‘Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty’

This article explores the motifs of pet and play in the Alien franchise.It is grounded in biocultural theory and draws on play research fromanthropology, ethology, and linguistics (Huizinga, Burghardt, Bateson)and research in pets from animal studies and philosophy (Melson,Tuan, Fudge). The article develops three levels of play to discuss theaudience’s engagement: immersed play (play1), shifting in and outof a play frame (play2), and distanced looking-at-play (play3). Thepet function in the Alien series is performed by various beings, suchas the cat Jonesy and dog Spike, the Alien, the clone Ripley 8, andthe androids David and Walther. Pet and play have until now beenoverlooked in analyses of the franchise, but this article develops a newperspective that concludes with a reflection on the Alien as an animal"’good to think’" (Lévi-Strauss) with, in that the audience can use theAlien as play pivot in a game of pet domestication, domination, andmastery.