Cathy la petite chenille

I was 3 years old when this movie was released. My parents would rent it for me over and over again. I have been looking for a copy of it for YEARS as I would love to show it to my children.

I have vague recollections of the story itself but I have strong emotional ties to it as I watched it hundreds of times.

I watched this movie in the mid-80's and it kept my attention the whole time. I thot it was the cutest, sweetest animated movie i had ever seen. It was so interesting watching katy wander thru her life wishing she was something different and the sadness she experienced along the way because she felt so ugly and wanted to be beautiful. Then seeing the happiness she finally came to know when she changed into a butterfly and was so beautiful. I remember it brought tears to my eyes.

This movie has always stayed in my mind but i have never seen it again in all these years. I wish they would show this movie again sometime so I could make a vcr tape of it. It is a priceless animated movie that all children and adults would love.

A childhood favourite of mine. I've now had a chance to reflect on it as an adult and can see that the film has many wonderful messages for children on discovering their identity, to explore, try new things, handle the criticism/prejudice/conceit of others, the perils of a life consisting purely of work and no pleasure, the pitfalls of believing that the purchase of possessions will make you happy, the over-hyped status of city-life (maybe the grass on the other side isn't as green as you thought it was once you get there).

As a cartoon, I still think it's elegantly drawn, Katy is chubby, sweet, adorable and perfectly voiced.

The songs are cheerful and bouncy, with Katy's "Someday" song standing out by a mile, a very sweet, emotional song, sung with a lot of conviction, it always gets me a little teary-eyed.

Some of the other songs seem to suffer a little due to the English pronunciation being a little off. I was getting the impression that some songs were sung by the Spanish voice-cast singing English words but pronouncing them like Spanish words.

I guess that's why as a child I couldn't really catch the meaning of some of the other songs. That's a minor shame, as I now realise that the lyrics of these other songs also conveyed strong messages too.

It might be a worthwhile endeavour for someone to contribute English subtitles for this film one day. If I can spare some time one day, I might give it a try.

On the whole though, still a terrific film, and one I hope to show my children.

Wow!!! I'm just shocked... I saw this movie when I was about 8 years old, and I have just discovered it wasn't from the Disney Studios. You must understand that for a girl that age at that time, knowing the difference was not important. I remember seeing it like 20 times, I just adored it. The story of Katy was so appealing for me. I loved the end when she finally became a beautiful butterfly. I know it is no "Bug's Life" or "Finding Nemo", but for an 8 year old girl in Panama in 1984 it was wonderful animated entertainment.

I must have been around 9 or 10 years old. My memory is all fuzzy over this, and I have never, ever seen any reference to this movie except for here. So I have decided to take a trip down memory lane, with the other 2 people who might also someday remember about this story.

First of all. I do remember this was a big deal in Mexico, since it was either the first animated motion picture to come out of Silvia Roche's (of "Odisea Burbujas" fame - who can forget!) mind. The usual media blitz now associated with a Disney release (although at a lesser scale, of course) was implemented here, too! I remember I had a Katy the Caterpillar glow-in-the-dark figurine, and there were books, toys, etc.

Funny thing is, why would a mexican cartoon had all the text in the movie in english? I clearly remember when Katy goes to a club, the banner reads "Cheese-o-theque", and the character read "Ques-o-teca". Pretty weird. I guess mexican kids were always second-rate to the producers.

Anyway, what was the story about? Simple. A caterpillar who thought she was too chubby and ugly, so she leaves home in search of adventures. Along the way, somehow, she morphs into a rather cute butterfly.

I would watch this one over again, but just because of the memories it brings back. If I remember correctly, the animation was terrible, the drawings were pretty bad, and everything was in english.

Still, I rate it a 7 because if I ever can watch it again, it will be the best trip down memory lane I could ever have.