James Franco Talks Growing Up A Cat Person, Adopting Black Cats On "Ellen"

James Franco and His Cat Calendar

James Franco, noted cat man, recently made an ovary busting appearance on "The Ellen Show," where the host engaged him in an aww-inducing round of cat chat. The actor admitted that he was raised a cat person, and shared a snap of his family posing with their kitties:


The Franco Family and their cats.

Even more adorable, Franco revealed that he recently adopted two black cats named Lux and Max from the set of his new movie "Homefront," which opens in theaters later this month. While his character in the film steals the cat, in real life, Franco adopted the kitty and his stunt double. 


Max is such a cute kitty!

Lux and Max not only scored a forever home with the movie star, but some sweet Halloween costumes, too!

 
Lux and Max getting in the Halloween spirit.

To wrap up the segment, DeGeneres presented James with his own 2014 cat calendar, featuring the scantily clad celeb alongside some adorable pussies. Sadly, there's no word on when the one-of-a-kind collectible will be available in stores, but luckily for us, the actor shared a few of the photoshopped pin-ups on Instagram. Me-ow!

Via YouTube (The Ellen Show) / Instagram (@jamesfrancotv)

James Franco Talks Growing Up A Cat Person, Adopting Black Cats On "Ellen"

Funny or Die Presents: Hot Dudes with Kittens

Hot Dudes with Kittens from Sam Trammell

(Click here if you have trouble loading video.)

People love guys and cats, what can I say? There's Cute Boys With Cats, Hot Guys and Baby Animals, John Fulton of Must Love Cats, and now Funny or Die has thrown their hat into the ring with this kitten-heavy clip that's purportedly, "for the ladies."

Before launching into (admittedly adorable) clips of men dancing with kittens against the soothing strains of a sax, viewers are warned that if you are not a woman or a "woman sympathizer," you may not enjoy what you're about to see.

Television hunks Sam Tramwell (True Blood), Romany Malco (Weeds/No Ordinary Family), Mark Valley (a million different shows), Matt Dallas (Kyle XY), and more star in the titillating display of cute overload.

I also appreciate the fact that the video description offers up the following bit of advice: "To rescue your own kitty, go to http://www.kittenrescue.org" (Although oddly enough, it has no mention on how to adopt one of the guys..)

Also, while we're on the topic of men and cats, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention an update on one of my favorite cat guys: James Franco.

PEOPLE Pets reports that the multi-talented ailurophile says he was "raised as a cat person," and even sports cat hair on his tux when attending black tie events.

He also reveals the literary inspiration behind the names of his two cats, Sammy and Zelda, saying, "All my recent cats have been named after characters from books or the literary world. Sammy's named after Sammy Glick from [Budd Schulberg's] What Makes Sammy Run, and Zelda is named after Zelda Fitzgerald."

Via The Huffington Post / I Have Cat / PEOPLE Pets

Click here to help us get nominated for Best Cat Blog at The Petties 2011 Pet Blog Awards! Voting is open until June 29th!

Funny or Die Presents: Hot Dudes with Kittens

Meow Mix: All The Latest Cat News You Can Use

Remember the adorable Sleepy Kitten Loves Ukulele video? Well its star, Lady Peanut is all grown up now, and still ridiculously cute.

Musician Sarah Donner posted this updated picture of her on Facebook this week, along with a quick update: "Hello my friends! I hit the nip pretty hard after my YouTube stardom. I am now clean and started a support group for other kitten celebrities. Today I am a frisky, healthy cat, and nip-free for 93 days. Thanks for your love and YouTube clicks, Lady Peanut xmeowx"

Winston the kitty lost his ears due to cancer and is now looking for a forever home. Contact MEOW Cat Rescue in Kirkland, WA if you can help. - KOMO News

[WATCH] Celebrity Cat Video Updates:

James Franco spent some time this week bench pressing Sammy the cat.

Elsewhere, Amanda Seyfried cuddled up with some kittens and other assorted baby animals for her recent Elle cover shoot.

Hello Kitty Invades Soho with an Army of Cuteness - Racked

Love Meow provided a rough translation of this video of a woman discovering that her cat, Non-non, is alive after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Be The Change For Pets: Paws For Japan raised over $33,000 for World Vets, to help aid their animal rescue efforts in the disaster area. The ChipIn is still open, or you can click here to donate directly.

Meow Mix: All The Latest Cat News You Can Use

Countdown To The A(cat)emy Awards!

Just because Oscar statuettes are only given out to human actors, it doesn't mean feline thespians can't get in on the action. Here's a quick rundown of all the kitty related Academy Awards news you need to know before the big show on Sunday night!

This Saturday in Eatontown, NJ, participating groups with Best Friends Network Charities will "rock the aCATdemy Awards, an exclusive and star-studded celebration that will spotlight over 200 adoptable VIP cats and kittens!"

More from the official press release:

"This red-carpet event will honor up-for-adoption feline celebrities and recognize superstar adopters with Oscar statuettes.

In preparation for this day of high fashion, select celeb kitties will receive the full-makeover treatment: fur styling, claw pedicures, glitzy glamour wear and all-around primping. These four-pawed Hollywood stars will then be chauffeured to the event in a luxurious limo to make their grand entrance.

In addition to being awarded aCATemy awards, adopters will receive free cat food and litter, and a new family photo taken by a professional photographer and other goodies."

To help promote the event, Liberty Humane Society created these cat-centric movie posters featuring some of their adoptable feline stars. I've included just a few, but be sure to check out the rest, and find out more about the event by clicking here!

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The Kitten's Speech (Click image to enlarge)

Next up, premiere feline webcomic artisan Paisley the Cat has been presenting "Hey Pais Best Picture Nominee Theatre" on her site, with comics such as The Kitten's Speech, Black Mouse, The Kitten's All Right, 127 Minutes, Winter's Bowl, The Biter, Mouse Story, Kittenception, True Litter, and The Social Petwork.

She's also having a fun contest, where if you pre-order the "Hey Pais Best Picture Nominee Theatre" mini-comic book for six bucks, you'll also get to guess which movie will win best picture. If you're right, she'll refund your money and you'll get the book for free!

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You probably already know that the American Humane Association recognizes films by giving them the “No Animals Were Harmed” certification, but did you also know they annually award "Pawscar" Awards too? Well, they do, and this year the lone feline winner was in the category of "Best Villian."

KHOU.com reports:

"Forget Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader. For a portrait of pure evil, look no further than the diabolical villain Kitty Galore in “Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore.” Although Kitty Galore herself was created by computer-generated imagery (CGI), props and special effects, she was real enough to give you nightmares for weeks after seeing the movie. Don’t be fooled though — this project was a mixture of CGI and live action and, therefore, called for American Humane Association’s Certified Animal Safety Representatives to ensure the safety and well-being of all the animals involved."

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And finally, let's not forget to send good wishes to real life animal loving Best Actor and Actress nominees like:

source

Natalie Portman for Black Swan

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Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network

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And James Franco for 127 Hours (Seen here recovering from his laser cats attack earlier this week.)

Countdown To The A(cat)emy Awards!

James Franco Vs. The Laser Cats

James Franco joined Twitter last week, and he's been posting some um, interesting things, to say the least. It may not compare to a picture of his pee(!), but just this morning he tweeted a shot of himself battling a pack of devious laser cats.

No word yet on his condition, but let's hope he recovers in time to co-host the Academy Awards with Catwoman Anne Hathaway on Sunday night!

In the meantime, do you want to create some laser kitty pics of your own? Easily add cats (with or without lasers) to any photo with the CatPaint iPhone app!

James Franco Vs. The Laser Cats

James Franco's Pudgy Pussycat

I have a little crush on James Franco, so any news involving him + cats is definitely going to find its way on to this blog. Franco recently put together a photo journal for the Guardian, detailing a week of his life in pictures. Amidst snaps of hanging out with his grandma and editing his new film, two cat-related pics also made the cut.



First up, of handsome Harry Franco (above) he writes, "“This is one of my old cats in LA. When I moved to NYC my brother kept Harry and his brother Arturo. They are as large as bobcats.”



Next up is a cat of a more wild variety, with a super cute back story to boot. James captioned this picture, "Tiger protecting me in class. A friend gave me this token to scare off the meanies. I whited out my classmates' faces to preserve their anonymity."

Call me, James! xo

Via Movieline / Guardian

James Franco's Pudgy Pussycat