Cheetah (1989 film)

Cheetah, also known as Cheetah and Friends, is a 1989 American family drama film from Walt Disney Pictures starring Keith Coogan and Lucy Deakins. This motion picture was loosely based on Alan Caillou's novel The Cheetahs. It was shot in Nairobi, Kenya. This motion picture features the phrase "Hakuna matata" which became famous when Disney released The Lion King five years later.

Plot
LA siblings Ted and Susan Johnson join their parents in Kenya where their father, Earl, works at a NASA tracking station, and their mother, Jean, works at a clinic. Ted’s dreams of roughing it on the savannah are squashed when Jean leads him into a house that looks like it belongs in Pasadena, California. Although Jean forbids her children to explore, Ted and Susan sneak out to a nearby watering hole to meet with a Masai tribal boy named Morogo. Morogo shows the siblings the wildlife of Kenya and they show him how to play video games. One day, Jean comes home to discover Morogo in her home. Ted and Susan plead with their parents to let Morogo be their guide and the parents reluctantly give in.

One day, Ted kicks a soccer ball over a barrier and it lands against a sleeping rhino. Morogo sneaks up on the animal, retrieves the ball, and places a small stone on the rhino’s side. He then gives Ted another stone, daring him to do the same. The rhino awakens as Ted nears, causing him to flee. A laughing Morogo tells him that a person must approach a rhino downwind or it will smell him. Kipoin, Morogo’s father, is displeased his son is keeping company with Americans, because they are “cattle eaters" and is even more disgusted to learn they eat fish.

One day, the trio comes across a cheetah cub whose mother has been killed by a poacher. Susan insists they take the cub home and talk their parents into letting them raise it. The cub, Duma, becomes the household pet, playing ball, wrestling, and riding in the family car. Ted trains her to come when he blows a whistle.

A few months later, however, the Johnson family are convinced their children, who are about to return to the U.S., to free Duma and train her to hunt according to the advice of an Australian game warden named Larry.

Meanwhile, an Indian storekeeper named Patel (who had unsuccessfully tried to buy Duma) and an opportunistic Englishman named Nigel hire Abdullah, the poacher who killed Duma's mother to snatch the cheetah, who are planning to make a fortune out of Duma by exploiting her running ability in a prolific sport of racing against greyhounds. The night before Ted and Susan are to leave Africa, Patel breaks into the house to steal Ted's whistle and the trio manage to capture Duma. The next morning, when Ted cannot find Duma, Susan suggests it is a good sign the cat is exploring without them. After a tearful goodbye with Morogo, the family stops at Patel’s store to get gasoline. Patel sees the tears in Susan’s eyes and asks if she is crying over losing her pet. Ted, realizing that Patel couldn't know about Duma's disappearance, confronts him and notices Abdullah's shoe marks, similar to the tread around the time of Duma's mother's death. Ted tries to convince his parents about Patel's scheme, but they refuse to believe him. At the airport, Earl tells his children he and Jean will join them in America in one month and their grandmother will look after them until then. After sending their grandmother a telegram saying they will be delayed, the siblings take a bus back to Patel’s store and discover he is gone, but learn his whereabouts from his cousin. The two sneak into Morogo’s village and beg their friend to guide them. Morogo refuses, fearing his parents’ disapproval, but tells them it is a two-day walk and gives directions. Although Susan argues it is insane to make a two-day trek across the Savannah, Ted reminds her that Duma is in trouble. After a night of sleeping in a tree, Ted awakens to find something watching them from the bushes and Morogo leaps out laughing. The trio spend a day crossing rivers, hills and miles of grassland.

The next day, Kipoin goes to the tracking station to tell Earl his children have run off with Morogo. After calling the grandmother, Earl realizes Ted may have been right about Patel. The fathers go to the store and force Patel’s cousin to reveal his whereabouts. After calling the police, they learn that Morogo’s mother, Lani, visited Jean and both women have gone after Patel themselves.

Across the Great Rift, the children find Abdullah’s camp protected by a high fence and trip wires. Ted tries to come up with a plan to confront the poachers, but Susan and Morogo insist on sneaking in at nightfall. Along with a stack of fliers advertising Duma’s race against the greyhounds, they find cheetah skins drying on the walls. Hearing Duma’s whimpers, they enter a barn and find her locked in a cage. Susan and Ted go into a cabin looking for something to break the lock and are jumped by Abdullah. Nigel and Patel arrive and the three men argue over what to do with them. Abdullah wants to kill them, but Nigel suggests they lock them in the cage until after the race. When the men drive away with Duma, Morogo comes out of hiding. Susan, who was watching the gamblers, gives him the combination to unlock the cage.

They head off after the poachers to Nairobi, only to be caught by the policemen roaming the roads for them. They somehow escape, due to the inattentiveness of the policeman and finally make it to Nairobi with the help of a sheep farmer. The children reach the racetrack in time to hear the cheetah-greyhound race being announced. In the race, Duma has now been overtaken by greyhounds, with greater resistance (as predicted by Patel, who had given up losing in bets) but is revived in reviewing his masters and resumed to race winning. Ted grabs his whistle from a policeman and blows it. Hearing the whistle, Duma gets a second wind and wins by five lengths. While Patel and Nigel must compensate all bets, Duma rebels against Abdullah and attacks him until she is rescued by Earl. As both sets of parents berate their children for being irresponsible, the poacher is arrested.

Reunited with their parents, Ted and Susan refuse their proposal to extend the holiday, and together with Morogo take Duma to Cheetah Valley, where she finds a mate. The three kids quote a Kenyan adage "Though they are separated, their spirits will still share the same earth and sky."

Cast

 * Keith Coogan as Ted Johnson
 * Lucy Deakins as Susan Johnson
 * Collin Mothupi as Morogo
 * Joe Herrington as Duma (voice)
 * Timothy Landfield as Earl Johnson
 * Breon Gorman-Landfield as Jean Johnson
 * Mhlangabezi Ka Vundla as Kipoin
 * Lydia Kigada as Lani
 * Kuldeep Bhakoo as Mr. Patel
 * Paul Onsongo as Abdullah
 * Anthony Baird as Nigel
 * Rory McGuinness as Larry
 * Rod Jacobsen as David
 * David Adido as Mwangi
 * Konga Mbandu as Police Captain
 * Martin Okello as Friendly Policeman
 * Allaudin Qureshi as Patel's Cousin
 * William Tsuma as Cabbie
 * Waigwa Wachira as Racetrack Policeman
 * Jim Ward as Announcer
 * Jan MacCoy as Stewardess
 * Evalyne Kamau as Nyambura
 * Jane Gelardi as Announcer's Girlfriend
 * 'J.J.' Joseph Otieno Adamson as Blue Duka Band Member 1
 * David Otieno as Blue Duka Band Member 2
 * Wally Amalemba as Blue Duka Band Member 3
 * Tony Evans Kalanzi as Blue Duka Band Member 4
 * Kelly Harry Ngetsa as Blue Duka Band Member 5
 * Thomas Akare as Bettor 1
 * Denis Doughty as Bettor 2
 * Siddik Ebrahim as Bettor 3
 * Lee Harvin as Bettor 4
 * Aloysius Lazarus as Greyhound Owner 1
 * Njoroge Ngoima as Greyhound Owner 2
 * Frank Turner as Greyhound Owner 3
 * Lynn Kresell as Ticket Agent
 * Richard Clarke as Announcer (voice)
 * Michael Rogers as Racetrack Policeman (voice)