Cheetah
Brief Synopsis
When their scientist parents take them to Kenya for six months, two L.A. teenagers adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they must reacclimate the animal to life in the wild.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Jack Couffer
Director
Keith Coogan
Lucy Deakins
Frank C. Turner
Stephanie Byer
Lydia Kigada
Film Details
Also Known As
Cheetah and Friends, Cheetah and the Hare, The
MPAA Rating
Genre
Adventure
Release Date
1989
Distribution Company
Walt Disney Studios Distribution
Location
Kenya
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 23m
Synopsis
When their scientist parents take them to Kenya for six months, two L.A. teenagers adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they must reacclimate the animal to life in the wild.
Cast
Keith Coogan
Lucy Deakins
Frank C. Turner
Stephanie Byer
Lydia Kigada
William Tsuma
Denis Doughty
Wally Amalemba
David Otielo
Anthony Obiero
Siddil Ebrahim
Waigwa Wachira
Konga Mbandu
Ka Vundla
David Adido
Tony Evans Kalanzi
Rory Mcguinness
Michael Rogers
Voice
Roy Daykin
Collin Mothupi
Breon Gorman
Thomas Akare
Rod Jacobsen
Conan Mccarty
Jan Maccoy
Julie Wynne
Evalyne Kamau
Timothy Landfield
James Ward
David James Sharp
Anthony Baird
Richard Clarke
Voice
Zeph Mitchell
Kuldeep Bhakoo
Njorogue M Ngoima
Kelly Harry Ngetsa
Allaudin Qureshi
Aloysius Lazarus
Arthur French
Grace Garland
Joseph Otieno Adamson
Paul Onsongo
Martin Okello
Lee Harvin
Jane House
John Fedinatz
Jane Gelardi
Crew
Sophia Ali Abdi
Wardrobe
Eric Albertson
Editor
Sean Albertson
Assistant Editor
Jock Anderson
Other
Colin Athanasuis
On-Set Dresser
John Barrett
Assistant
Diana Barry
Assistant Editor
Thornton Bayliss
Key Grip
Suzy Belcher
Hair Assistant
Suzy Belcher
Makeup Assistant
Lester Berman
Assistant Director
Lester Berman
Production Manager
Emma Boxahall
Script Supervisor
Thomas Burstyn
Director Of Photography
Alan Caillou
Book As Source Material
Jane Cavedon
Production Designer
Jack Cooley
Sound
Jack Couffer
Associate Producer
Jack Couffer
Screenplay
Jack Couffer
From Story
Con Cremins
Production Accountant
Samantha Crouch
Wardrobe Assistant
William Daly
Sound Mixer
Roy Edward Disney
Executive Producer
Yves Drapeau
Assistant Camera Operator
Griff Durhone
Screenplay
David Finamore
Editor
Jack Fitzstephens
Adr Editor
Edward Francis
Property Master
Bernard Gathero
Transportation Coordinator
Barry Gaymer
Construction Coordinator
Robin Gray
Music
Robert Halmi
Producer
Teddy K Harrison
Song
Joe Herrington
Other
Norma Hill-patton
Makeup Supervisor
Norma Hill-patton
Hair
John Houston
Assistant Director
Rebecca Howard
Casting
Kun Istvan
Animal Trainer
Robert Jackson
Assistant Director
Joanne Jimenez
Adr Editor
Ron Kalish
Sound Editor
Paul Babu Kamau
Production Assistant
Njeri Karago
Location Assistant
David Kareithi
Art Assistant
Stanley C Kariuki
Property Master Assistant
Matthew Kipoin
Location Manager
Richard Klompus
Boom Operator
Lynn Kressel
Casting
John Lewin
Best Boy
Nick Lowin
Camera Assistant
Richard Luckey
Music Editor
Konga Mbandu
Casting Associate
Mike Mclellian
Dolly Grip
Christie Miele
Animal Trainer
Albert Muraya
Production Assistant
Freddie Muraya
Art Assistant
Greg Muraya
Art Assistant
Samuel Kariuki Njoroge
Assistant Set Dresser
Annie Olivecrona
Unit Manager
Basil Pappas
Foley Artist
Basil Pappas
Sound Editor
Pat Pennelegion
Production Coordinator
Roy Prendergast
Music Editor
Larry Prinz
Key Grip
Larry Prinz
Gaffer
Dominique Ricard
Assistant Camera Operator
Wally Ross
Animal Trainer
Bruce Rowland
Music
Harvey Rubin
Camera Operator
Elizabeth Ryrie
Costume Designer
Don Saari
Gaffer
Davis Sindiyo
Assistant Director
Doree Sitterly
Animal Trainer
Doris Soraci
Sound Editor
Jesse Soraci
Sound Editor
Susan Stribling
Script Supervisor
Jules Sylvester
Animal Trainer
Erick Tarloff
Screenplay
Bruce Trzebinski
On-Set Dresser
Ronald Vidor
Steadicam Operator
Moez Visram
Photography
Selma Weitz
Production
Moses Weitzman
Digital Effects Supervisor
Sara Withey
Casting
Caroline Woodall
Assistant Art Director
Michael Zimbrich
Assistant Director
Paul Zydel
Adr Mixer
Film Details
Also Known As
Cheetah and Friends, Cheetah and the Hare, The
MPAA Rating
Genre
Adventure
Release Date
1989
Distribution Company
Walt Disney Studios Distribution
Location
Kenya
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 23m
Articles
Cheetah (1989)
It's an old school Disney natural history drama, filled with footage of wild animals in their habitat and adorable scenes of the pet cheetah playing with the human stars. The story, which is adapted from the novel The Cheetahs by actor/writer/professional hunter Alan Caillou, involves a catnapping and a journey by the three friends across the savanna to rescue their furry, four-legged friend. The kids also learn a little about one another's cultures and Morogo introduces them to the phrase "hakuna matata," Swahili for "no worries," which became famous when Disney used the phrase in a song in the animated smash hit The Lion King (1994) nearly 30 years later.
Keith Coogan, grandson of the great child actor Jackie Coogan, is the closest the film has to a major star. A veteran child actor, Keith had appeared in dozens of TV shows (billed as Keith Mitchell), voiced the character of the young fox Tod in Disney's animated film The Fox and the Hound (1981) and starred opposite Elisabeth Shue in the hit comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987) before taking the lead in Cheetah. He continues to act in movies and on TV. Lucy Deakins starred in the 1986 family fantasy The Boy Who Could Fly and had supporting roles in the thriller Little Nikita (1988 and opposite River Phoenix) and the comedy The Great Outdoors (1988), but soon left the acting profession to pursue other interests, including a stint as a firefighter and eventually embarked on a career as a lawyer.
Cheetah is the first feature by filmmaker Jeff Blyth, who had made documentaries all over the world and shot the spectacular footage in Circle-Vision 360-degree film, featured in Disney theme parks. A veteran of natural history filmmaking, he shot the film on location at Nairobu National Park in Kenya. He described shooting in Africa "a little bit like waterskiing- from in front of the boat. You went out there hoping to have a good time, but now you're just hoping not to get run over by the damned thing." Three different cheetahs played the role of Duma, all of them perfectly tame and affectionate with the cast.
Lawrence Van Gelder, reviewing the film for The New York Times, praised the scenery and the wildlife footage. "On a rainy summer day, when the real great outdoors or a visit to the zoo may be too soggy to contemplate, the G-rated Cheetah may do its bit for preservation by providing an antidote to cabin fever for parents of children growing restless with Big Bird but not yet ready for Indiana Jones."
Sources:
"A Cheetah, Two Teen-Agers and Mickey," Lawrence Van Gelder. The New York Times, August 18, 1989.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
By Sean Axmaker
Cheetah (1989)
A family film in the tradition of Born Free (1966), the Disney live-action adventure Cheetah takes viewers to the plains of Africa for a story of American kids in Kenya who adopt an orphaned cheetah cub. Keith Coogan and Lucy Deakins star as Ted and Susan, spunky California teens in Africa for a six-month visit with their parents at the Rift Valley of Kenya, where their father works at a NASA tracking station in the desert and mother works at a clinic. Craving adventure, they leave their protected compound to explore and they meet Morogo (Colin Mothupi), a 10-year-old goat herder from the local Masai tribe, and find a cheetah cub orphaned by poachers. Just as in Born Free, the African cat grows up tame and trusting of its human family and they realize that they must train their beloved pet, who they name Duma, to hunt so they can return him to the wild before going home to America.
It's an old school Disney natural history drama, filled with footage of wild animals in their habitat and adorable scenes of the pet cheetah playing with the human stars. The story, which is adapted from the novel The Cheetahs by actor/writer/professional hunter Alan Caillou, involves a catnapping and a journey by the three friends across the savanna to rescue their furry, four-legged friend. The kids also learn a little about one another's cultures and Morogo introduces them to the phrase "hakuna matata," Swahili for "no worries," which became famous when Disney used the phrase in a song in the animated smash hit The Lion King (1994) nearly 30 years later.
Keith Coogan, grandson of the great child actor Jackie Coogan, is the closest the film has to a major star. A veteran child actor, Keith had appeared in dozens of TV shows (billed as Keith Mitchell), voiced the character of the young fox Tod in Disney's animated film The Fox and the Hound (1981) and starred opposite Elisabeth Shue in the hit comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987) before taking the lead in Cheetah. He continues to act in movies and on TV. Lucy Deakins starred in the 1986 family fantasy The Boy Who Could Fly and had supporting roles in the thriller Little Nikita (1988 and opposite River Phoenix) and the comedy The Great Outdoors (1988), but soon left the acting profession to pursue other interests, including a stint as a firefighter and eventually embarked on a career as a lawyer.
Cheetah is the first feature by filmmaker Jeff Blyth, who had made documentaries all over the world and shot the spectacular footage in Circle-Vision 360-degree film, featured in Disney theme parks. A veteran of natural history filmmaking, he shot the film on location at Nairobu National Park in Kenya. He described shooting in Africa "a little bit like waterskiing- from in front of the boat. You went out there hoping to have a good time, but now you're just hoping not to get run over by the damned thing." Three different cheetahs played the role of Duma, all of them perfectly tame and affectionate with the cast.
Lawrence Van Gelder, reviewing the film for The New York Times, praised the scenery and the wildlife footage. "On a rainy summer day, when the real great outdoors or a visit to the zoo may be too soggy to contemplate, the G-rated Cheetah may do its bit for preservation by providing an antidote to cabin fever for parents of children growing restless with Big Bird but not yet ready for Indiana Jones."
Sources:
"A Cheetah, Two Teen-Agers and Mickey," Lawrence Van Gelder. The New York Times, August 18, 1989.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
IMDb
By Sean Axmaker
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States on Video July 25, 1990
Released in United States Summer August 18, 1989
Began shooting January 15, 1988.
Released in United States on Video July 25, 1990
Released in United States Summer August 18, 1989