Lily C.A.T. (1987): The Deconstruction of a Beautiful Anomaly

Written by Shelby-Liza Ndumbi

Hey Cupcakes!  

Before we begin, I should point out that this isn’t a Film Entry for Sunday Cream since it never took me more than three days to finish the movie, rather exactly what the title of this post is about.  

I’ve watched Lily C.A.T. five to eight times now, this past Thursday on April 17 being the most recent one, and I wanted to know why because I’ve never done that with any other anime film. Laputa: Castle in the Sky, In This Corner of the World, and Origin: Spirit of the Past don’t count given I’ve only seen them twice. The first screening, I comically didn’t know Laputa was an anime. And the second time was due to poor memory. My brain literally flashed an image of one of those skeletal robots in my head, and I knew I had to go find it. So, I searched up “animated robots” on Google Images and bing bing, I got it!  

••• 

Why do I rewatch movies and TV shows? One of the reasons is because I’m amazingly indecisive when it comes to choosing something new to entertain myself, but I also ask more questions when viewing a motion picture again and again, such as this one. Don’t let my confusion fool you, it’s not a terrible film, it’s an incredible experience, inspired by Alien (1979) and The Thing (1982). I’m only here due to my constant allure to Lily C.A.T., same as having the urge to catch people slipping in the snow.  

The story goes as followed: After undergoing a lapse of 20 years in cryosleep onboard the Saldes, a crew of seasoned shipmen and fresh-faced recruits of the interplanetary Syncan Corporation were assembled to gather data on potential mining planets. What started off as a simple job turned into a fight for survival against a shapeshifting alien-like organism and carefully woven conspiracies.   

••• 

Section 1: Characters and Motivations 

I don’t know much about the cast, clearly going in-depth into all their profiles wasn’t the point of the story, especially when most were going to die. They only mention enough plot-based information at specific intervals. What are the motivations and connections of the characters for being on the Saldes? First, let’s talk about the six crew members. 

From left to right: Walt, Guy, Captain Hamilton, Watt, Carolyn and Dülar 

Their motivations are quite simple, especially when you make it to the end of the movie to find out that Captain Mike Hamilton, Carolyn, Walt, Watt, Guy and Dülar have done this dance before. Upon meeting them, none suspected these people to be between the age of 150 and 200-years-old due to the constant use of the cryosleep chambers. Hamilton explains that he’s an anachronism, someone who isn’t fully useless, but annoying to have around. They soon realized that they couldn’t keep up with new sciences, technologies, societal evolutions, thrown out court cases and the young families they left behind have grown older-looking then them, which “killed the fascination”, they retreated to space. Hamilton warned one of the recruits, Dick Berry, of just that.  

Hiro and Dick

And why did he tell Berry this, you might ask? Well, meet Dick Berry from the Australian branch at Syncan Corporation... except he isn’t an employee of Syncan, is he? No, apparently, he’s a Detective, and him being on the Saldes play hand-and-hand with why Hiro Takagi is there, too. Dick got himself onboard with the cooperation of the Corporation to arrest a “murderous bastard”, who killed three men on Earth and escaped, and bring him to trial over a crime that happened 20 years ago. No one will give a damn at that point. Hiro merely did this to avenge his sister, so I don’t blame him. If Berry continued to pursue this matter, the same cycle would repeat itself.  

I later discovered that Hiro isn’t his real name. To embark on the Saldes, he had to assume another identity, preferably his tech savvy friend Hiro Takagi. What I find nerve-wracking is that after finding out this information, he doesn’t tell Nancy, nor the audience what his real name is. I’m left blank and kicked in the ass. Why wouldn’t they tell us his name?? It’s one of the unsolved mysteries floating around ambiguously. 

Where there are heroic reasons for being here, there are also petty ones. I found this to be the funniest of them all. Nancy Stroustrup became one of my favorite characters, so when she informed Hamilton and Hiro that she came on the Saldes because her best friend and boyfriend were banging behind her back, she decided to venture on the ship to specifically use the cryosleep pods to prevent herself from physically growing older, with the intent to return to Earth and brag to her ex-best friend, who’s probably in her 40s, how rejuvenated and ageless she is, I laughed so hard. So petty and entertaining.  

