristocats crossover, No wonder it escaped from the Vault".