Orange Cats Proclaim Victory As Catching Fire Kitty Is Recast At Author's Request

Buttercup Fan Art by Capitol Portraits

Hunger Games fans heading to check out Catching Fire tonight should be on the lookout for one major casting change from the first flick: Primose Everdeen's beleaguered feline, Buttercup, has been replaced by the orange tabby he was always meant to be.


Buttercup #1's reaction to being recast.
(via Cats on Film)

Cat loving critics such as myself were baffled by the casting of a black and white kitty in the first film, due to the book's specific description of Buttercup being golden (In the original book, Primrose insisted that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower.)

According to an exclusive interview with io9, Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence revealed that he received the request to recast the feline directly from a producer and Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins herself:

"...They thought the cat from the first movie was not the way he was described in the book. And that had annoyed a bunch of fans, and things like that. But it also just kind of bothered them that Buttercup was not a black and white cat. So I was happy to get one that felt like the Buttercup of the book."

My favorite cat in the world is black and white, but was still ready to protest on behalf of marmalade colored cats everywhere. Now that Buttercup has been restored to all of his golden beauty, I can go back to worrying if Catching Fire is going to give me motion sickness as bad as the first movie did (for real). Happy Hunger Games, y'all!

Via io9