If at First You Do Succeed . . .

On Valentine’s Day 1997, Walt Disney Studios released “That Darn Cat,” a remake of a 1965 Hayley Mills comedy escapade of the same name. The remake bombed. Critics faulted the movie for its listless jokes and even a boring cat. The movie took in only $18.2 million at the box office. The two credited screenwriters were so embarrassed with how the movie had diverted from their script that, in protest, they used initials in their credits: S.M. Alexander & L.A. Karaszewski. But Disney has had far more success with other remakes. This week, the studio will release a new version of “The Parent Trap,” a remake of its popular 1961 family comedy, again starring Mills. The story this time around is roughly the same: twin girls, separated as babies when their parents divorced are unexpectedly reunited at summer camp. Rivals at first, they quickly bond as sisters and devise a scheme to meet the respective parents they have never known. Later, they hatch plans to rekindle the romantic spark between their mom and dad, and torpedo plans by a rival to marry their father. The original film grossed about $20 million at the box office--not bad for 1961. The new version stars child actress Lindsay Lohan in the Mills role and features Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as the parents. Disney’s more successful remakes include “Flubber,” which opened in November 1997 and went on to make $93 million in North America, while “101 Dalmatians,” which opened a year earlier, took in $136.2 million in domestic ticket sales. In 1993, “Homeward Bound”--a remake of 1963’s “The Incredible Journey”--made $41.8 million in North America. “Box office-wise, it seems to have been a sound decision by Disney to remake ‘101 Dalmatians’ and ‘Flubber,’ ” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Inc. “If they can pull scripts out of their archives, remake them with a ‘90s sensibility and modern special effects, it can really sell well.” It doesn’t always work, however. “If it doesn’t work, everybody asks, ‘Why did you remake it?’ ” he added.

A Preview of One of Fall’s Main Events

Can Hank Hill animate Fox’s ratings against an Oscar-winning actress and TV’s highest-paid sitcom star? Tuesday night will offer a preview of one of the coming television season’s most closely watched matchups, when Fox shifts “King of the Hill” to a new 8 p.m. time slot facing NBC’s “Mad About You” (with Oscar winner Helen Hunt) and ABC’s “Home Improvement,” starring Tim Allen. While everyone is still in reruns, early results could provide some clue as to whether the gambit will work before Fox starts running new “King” episodes on Sept. 8. Fox executives have likened the scheduling ploy to the network’s move of another animated hit, “The Simpsons,” to Thursdays in 1990, which helped hasten the demise of NBC’s “The Cosby Show.” “Home Improvement” and “Mad About You” are heading into what’s presumably the final season for both shows, so Fox wanted to plant its flag now on one of prime time’s most competitive nights, with “JAG,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Moesha” joining the six-network logjam at 8 p.m. Conventional TV wisdom says networks must divide their hits to conquer new nights, but with so many popular shows squaring off, the net effect might be mediocrity all around.

A Rap Album That’s Mostly Talk

Tupac Shakur’s music continues to sell millions of albums nearly two years after his death. But will all those fans also be willing to buy a CD featuring one of the last interviews with the slain rapper? That’s the question prompted by Mecca Records’ release of “In His Own Words,” which consists chiefly of an interview Shakur gave to a San Francisco radio station several months before he was shot down in Las Vegas in September 1996. Joe Isgro, CEO of the independent Encino-based label and a 25-year veteran of the music industry, isn’t sure what to expect Wednesday when he checks SoundScan’s first-week sales report. “I don’t anticipate this album selling a million copies,” he says, “but nothing would surprise me.” This might: A spokeswoman for Shakur’s estate says the album was released without proper authorization and that it plans to take legal action in an attempt to pull the record from store shelves. In the much-bootlegged interview, Shakur touches on a variety of topics, including his 1994 shooting in New York, his sexual assault conviction and his bitter rivalry with another slain rapper, the Notorious B.I.G. Among the five songs on the album are two that Shakur recorded with B.I.G., with whom he had once been friendly, as well as a Naughty by Nature tribute to the rapper-actor. Violet Brown, urban music buyer for the Wherehouse retail chain, doesn’t think much of the album, but says, “The way it’s packaged, it probably will sell.” Meanwhile, Shakur’s estate is working on several projects involving the hundreds of his songs still in the vaults and a spokesman says an album of previously unreleased material could be released before the end of the year.

Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors