Cats & Dogs (2001)
Things Are Gonna Get Hairy!
When a professor develops a vaccine that eliminates human allergies to dogs, he unwittingly upsets the fragile balance of power between cats and dogs and touches off an epic battle for pet supremacy. The fur flies as the feline faction, led by Mr. Tinkles, squares off against wide-eyed puppy Lou and his canine cohorts.
In Cats & Dogs, consciousness is carried by animals — a plane of “anthropomorphic pet war”. The story fights on E8/E11 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing war, technology, loyalty, identity.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Batman Ninja (2018)E8/E11 · identity, technology
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010)E8/E11 · identity, technology
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011)E8/E11 · identity, technology
True Legend (2010)E8/E11 · identity, war
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)E8 · identity, technology
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)E8 · identity, technologySame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)E7/E12 · rare rung · technology, war
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)E13/E14 · rare rung · technology, war
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)E12/E14 · rare rung · technology, war
WarGames (1983)E12/E14 · rare rung · technology, war
Space Battleship Yamato (2010)E13/E14 · rare rung · technology, war
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)E9/E10/E13 · rare rung · technology, warAlso bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Screamers (1995)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
Oblivion (2013)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Her (2013)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Ghost in the Shell (1995)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorousAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)consciousness in animals · mutant turtle time‑travel
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)consciousness in animals · anthropomorphic animal galaxy
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)consciousness in animals · mutant-animal metropolis
Spies in Disguise (2019)consciousness in animals · pigeon spy world
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)consciousness in animals · owl kingdom
Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)consciousness in animals · mutant-animal crossoverSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Transformers (2007)consciousness in machines · identity, technology
Kicking and Screaming (1995)consciousness in machines · identity, technology
Elio (2025)consciousness in aliens · identity, technology
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)consciousness in aliens · identity, technology
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)consciousness carried elsewhere · identity, technology
Hellboy (2004)consciousness in monsters · identity, war
