Blackie Proves A Good Meow Is Hard to Find

Their assignment sounded simple enough: tape-record Donald Schoor’s cat, Blackie, meowing and then take portrait-style pictures of the animal.

Blackie, an 8-year-old feline of undetermined breed, is one of six regional finalists chosen at random among 250,000 entries in a nationwide “Meow Off,” a contest sponsored by Ralston Purina, maker of --what else?--Meow Mix brand cat food.

But when the crew showed up at Schoor’s Anaheim home early one morning this week, Patti Goldstein, the cat food company’s representative, discovered that it wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded.

“Gentlemen, our work is cut out for us,” Goldstein informed the soundman and photographer as they lugged their equipment into Schoor’s living room. “It seems that Mr. Schoor’s cat Blackie lives on the terrace and runs away when he sees people.”

“He’s a very shy cat,” explained the mild-mannered Schoor. “I mean he doesn’t even like me to pick him up.”

Schoor’s modest tract home was the first stop on a weeklong, six-city trip around the country for Goldstein and the crew to tape-record and photograph the six feline contest finalists. Three of each cat’s best tape-recorded meows will be played for a celebrity panel of judges Oct. 30 at Lincoln Center in New York City, with all six cats--and their owners--in attendance.

This year’s contest theme is to find the most “magical, musical meow,” Goldstein said.The cat with the best meow will win a $25,000 grand prize and a starring role in a Meow Mix brand cat food commercial.

Chance at Stardom

But Schoor’s cat was holed up in the enclosed patio, refusing to utter even a single meow. His big chance at stardom was at hand, and Blackie was being temperamental.

“This is not wonderful for a beginning,” Goldstein said.

“He was meowing all morning,” said Schoor’s 20-year-old son Kendall.

“Of course,” said Goldstein, launching into a brief discussion of possible ways to coax Blackie to meow into the microphone.

They could, Goldstein said, place the cat in the closet. Or, as Kendall Schoor suggested, they could put Blackie in the cardboard pet carrier box in which they take him to the vet. Blackie always meows when going to the vet, he said.

“I guess we better start our motors, gentlemen,” Goldstein said finally, as soundman David Fine and animal photographer Robert Pearcy began setting up their equipment.

“Do you have to go through this with the others?” Schoor asked Goldstein.

“This is not the worst,” she said. “Some are easier than others. But there are very few that don’t have some problems.”

There was, for example, the cat that refused to meow unless it was behind a closed closet door. Another cat would only meow when sitting in the car. And then there was the cat last year who would meow only when it was in a tree.

3 Best for Judges

The idea, Goldstein said, is to tape-record as many meows as possible so the owner can select the three best to be played for the judges. (Although the audience at Lincoln Center will see slides of each cat contestant, the judges will be blindfolded.)

Asked if Blackie’s meow is unusually musical, Schoor said: “I don’t know. I never really paid much attention to it. But I hope it’s musical now.”

Schoor, who works at IBM in Orange, said he has no idea what breed of cat Blackie is.

“He just showed up one day, I fed him and he never left,” said Schoor. “There’s not much I can tell you about the cat. He’s a good hunter, catches a lot of birds.”

Schoor entered Blackie in the Meow Off several months ago after seeing an advertisement for the contest. Although it was a first for Blackie, Schoor said he has been entering contests for the last three years.

“I have a whole bunch of entries over there,” he said, gesturing to a stack of several dozen addressed envelopes on the kitchen table.

Has he ever won anything?

“Nothing big,” said Schoor. “I won a small television set, luggage, a smoked turkey--small things like that.”

Even if they don’t win the $25,000 first prize, Schoor and the five other finalists are already winners of sorts: Each cat owner will receive a first-class ticket to New York City for two, in addition to the cat, who will ride in the plane with its owner.

(“Listen,” said Goldstein, “the cat is worth a potential $25,000. Are you going to put him with the luggage?”)

Celebrity Treatment

The owners--and their cats--will stay at the Plaza Hotel in New York where, Goldstein said, “they get wined, dined, theatered, limoed--all of that. But what’s interesting is what happens in their hometown: They become celebrities.”

Last year, the winning cat from Billings, Mont., not only made it onto the front page of the newspaper and the local evening news but was greeted at the airport by the high school band.

Schoor thinks his--and Blackie’s--chances of winning are good.

“I think I have a chance in every contest I enter,” he said. “Otherwise I would have given up after three years.”

A faint meow was heard from the enclosed patio. Things were looking up.

“Will he allow you to hold him, Mr. Schoor?” Goldstein asked.

“I believe so,” Schoor said.

Out in the screened-in patio, Pearcy the photographer was holding the microphone boom while Fine the soundman sat in the living room with his earphones on, ready to capture the cries on tape.

But Pearcy was not having any luck in coaxing the reticent cat from his hiding place under a table in a cluttered corner of the room.

“He’s scared now,” said Schoor. “The only chance we have now is to put him in the box. I knew he’d take off for that corner.”

Schoor returned with the pet carrier as Kendall Schoor picked up Blackie, but the cat managed to get free and scrambled back under the table in the corner.

Plaintive Cry

This time, however, Blackie let out a loud meow. It was a throaty, plaintive cry.

Pearcy moved in with the microphone.

Blackie said: “Meow! Meow! Me-e-e-ow!”

“Well, at least he’s in the contest,” said Goldstein. “That’s not bad, that one long one. I think in this case the long meow is going to be the better meow.”

Last year was the first time in the eight-year-old contest that they did “a themed Meow Off,” Goldstein said. “Before that, we were simply looking for the best meow.”

What they were looking for last year, Goldstein said, was a “universal, cosmic meow,” a sort of extraterrestrial-sounding meow. “It could be almost anything,” she said.

In line with the musical meow theme of the contest this year, the judging in October will be held during the premiere performance of a new musical fable called “The Meow that Saved the Kingdom.” It was written by Goldstein, with original music by Joe Raposo, composer of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and Kermit the Frog’s lament, “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green.” The winning cat’s meow will be featured in a solo performance at the close of the 20-minute work, which will feature a full symphony orchestra.

They had gotten Blackie into his box, but then he stopped meowing. And although they had recorded several good meows, soundman Fine said he was picking up too many airplanes and bird noises from outside. When the taped meows are played for the judges, he explained, they will be played over a PA system and all background noise will be amplified.

They decided to move the boxed Blackie into the living room. And so, with Pearcy holding the microphone next to the box, they waited. And waited. Then Pearcy had an idea.

Responds to Threat

“Let’s go to the vet, Blackie,” he told the cat. It worked.

“Me-e-e-ow,” Blackie said.

Pearcy grinned.

“We found the secret,” he said, picking up the box and walking with it. “OK, we’re going to the vet!”

Silence.

“OK, Blackie! Come on, Blackie!”

No luck.

“Come on, Blackie!”

“Meow! Meow! Meow!”

The soundman was pleased. “We have some good ones in here,” he said.

“Yeah, but we’d like to have enough for Mr. Schoor to choose,” said Goldstein.

Now Kendall Schoor kneeled down next to the box.

“Come on, give us a meow,” he said.

“Meow!”

“Come on Blackie, meow,” said Kendall.

“Meow!”

“We’re doing great,” said Pearcy.

“Absolutely,” said Fine.

Just before moving Blackie back into the patio room for a formal portrait sitting--and before another newspaper reporter and a television news crew from Channel 7 arrived--Schoor took his turn trying to get Blackie to meow for the tape recorder.

By now the timid creature was singing like a bird.

“Gee, it’s great to have a famous cat,” said Schoor.