mafia cats – Pain In The Bud

Cats are cute and furry but they’re also tyrants who are ruthless when it comes to getting what they want.

Maybe that’s why they’re perfect as mobsters, something the creative minds at Pixar realized when they decided their next animated feature would involve feline mafiosos.

Titled Gatto, the movie is slated to hit theaters in 2027, but you can see a preview below. In the film’s first trailer, Mark Ruffalo’s Nero, a skinny black cat, assists the local mafia boss cat, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, in interrogating a ginger tabby about a missing can of tuna.

They’re quite serious about the missing tuna until they get distracted in a most feline way:

Which reminds me: it’s been ages since we checked in on Buddy’s sworn enemies, Los Gatos cartel, and the Machiavellian maneuvers of the catnip wars… The cartels vs the meowfia promises to be a catnip clash for the ages!

Buddy cuts a dashing figure in his slick Italian suit.

Oh, hey. That’s a real nice pantry you got there, kid.

Marone! Look at this! Only six months old and living the high life on that Blue Buffalo. Chicken, turkey, salmon, beef, tuna, duck. Hey Fat Vinnie, they got duck!

Fat Vinnie loves duck.

So here’s what’s gonna happen, okay? Youse guys need protection from the rats. Vicious little sons a bitches, them rats are. But we got the muscle, okay? We’ll take care of the problem for you for a little quid pro quo from the pantry, if you know what I mean.

Capisce?

Six cans a week. We’re lettin’ you off light. We take Mr. Bubbles down the street for everything he has, ’cause we’s don’t like wimpy little pedigree cats thinkin’ they’re all special, do we Vinnie?

No we don’t, boss. No we don’t.

Now we keep this arrangement quiet between youse and us, okay? It would be a shame if that owner of yours came home one day to find shit in all her shoes and blamed you, wouldn’t it? You don’t want that. That’s a one-way trip to the shelter, my friend.

I been to the big house. Scrawny little kittens like you ain’t got a shot there.

Six cans, every Sunday. Next week we’ll take a look in that fridge of yours and if you got any gabagool or galamad, we’ll help ourselves to that too. For protection. Oh, and make sure you put some duck on the side for Vinnie here. He gets upset if he ain’t got no duck, and Mr. Bubbles don’t stock none.

See ya next week, kid.