Talk:Orangey

Title change and re-write

I changed this from "Orangy" because it was misspelled. I re-wrote article because the previous version was copied word-for-word from the Internet Movie Database biography. --Wichienmaat 10:43, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Orangey one of many "Cats" in Breakfast at Tiffanys

The newest DVD (2006, 45th anniversary edition) of Breakfast at Tiffany's has the producer Richard Shepherd say that eight or nine (I think nine) different cats were used in the filming of the movie. One cat did one thing (jump on Paul at the party), another did something else (hiss at Paul), another did something else, and so on. This is according to the Producer's (Shepherd's) commentary on the 2006 DVD release of the film. It surprised me, because based on the opening credits I thought there was only one cat in the movie. --Sp3lly 07:24, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Um hello?

This is an article about a cat! Is there also an article about the pig from "Charlotte's Web"! This is ridiculous —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.168.233.63 (talk) 01:51, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Orangey is a real cat, whereas Wilbur is a fictional character, so there's no commonality between them to give your analogy purpose. More importantly, you don't present any reason for thinking that either cats or fictional characters should be excluded wholesale from Wikipedia articles. Basic Wikipedia policy is that if a subject is notable, it merits an article; the subject's nature is irrelevant.--Martin IIIa (talk) 01:54, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Wilbur from Charlotte's Web may actually deserve an article some time in the future. There are plenty of Wikipedia articles about completely fictional animals, see for example Snoopy. Marcus Markup (talk) 18:16, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

The article needs to change to reflect that it's a fictional cat though. As this YouTube documentary clearly demonstrates with the references cited therein: it was a marketing ploy from the studios to pretend Orangey was one cat, when it's actually common practice to use one cat for every trick the cat needs to perform, since cats are so bad at learning tricks. 1Veertje (talk) 07:15, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

I think we can use the Academy's interview with Inn to establish that Orangey died and was "reborn" in studio publicity. Coretheapple (talk) 01:12, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Age

Any details on when this cat was born and died? If he was trained to act as an adult cat in a film with a 1951 release he must've been born in 1949 at the latest, and if he was still working until 1973, 24 is a ripe old age for a cat! Gymnophoria (talk) 16:03, 9 November 2015 (UTC)

That is absolutely correct. Some press reports indicate he was born in 1948. He was working through age 19? Nonsense. Coretheapple (talk) 01:11, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Orangey died before the first movie

Orangey died before the first movie, it's just a bunch of other cats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AycqebrmBkM 2A01:CB0C:8827:E100:6E37:1889:1108:E69A (talk) 05:45, 6 October 2025 (UTC)

The info about Orangey being many different cats appears at 4:50 to 7:05. I guess it's true, but unfortunately that's not a WP:RS. Another source (probably also not WP:RS): https://cinemacats.com/the-shocking-truth-revealed-about-orangey/.

The video currently has 0.4 million views. It mentions this Wikipedia article at 6:55. If the video goes viral, we'll probably see lots of anonymous edits on the article. — Chrisahn (talk) 09:10, 17 October 2025 (UTC)

The video itself may not be a respected source. But what about the interview with Orangey's trainer Frank Inn? The interview plays in the video. Frank Inn himself reveals that Orangey died before the filming of Rhubarb (1951). 107.190.67.147 (talk) 16:33, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

Original source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3KmhRTvSD8&t=4m15s I'm pretty sure it's a WP:RS, because it's from https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/frank-inn?chapter=5&clip=106215 — Chrisahn (talk) 22:54, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

I find the interview a bit rambling, but the two sources titles "The Hardest Working Cat in Show Biz" are pretty clear: Orangey wasn't a single cat. The whole article should be rewritten. — Chrisahn (talk) 23:11, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

how is an opinion essay "The Hardest Working Cat in Show Biz" and a documentary repeating that essay verbatim any different from another video essay "The Art of Cat Acting"? the source is Frank Inn's own words in the interview 107.190.67.147 (talk) 23:58, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

• I agree that this documentary is interesting and convincing. However, YouTube videos are not considered reliable sources in most instances. While the original Orangey story strains credulity, as for one thing it implies that Orangey lived an abnormally long time, we have a problem using a Youtube video to toss out accounts in reliable sources going back decades. I'm going to see if I can find usable sourcing paralleling Mr. Boucher's excellent work. Now, it is possible that the Academy interview with Frank Inn may be sufficient. Coretheapple (talk) 00:44, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Tags and suggested path forward

• I've tagged the article for factual accuracy and restricted it to one tag. See, it is already in the article that Orangey used multiple stand-ins. What is not reflected in the article, due to questionable sourcing, is that the "Mrs. Murray" story was contrived by the studio and that Orangey actually died early on. I think that we need to consider rewriting on the basis of the interview with Frank Inn. I don't see why that would not be an acceptable source. I agree in principle with the concerns raised above and will work my "tail" off to see to it that this article is accurate, so that both editors and readers will purr with satisfaction. Yes it will require a complete rewrite. Coretheapple (talk) 01:05, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

I've made a series of edits attempting to deal with the issues recorded above. I believe that Inn's 2001 account is dispositive on the issue of whether Orangey was a single cat, and these recordings have been used in the past as sourcing and are reliable. I've added the Youtube video as an EL. Coretheapple (talk) 16:36, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

I had a quick glance at the edits since August 2025, looks good to me. There are still a few sentences that imply a single cat, e.g. "Orangey's last known appearance", but that's OK. More precise wording (e.g. "the last known appearance of a cat credited as Orangey") might be overly verbose and awkward. — Chrisahn (talk) 18:46, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Agree. The article still needs work. I've done some preliminary rephrasing but there is more to do. Coretheapple (talk) 20:55, 6 January 2026 (UTC)