Despite that little bit, she is the president’s daughter of the Corporation’s Board of Directors, so at the beginning of the movie the spectators are only aware that she’s here to keep an eye on everyone’s efficiency reports. Harris recognized her as a corporate baby. Everyone played their roles very well until the reveal. She and Hiro are the leading force of the movie as I pressed forward with the story. Right here, right now before the next section, I’d like you to guess what that means in terms of plotline. Here’s a hint: They’re on the cover.

What happened to Nancy and Hiro?

• Change Image

  0%They happily live on the new planet
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  0%They're asses get killed

At some point, I think Nancy was supposed to have black hair originally, but they changed it to blonde. Unless, it was only for the soundtrack design.

Now, this is when things get strange for one particular character, Dorothy. Morgan W. Scott was here because of risk bonuses as Jimmy so aptly pointed out. Jimmy Mangle came along since his boss recommended him, mainly out of pity, it seems. And Dr. Harris Mead was the ship’s medical expert; we always need one of them. Dorothy, however, I don’t know why she’s on the Saldes. When they were doing background checks, so Berry could catch Hiro, we’re informed that Dorothy is the only recruit whose age, 23, is mentioned.  

Legally, she’s Farrah Von Dorothy from Hong Kong, attended University and had a baby we have no idea what happened to them. Due to the 20-year lapse, she’s a 23-looking 43-year-old. The only confirmation I have on age range among the recruits. Her reasons for being on the ship are unclear, especially since she has minimal lines to speak of. Even those who were killed before her had more to say. So, why was she there? I theorized that it may have something to do with her child, but I don’t know how it fits in... A dead end on her.  

••• 

Section 2: Invisible Words and Death Rotations 

Like I said, I watched this movie five to eight times, and I kept asking what were Syncan Corporation’s legitimate reasons for sending 13 individuals into space? Captain Hamilton said it best: “I’m saying that even if all 13 members of the crew were to die somewhere out in deep space, nobody gives a damn! The only thing the Corporation cares about is getting its precious data without paying us if possible.” Which begs the question, what were the reasons for their actions?  

Never mind those risk bonuses, then. I reckon they always intended to utilize space as their own personal mutilation ground to dispose of the members on the Saldes. The alien-like organism may, or may not, have been an opportune mistake to bring onboard and wipe everyone out. Money matters too much for huge companies like Syncan, and in their minds old fashioned experience with no technical know-how wasn’t enough anymore. No one would go looking for them outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, which made it ideal. More on the how later.  

Morgan W. Scott was the first to go after he went wandering by himself in an unexplored division of the ship. He heard ominous movements, proof the organism was active, but it was too late. When it comes to Dr. Harris Mead, he was examining Morgan and found signs of Legere airs disease in his patient’s lungs as he succumbed to the same fate. Not sure how the doctor got it, Hamilton instructs Guy and Watt to decontaminate the probe ships, only for them to be next on the chopping block. Like a morbid game of follow the leader.  

The death of Lily the Cat, Nancy’s pet feline, was one of the most brutal executions in the movie. Lily disappeared again, so Nancy went looking for her with Hiro’s help. When she stumbled across her animal companion, Lily behaved strangely up until the point where we witness her getting shredded by the alien organism through the steel reinforced aloe. This one terrifies me to this day... 

After that, Hamilton remembered they still have their jobs to do, so Dülar and Walt were told to surveillance the probe ships. None were the wiser when the airlock mysteriously opened, sucking these two men into space to die. That’s when they realized that something else was controlling the vessel. It wasn’t until Dorothy’s death, fusing with the organism by her ankles and throat in sickbay, that they finally saw the threat and the possibility of it roaming on the ship thanks to the air ducts. Having it mutate like that, Hiro called it the reversal syndrome. Carolyn saw Morgan’s mutilated face within the alien’s structure before being killed, kind of like looking into the eyes of a forbidden creature. Jimmy went searching for her and met his end as well.  

Dick Berry was so adamant to arrest Hiro that he didn’t care about the infection he was definitely carrying, resulting in the second most graphic killing. There were these weird pink things coming out of him, bursting his head open like water balloons, and his stoney expression was shoved in my face like they really wanted me to look at it. Oof... Despite all that work Dick put into catching his criminal, Hiro hilariously still managed to escape. To save the last two survivors, Captain Hamilton offers them his rocket shuttle, then sacrifices himself by blowing the Saldes using his lighter and a supply of nitrogen gas.  

“I’m so sad about this. All of us should have been able to land on the planet.” said Nancy 

••• 

Section 3: Lily the Cat vs. Lily C.A.T. 

The part when I mentioned that Lily was behaving strangely, and that they had to look for her since she’d make it her business to escape constantly, I couldn’t always tell which was Nancy’s feline companion and the robot. The point was for them to look identical, but why? Towards the end of the film, Hamilton came across information as to who, or what, was controlling the ship while they were asleep. Syncan Corporation’s Science-Technology Development Department had Lily C.A.T. manufactured to serve as they’re all-seeing agent onboard the Saldes, doing the work they don’t trust humans to do like Hamilton said.  

Registration number: 23703 Lily C.A.T., which stands for computerized animal-shaped technological robot. The puzzle here is that they snuck that damn thing on the ship without anyone knowing, not even Nancy was made aware of its existence. Meaning: If they were planning on eradicating all their asses, that meant Nancy, too, despite being the president’s daughter. So... what was going on there? Did they willfully know she was onboard with that plan in mind, or were they somehow ill-advised?

I highly doubt it’s the second one, they could easily search for the list of all joining personnel linked to this journey. I’m still left in a state of bafflement. I’m not even sure if the robot was meant to remain hidden like that both cats wouldn’t cross paths. They had a penchant for wandering. Cats are odd regardless, so obviously, I couldn’t always differentiate the two. It only became easier when Lily the Cat was unfortunately trampled.  

Here are some moments I’m certain Lily the Cat was depicted: Nancy taking her cat out of the transport cage, when the recruits woke up from their chambers, the lunchroom scene, after Guy and Watt’s deaths, and finally, her death. Click, click, click. The metallic sound I hear when I believe it’s Lily the robot walking around.  

With control of the Saldes, Lily the robot was communicating with someone, or something while redirecting orders. Labelling her as “The Master”. The images here are examples of what was discussed, and I recently thought that what if she was talking to someone at Syncan this entire time? The speech patterns felt human, but then that theory crumbled because it later felt robotic. I think when it says: “Ask to Mother” it’s Lily the robot talking to the ship itself like it's a semi-sentient being since it can scan at a wider range when asked questions like how many survivors were left. The Corporation wouldn’t know that.  

But then Hamilton, while looking for answers, was told that an incident occurred resulting in Lily the robot taking over. What incident?? She took over the instant the ship left orbit, way before the appearance of the organism she brought in. How can that be the incident when the information seems to date to events prior to the current one we’re seeing? Something along the lines of “by the covenant number 2-3 on strictly confidential subjects,” was the mother computer submitted to Lily the robot. Without knowing what that incident is, it convinces me more and more that the alien bacteria wasn’t part of the original plan.  

Walt and Dülar were disposed of by Lily the robot, not the organism, while Hamilton blew himself and the ship to prevent Syncan from getting what they want. The data. I think Lily C.A.T. was meant to eliminate all 13 crew members, but the alien presence influenced some vigilance, leaving her to readjust, yet she lost in the end anyway.   

Even writing all this down, some of my questions haven’t been answered, and their why I keep coming back. I do have a third reason for rewatching things, and that’s because they’re just that good. For example: Avatar the Last Airbender (2005-08), Astro Boy (2009), Horror Express (1972), and Crossing the Line (BL) (2018) are just a few of the bunch.  

What did you guys think of the movie? Am I the only one who left loving it, yet perplexed by the experience? Well, while you Cupcakes do that, I’m going to get some food. I’m definitely going to watch this movie again in the future.

Thanks for reading!