If people say training a cat takes a bit of time I believe no, a cat can train you in a couple of days. Cats are one of the most notorious and amazing creatures.
Many people around the world are very much fond of cats and hence they always want a cat just like Morris to be their pet.
9Lives: Morris The Cat: What Is It?
We all might have heard the name Morris the cat who was the face of a famous and well-known cat caring brand 9Lives. 9Lives is a cat caring brand that is also known for its delicious and healthy cat food to make your cats healthy and happy owned by J M Smucker.
The brand 9Lives was established in 1959 and since then it has never taken a break or a back. The success of this brand somewhere goes to its mascot, Morris.
This brand promotes the adoption of cats from animal shelters and one such brand mascot was Morris the cat. With the help of Morris as a mascot, the brand was successful enough to rescue and provide homes to over 1 million cats.
The motto of the brand is “every cat deserves a forever home”.
Why Do We Say Cats Have Nine Different Lives?
The slang nine lives of cats is due to the flexibility of cats that Nature has gifted them. Cats can jump over the buildings, and roll from the terrace, and not even a single scar appears on their body.
The calculative moves of cats which save them from falling and hence ditching death many times gave them slang “the nine lives of the cat”.
Discovery Of Morris The Cat
Morris the cat was an American male tabby cat also known as the world’s most finicky cat who loves and only eats cat food from brand 9Lives. It was founded in 1968 by Bob Marley in Hinsdale humane society in Chicago animal shelter. He appeared in 1968 for the very first time in an advertisement.
The voice behind Morris the cat was John Erwin. As a brand face, it worked for 58 different television commercials which were from the decade 1969 to 1978. In a decade itself the popularity of Morris the cat increased so much that soon it became the face of cat food brand 9Lives and the world’s most loved cat.
Casting and Audition of Morris for 9Lives Brand:
Before being called Morris he was known as lucky and had an exceptional charm in him, due to this quality the staff of the animal shelter contacted Bob Martwick who was a well-known animal trainer.
Martwick used to work for Leo Burnett advertising agency which created a route for Morris to be the most finicky cat in the world.
Morris performed exceptionally well during his casting and hence impressed by his performance and charm the art director claimed that he is “the Clark gables of the cat”.
It has been said by Martwick that “When Morris went to the casting call for the 9Lives commercial, “He jumped on the table and he walked right up to the art director, the big cheese, and bumped him in the head.”
The Popularity Of Morris:
So to what extent you can imagine the popularity of Morris let me give you a brief.
Morris was such a popular cat that his stardom and fan base was so huge that he used to receive not many letters that he needed to hire a personal assistant so he could answer them. The reason for his popularity was:
- He was the face of the most successful advertising company of that time.
- As a part of the advertisement, Morris was also taken to various fields including schools and campaigns for the promotion of cat adoption.
- Soon Morris became a household name under the brand 9Lives.
It became so popular that many people around the globe claimed that they were the original owners of Morris.
A biography published in 1974 known as Morris- an intimate biography had Morris as its subject. Interestingly it also received proposals for marriage from felines and humans alike.
Work Of Morris From 1969 To 1978
Not only Morris was the spokescat of 9Lives he was an amazing animal performer. For his performance, he won pasty awards which are the awards given to the best animal performers in TV and films in the years 1972 and 1973. Morris debuted in the film industry with Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye in 1973.
He was also quoted in the “end of year” edition of people’s magazine in 1993. As a part of his work and popularity, he was a part of some famous shows and magazines of the world including the “Oprah Winfrey Show”, Good morning America, and the “Lifestyles of the rich and famous.” Morris also has three authorization in his name-
- THE MORRIS APPROACH
- THE MORRIS METHOD
- THE MORRIS PRESCRIPTION
Due to his media presence and actions, the US media gave the title of “Animal Star of the year” to Morris.
How And When Did Morris The Cat Died?
The death of the world’s most talented and best animal actor Morris was shocking news for his fans. Morris died in 1978.
He was 17-year-old when he died due to his old age. Near ones of Morris comment that it was a weekend in Chicago, his hometown of Morris when the vet told Morris is no more. He was buried in the backyard of Marwick.
The death of Morris was on the headlines of the newspaper the next day throughout the globe.
Rebirth Of Morris:
After the death of the original Morris in 1978 the brand adopted other cats from various animal shelters or from other places to replace it keeping the popularity of Morris in mind.
It took around a year for Bob Marley to find the best replacement for Morris. In 1979 the second one started advertising commercials.
Knowing the popularity of Morris this time Bob Marley never revealed the animal shelter from where he picked the second Morris. Both the morrises were the pets of Martwick and lived with him.
It is reported that the current tomorrow is a resident of Los Angeles and whose handler is Rose Ordile. Models also helped out the American humane association in June 2007 where he gave a hand to support the adopt a cat month promotion campaign.
Coming Back Of Morris In A New Form:
At present, Morris is owned by Big heart company based in San Francisco and is known to be the biggest standalone pet food company, which was earlier part of del Monte.
Talking about the rebirth of Morris Carrie Schliemann, the business director for cat food and snack at big heart pet brand states “we wanted to reboot Morris for the older customers who are very fond of him but also bring him back in a way that’s culturally relevant for today’s customer”.
The generation today is of online customers. The company primarily focuses on gaming similar social attention towards Morris for increasing their sales.
FAQs Related to Morris and 9Lives:
Is Maurice A Female Tabby Cat?
The world’s most finicky cat Morris featured in a dozen of commercial advertisements from the year 1969 to 1978 is a well-known American male tabby cat.
Who Is The Most Famous Cat?
Nala is the world’s most famous cat with a great following on Instagram and Twitter handles surpassing all other cats in the world. This is a cross-eyed cat who owns a world record to have 4 million fans online.
Who Voiced Morris The Cat?
An American voiceover artist John Ervin who was born on 5th December 1936 in Cambridge Massachusetts voiced Morris the cat.
Is Morris The Cat Still Alive?
The original Maurice who was featured in the ’60s died in 1978 at the age of 17 and later was buried by his handler Bob Marley in the backyard of his house in Chicago Suburban. Later many successes and other cats played the role of Morris and the current tomorrow lives in Los Angeles.
Do Cats Like Food from 9Lives?
When we talk about price, yes you can rate a five-star rating for the pricing of food from the brand. However, a lower rating is given when it comes to the nutritional levels of the food.
Also Read: How Long Can Cats Go without Food?
How Many Morris Cats Have Been There?
Original Morris was founded in 1968 and after his death in 1978 many cats have replaced Morris and all have been his successes to rescue cats.
When Was Morris The Cat Released?
Morris is the cat is an English song that was released back in 2012.
Conclusion
Morris was a mascot for the brand 9Lives for 10 years from 1969 to 1978 throughout his life before dying at the age of 17 he promoted the brand and the adoption of cats throughout the world.
He enjoyed a celebrity cat life and a great fan base. After the death of Morris, many other cats replaced him and gained popularity because the original one saved the foundation of the 9Lives brand.
Not only was Morris a commercial face but he also featured in films and became an animal actor who also received awards for his performance.