Pelle Svanslös

Aah...Peter-no-Tail. A trip down memory lane. I originally viewed this animated feature back in 1983, I believe, when it came on HBO. Of course, I has watched this when it was dubbed in English. The animation wasn't as top-notch as I'd liked, but the story was cute and so were the characters! With the right mix of drama, humor, and action, I did enjoy this title. Out of the entire English vocal cast, I do recall Dom Deluise in there as well as Larry Storch, two actors I liked. Of course, any feature that had Dom DeLuise as a cast member would be memorable. This feature is perfect for any family looking for decent entertainment.

Whilst other children of my generation were enthralled by Disney movies, I was busy watching a very obscure Swedish gem known as "Peter No Tail." To this day, felines have always been my favorite creatures, and as a wee girl I had a bit of an obsession with them. Yeah. So obviously this little film caught my interest, way back when Stop and Shop (as you can tell I'm a New Englandah), had movie rentals! Not to mention the rarest ones such as this! Peter No Tail is a unique story of a family who want to adopt a cat. The local farmhand's cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens, and he was selling them. But alas, nobody would adopt Peter, the kitten who was, uh, lacking in the tail department. Finally, a family take him in, give him a cute little cap to wear and green bow-tie and everything! It's a cute and offbeat look at how Peter tries to win the heart of the cat community, despite their scoffing at him and his tail lackage (is that a word?). He competes with a nasty cat named Max, and his sidekicks, Bill and Bull, in a sort of athletic decathlon and to win the heart of a lovely feline female. It's a tad bit dated, but considering the fact that it's a 25 year old flick, it's still wonderful today and I still own a copy...somewhere.

It's been a while since I last saw this film, as a matter of fact, Pelle Svanslös is one of the first films I saw as a child. The story is about a Pelle, a cat who was born without a proper tail. Of course, Pelle soon becomes the laughing stock of the town, because the other cats think that "he can't be a proper cat if he doesn't even have a proper tail".

Since this is a children's story the film evidently has a moral. Fortunately it isn't overdone, and the message of acceptance and equality is conveyed without having to rely on cheap sentimentality. However, the film is a bit sad at times, mainly because of the abuse Pelle has to take from the other cats. Don't worry though, it all turns out fine in the end.

Still, I cried my our eyes out the first time I saw it. But give me some credit, I was only five years old at the time.

Peter No Tail is doing a very good job in the movie in Sweden. Welcome to America. :) Congratulations for the 100% movie for the paradise. ;)

I remember seeing this film as a child and getting my mum to tape it so that I could watch it over and over again. I didn't even realise it was Swedish so know it as Peter-No-Tail.

It's the story of a cat born without a tail who tries to fit in but gets bullied by the other cats. Things just don't seem to go quite right for him, getting caught in a house fire and being pushed over in a running race. It's actually quite sad and you feel sorry for Peter-No-Tail but it is an excellent film and well worth a watch if you ever get the opportunity to see it. Hopefully it will be released in English someday.