When the Cat Comes (also known as The Cassandra Cat; the original Czech title is Až přijde kocour) is a 1963 Czechoslovak fantasy film directed by Vojtěch Jasný.
Life in a town is turned upside down when a traveling circus arrives with a magical cat capable of revealing people's true colors (literally, it turns out). Many of the townspeople resent the cat for outing their unsavory sides, call it dangerous and wish to be rid of it, but the town's children love the cat and protect it. The children are supported by the wise Oliva and their teacher Robert, the latter of whom pursues a romance with the circus' beautiful trapeze artist Diana.
Tropes:
- Cats Are Magic: Mourek is a cat who has the power of revealing people's true natures by looking at them and turning them certain colors.
- Children Are Innocent: No children are shown turning violet, yellow or gray, meaning the children are not liars, thieves, cheaters or otherwise dishonest. Additionally, the children all want to protect Mourek from the adults who want to either kill him or get rid of him.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: When Mourek looks at someone, that person turns one (occasionally more, but it's rare) of four colors that reveal their true nature. Yellow is for people who are unfaithful to their significant others, gray represents thieves, violet is for hypocrites, social climbers, careerists and liars, and red is for people in love (making it the only positive color). People who don't fall in any of these categories don't turn any color.
- Cool Old Guy: Oliva is an old, jovial sailor who's fond of people and observing them, is very wise and aware of the true natures of the town's population, and is friendly to children and happy to tell them stories of his past.
- Cool Teacher: Robert wants his students' imaginations to flourish and butts heads with the school director over it, as the director's own philosophy is that "imagination is unscientific". The children adore him and fight back against the director when he threatens to have Robert fired.
- Friend to All Living Things: Robert has a cat and guinea pig for pets, and apparently is regularly visited by a raven and magpie that have free range of his room and which he also feeds.
- Hunting Is Evil: In contrast to Robert's friendliness to animals, the school director has a hobby of hunting animals and having them stuffed for his collection. He intends to do the same to Mourek before the cat can show his true colors. Robert directly calls him out for these hobbies, saying that animals are better appreciated while living and killing them to turn them into learning tools is unnecessary now that they can simply be filmed in their natural states.
- Magical Eye: When Mourek looks at someone, that person turns into a color that shows their true nature. Hence why he's given sunglasses to wear; they block this power.
- Power Nullifier: Putting something over Mourek's eyes prevents him from using his power. His handlers have him wear sunglasses for this purpose, while the townspeople put a sock over his head when they capture him.
- Puppy Love: The only time Mourek's eyes turn children colorful is for a couple of kids walking hand-in-hand; they turn red, showing they're in love.
- Significant Double Casting: The actor who plays Oliva also plays the magician, with their resemblance being frequently lampshaded both by the two of them and the other characters; it's implied the reason for this might be supernatural, as Oliva spent part of his life traveling with the circus troupe, and he remarks that Diana hasn't grown any older since he last saw her.
