The House of Magic

Plot

A woman opens her car's door and throws a toy on the sidewalk so that her cat chases after the toy. The tabby ginger cat, who seems still kittenish, realizes that he has been abandoned by his owner and looks for a refuge. A tiny Chihuahua attempts to befriend him but is quickly dragged off by his leash. After various obstacles and near accidents, he's chased by a large Doberman until he comes to an old house with fame of being cursed in the neighbourhood. Entering via an open attic window, the cat explores all the strange contraptions about and tries to befriend a small mouse who's terrified of him. Soon he is threatened by a rabbit called Jack and the mouse called Maggie, ordering him to leave the house before their owner sees him. They're afraid the cat will monopolize his love and attention, being a cat-lover. They throw the cat out but he finds his way back in through a cellar window, attempting to escape a thunderstorm, and explored more of the house. Soon, he hides behind an urn as the house's owner, Mr. Lawrence, a nice old magician, has a conversation with his nephew Daniel. Afterwards, Jack and Maggie locate the cat and Jack pursues the kitten but before he even attempts to throw him out, Mr. Lawrence picks up the kitten and decides to adopt him, naming him Thunder.

Thunder learns about the house, as well as the various automatons and gizmos created by Mr. Lawrence for his magic shows. Meanwhile, Jack and Maggie try by all ways to exile Thunder from the house, jealous and afraid of being substituted. When Mr. Lawrence suffers an accident and is sent to the hospital, Jack and Maggie convince Mr. Lawrence's automatons about Thunder's guilt in the accident, and Thunder goes to find Mr. Lawrence to apologize.

With Mr. Lawrence in the hospital, his materialist and real estate agent nephew, Daniel, tricks Mr Lawrence into putting his house of magic up for sale, so he might sell it to the highest bidder. Discovering Daniel's trick, Thunder goes back home to alert Mr. Lawrence's gizmos and automatons. When Daniel comes home with one or two possible buyers, Thunder uses all tricks and cheats in order to prevent the house from being sold. Due to the clever tricks employed, the various owners and workman are frightened away from the house, believing it to be haunted. When Jack and Maggie again try exile Thunder, the automatons side with the cat. Daniel, who is allergic to cats, attempts various aggressive ways to get rid of Thunder, but is foiled at every turn. Mr. Lawrence also discovers Daniel's deceit and tries to leave the hospital. Meanwhile, Thunder, Jack, Maggie, and the rest of Mr. Lawrence's toys are in a race against time to save the house before Daniel destroys it. As he, frustrated and villainous, is attempting to demolish the house by using a wrecking ball.

When Mr. Lawrence gets back from the hospital and finds his nephew swinging a wrecking ball, he finally discovers his true colours. Meanwhile Jack is stuck midway in the cat-flap of the front door, as Thunder attempts to save all the automatons from getting crushed. When he saves Maggie's life, Thunder finally earns the mouse's respect and friendship. They band together and use Daniel's cat-allergy against him until he ends up wrecking his own beloved car instead, crushed under the wrecking ball. Mr. Lawrence then orders Daniel to make repairs on the house, right before calling 911 to summon a doctor. Thunder is finally accepted as a member of the family by Jack and all. When Mr. Lawrence recovers his injuries, he returns to entertaining children with his magic shows, in which Thunder now has his very own part alongside Jack and Maggie. Thunder is finally happy to have a family that appreciates him. As for Daniel, he continues his job and tries to buy a house from an elderly woman, who turns out to be a cat lady. As a ton of cats come inside, Daniel sneezes and screams that he wants to find a new line of work.

Cast

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 71% based on reviews from 28 critics, with the consensus: "Thunder and the House of Magic lacks real narrative depth, but its visual splendor offers sufficient compensation for younger viewers." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 47 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Box office

The film grossed $4,091 in North America, plus $64,193,114 overseas, for a combined gross of $64,197,205.