Dogs and cats are cinematic condiments...

By now we all know that many Hollywood screenwriters are practicing masochists who lay themselves at the mercy of soul-sapping studio committees with a talent for clipping the wings and de-fanging interesting material into pablum. It's as old as the medium.

Dramatic quagmires in movies are frequently rescued by the insertion of a "cute and crazy" pet. You can see the meeting: "Put a cat in there to liven things up." This is a testament to the effortless watch-ability of our animal cousins, (and a probable sign that clever contrivances aren't working). Don't get me wrong, as much as I love an animal in a movie, I can often feel the cop out, a quick fix to a complex human situation that would have been interesting to explore. A thinking person's battle was lost and covered up by fur.

(Asta from "The Awful Truth")