Cheetah (1989 film)

Cheetah, also known as Cheetah and Friends, is a 1989 American family drama film from Walt Disney Pictures starring Keith Coogan and Lucy Deakins. This motion picture was loosely based on Alan Caillou's novel The Cheetahs. It was shot in Nairobi, Kenya. This motion picture features the phrase "Hakuna matata" which became famous when Disney released The Lion King five years later.

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Cheetah
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeff Blyth
Screenplay by	Erik Tarloff John Cotter Griff Du Rhone
Story by	John Cotter
Based on	The Cheetahs by Alan Caillou
Produced by	Roy E. Disney Robert Halmi, Sr.
Starring	Keith Coogan Lucy Deakins Collin Mothupi
Cinematography	Thomas Burstyn
Edited by	Eric Albertson
Music by	Bruce Rowland
Production companies	Walt Disney Pictures Silver Screen Partners III
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date	August 18, 1989 (1989-08-18)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$8,153,677 (United States)^[1]

It was first screened alongside a re-issue of the 1948 animated short, Mickey and the Seal.^[2]

Los Angeles siblings Ted and Susan Johnson join their parents in Kenya where their father, Earl, works at a NASA tracking station, and their mother, Jean, works at a clinic. Ted's dreams of roughing it on the Savannah are squashed when their mother leads him into a house that looks like it belongs in Pasadena, California. Although she forbids her children to explore, Ted and Susan sneak out to a nearby watering hole, where they meet a friendly Masai boy named Morogo. Morogo shows the siblings the wildlife of Kenya and they teach him how to play video games. One day, their mother comes home to discover Morogo in her home and they convince their parents that Morogo will keep them safe, which their parents reluctantly agree.

One day, after the trio play soccer and Morogo retrieves the ball from a sleeping rhino, Morogo's father, Kipoin scolds him for neglecting his goat herding duties and Morogo says that he will take care of his duties, but he has been learning new stuff from his friends, to which he detests about his new friends, because they are different. Later, the trio comes across a cheetah cub whose mother has been killed by a poacher. Susan insists they take the cub home as it's the only way for her to survive and their parents reluctantly decide to keep her, where she becomes the household pet. Six months later, however, the Johnson family convince the children to free Duma and train her to hunt according to the advice of an Australian game warden named Larry before their vacation is over.

Meanwhile, an Indian storekeeper named B. Patel (who had unsuccessfully tried to buy Duma) hires an opportunistic Englishman named Nigel and a ruthless poacher named Abdullah, who are planning to make a fortune out of Duma by exploiting her speed in a prolific sport of racing against greyhounds. The night before Ted and Susan are to leave Africa, Patel breaks into the house to steal Ted's whistle and the three gamblers manage to capture Duma. The next morning, the family say goodbye to Morogo and stop at Patel's store. Patel accidentally reveals his whereabouts to Ted, who notices that a pattern on Abdullah's shoes resembles the shoe marks that he discovered when they adopted Duma, leading him to realize that Abdullah was the poacher who killed Duma's mother. Ted tries to convince his parents about Patel's conspiracy, to no avail. The two teenagers delay their flight after sending a telegram to their grandmother and learn Patel's whereabouts from his cousin that he is working in a camp in Jamhuri. The children convince Morogo to save Duma, but he fears that he can't go and gives them directions to Jamhuri. The next morning, Morogo sneaks away as well and joins the two teenagers in their quest to rescue Duma.

However, Morogo's parents have learned about their disappearances and inform the Johnson parents. Earl calls his mother and she informs him about the telegram the siblings sent to her. The parents call the police and their wives insist on heading out to find the children themselves. Meanwhile, the children arrive at the camp and sneak in at nightfall. They manage to find Duma, but are captured by the poachers and locked in a cage. While the poachers leave for the race, Morogo sneaks into the compound and manages to free the pair from their confinement before they head off to Nairobi.

During the journey, the trio are caught by a policeman roaming the roads for them. The trio trick the officer into letting them use the bathroom at a nearby gas station and they manage to escape. With the help of a sheep farmer, the trio manage to reach Nairobi and arrive at the racetrack in time to hear the cheetah-greyhound race being announced. In the race, Duma has now been overtaken by greyhounds, with greater resistance (as predicted by Patel, who had given up losing in bets). Ted grabs his whistle from a security guard and blows it, allowing Duma to regain her burst of speed and win. While the other gamblers must compensate all bets, Duma rebels against Abdullah and attacks him until she is rescued by Earl. While both sets of parents berate their children for leaving them, the poacher is arrested.

The families arrive at Cheetah Valley to release Duma and they spot another cheetah. Ted refuses to extend their parents' proposal for the holiday and they try to release Duma, but the cheetah stubbornly refuses to leave until Susan manages to convince her to leave. The children quote a Kenyan adage by Morogo "Though we are far apart, our spirits share the same earth and the same sky" as they happily watch Duma and her newfound friend frolicking.

Cheetah (1989 film)

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links

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