Felidae

After seeing The Plague Dogs for the first time and being very impressed by it, I was told about Felidae. At first, I was cautious. I'm not a big fan of of sci-fi and gory movies in general, but this movie turned out to far better than I had anticipated.

Not only was the storyline well written, the quality of the animation was great. There were no obvious CGI effects -- which the movie didn't need -- which sadly seems to be a rarity these days. For those of you who think animated movies are just for kids, guess again! For those looking for a well made, adult animated movie, consider giving this one a try. I did, and did not regret it.

Isn't it always a shame that the best films are often the most unknown? I had to order my copy through eBay from a German seller to get my hands on the DVD of Felidae. Although there are no English subtitles, thankfully there is at least English dubbing, albeit in Dolby 2.0 as opposed to 5.1. Still, the English voice talent is quiet excellent and never irks, the way some foreign dubs can. Now, onto the actual film, Felidae is a feast for the eyes. What initially appears to be a typical animation with lavish colours, top art and high production values becomes much more. For one, there is animated violence that would shock an adult Japanese animation studio. We're talking gritty, horrid violence that makes this tale all the more real. Secondly, there are some brilliant dream sequences with incredibly surreal effects that just have to be seen. The most alluring aspect of this film is most definitely its noir feel. There's a murder mystery, thugs, grit and guts, femme fatales and a story that'll make your eyes pop. The story is arguably the most intriguing yet seen in animation. It covers cults, murder, ancient Egypt, animal experimentation, genetics and much more. It's definitely a film you need to see multiple times to soak it all up. Lastly, a word of warning. This is a feline noir film, so there's not only violence, but sex too. Yes, kitty porn. Well, not really, but it's definitely an unexpected event even for this animation. One of the best things you can do right now is to hope online to eBay or some other store and get yourself a copy of this excellent DVD. Here's hoping that someday there will be a re-release of this film with subtitles so that us non-Germans can watch the film in its original language, listen to the directors commentary and understand what's being said in the making of.

What you are looking at is the best film about cats. Ever.

This is the best film about cats I seen so far. And I saw... three (not much), "That Darn Cat" and "The Aristocats" and... well, Felidae. This one beats them both with one hand. It has a realistic setting, believable characters, a serious plot, great voice acting (English dub). Also the animation is superb. And cats are portrayed very naturalistically: nice job, animators!

Unless you are a sensitive person, DO watch the film. To like it, you must like cats, animation AND murder mysteries.

P.S. And it is NOT 4kids.

I have seen this movie at first in 1996 and every time when there are rerun of this movie I try to watch them.The great voice cast brings life to the cartoon-suspense thriller.Especially Klaus Maria Brandauer is doing a great job and play "his" best villain since "Never say Never".Although it is a cartoon the story of Francis,a cat which seeks the solution to the strange murders in his neighbourhood,has a very dark and adult theme.The best animated film since the Lion King!I give it a 10!

Comparisons to Watership Down and The Plague Dogs, films that are also adult-oriented and dark are inevitable. I'll keep my comparison brief, I do not think Felidae is quite as good as good as either one of those movies, but it is an extremely good animated film. The story structure occasionally doesn't always flow, but the concept and a vast majority of scenes are brilliant.

When it comes to the effective scenes, the dream sequences were incredibly haunting and I think surrealistic as well. Felidae is also quite daring, there is not only violence(and bearing in mind this is not cartoony violence, the violence here dependent on who you are is quite shocking) but also some sex and crude language. That is not a bad thing at all, as has been said already, Felidae is very adult-oriented.

It wasn't just the story that impressed me. The animation was great. True, like The Plague Dogs it does have a dark and haunting visual style seen especially in the colours. The colours are very bold and atmospheric, and the character designs of the cats are surprisingly excellent. Felidae also contains for me one of the darkest music scores I have heard in an animated film(not quite like Hunchback of Notre Dame dark, but some of the motifs are really quite dark), and this works wonderfully. Plus in the more tense moments it never feels intrusive.

The writing is strong, it takes quite a lot of risks, and I admit I admire the writers for doing that. The characters are really quite unique and engaging, I think the title character is likable and interesting without being too perfect. And the voice acting is very emotive, both in the German and English versions. I'd say the German is slightly better in terms of darkness and authenticity, but the English version never feels sloppy and none of the actors feel like they're playing themselves.

In conclusion, this mayn't be quite the best animated film I have ever seen, but I was blown away by it. It is unique, dark and very daring. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox