(SOUNDBITE OF CAT MEOWING)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Oh, that movie meow, an Oscar-winning performance, after all. The black cat that led the animated film "Flow" has sailed into the hearts of many. And when I talked to the director, Gints Zilbalodis, last month, he said that was the point.
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GINTS ZILBALODIS: The story is told through the cat's point of view, and the cat doesn't know where the humans have gone or where the flood is coming from. So it was important that we stay in that point of view. And I wanted to create an experience where you get to feel like you are the cats.
SIMON: That exercise in empathy may just be giving black cats some much-needed good luck. Brazil's Metropoles reports that interest in adopting these felines has exploded in that country. We called one of the largest cat sanctuaries here in the U.S. to gauge if the movie's changed their adoptions.
BETH CAFFREY: I'm Beth Caffrey, with The Cat House on the Kings.
SIMON: The Cat House on the Kings is in Parlier, California. They find homes for about 500 cats a year.
CAFFREY: When we see litters, we tend to see a high count of, say, black kittens in a litter, or even, you know, litters that are blended - there's black kittens, and they would always be the ones that would be last to be adopted.
SIMON: Outdated superstitions usually drive such disparities. But Beth Caffrey says that's started to change.
CAFFREY: With the campaigns - some of them very clever - that organizations have done to raise that awareness that it's the personality that you should bond with, not necessarily the outside coat of the cat. It definitely helped to change people's perspective. And so for the past two years, we've seen a rise in black cat, dark cat, like, even torties getting adopted, which is really wonderful.
SIMON: And she says that after the popularity of "Flow," they have gotten calls from people who specifically want to adopt a black cat. Caffrey has her own rescued black cat and says if you're not quite ready for a commitment to a feline in your family, consider fostering.
CAFFREY: Fosters are always needed. And some wonderful tests have been done where people who have never had a cat they've been, you know, temporarily given a cat - say, you know, try living with this kitty and see how it goes. And all of the people actually said, we didn't even realize how much we enjoyed having a cat as a part of our family.
SIMON: And finally, maybe consider this from two of our weekend edition staff, who each have multiple cats, including black cats. And those cats are tuned in now because they really want to hear BJ Leiderman's theme music. Excellent taste, Dario and Bruce. Meow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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