The cats in this movie and also in The Secret of Nimh are not like cats at all. Cats in real life are so cuddly and cute, although they can be pests at times. But in these cartoons, they roar like wild mammals and the cats in Russia at the beginning of this movie didn't look like cats at all. They looked like crosses between wolverines and wolves. I guess this is how far the filmmakers went to show how monstrous cats are through the perspectives of mice.
shareI think you just answered your own question. That's how cats appear to mice. The film is supposed to be shown from the perspective of the mice, who are being persecuted by the cats.
Also note that Warren T. Rat looks more like a fox than a cat.
Don't forget that this is a propaganda film that is meant to portray the Russians in essentialist tones, ie., evil, bloodthirsty, crazed, etc. This film was made at a period of tension in the Cold War and the idea was to portray a stark difference between Russian totalitarianism and US "freedom".
share[deleted]
It's to heighten the tension. Plus, the cats are monstrous in size compared to mice, so they took that concept and made them much more larger and menacing. Though the heightened sound and terror is there to really show you how menacing the world is for the mice, like when Fievel is walking along the elevated train tracks, and a train thunders over head. Screeching trains are murder on human ears, but imagine that going through the ears of a tiny creature.
"I...Drink...YOUR...MILKSHAKE!!" -Daniel Plainview, "There Will Be Blood"