Felidae

This is an amazing film. I had never heard of it before yesterday, but I found and watched it on Youtube....talk about blown away! I was not expecting such a deep story, or how graphic it was. I didn't walk in expecting Rainbow-Brite, but I was completely unprepared for the intense gore and scenes of the lab. I literally couldn't watch some parts of that, and I'm a gore-hound and horror fan. I'm not complaining, I just got caught off guard by it. I understand why it was done, and it was integral to the plot, but...brrrr. Anyway, I can't praise this film enough. The colors are rich, the characters are solid and strong, and the artwork is magnificent. I was surprised at how recently this was made, because it has the feel of something done much earlier. I have three felines of my own, and the body movements and mannerisms were perfectly right. As soon as the credits rolled, I immediately placed an order for this film. I will give it a place of honor in my animation collection, and I suggest you do the same. Just be aware that this is in no way a film for kids, and you have only yourself to blame if they see it and freak. Just hug your kitties when it's over.

This may be the first animated German movie I've ever seen and it certainly shows with how weird it is. This is quite an impressive movie, if only because of the main character, Francis. I really do feel for this character and I appreciate how he's the most rational and decent character in the whole movie. I like how the cats in this movie are represented more realistically. I couldn't help but think this was kind of a ripoff of "The Secret Of Nimh". You know, a dark animated movie about genetic experiments on talking animals. Many of these scenes are quite intense.

The animation in this film is very well done. Many people will be turned off by the violence. I couldn't find a rating for this movie, but am fairly certain it would at least be PG-13 if it received mainstream theaters. I've heard of a popular book series called "Warrior Cats" which is similar to this. I really do feel bad when things go wrong for Francis and I like how he interacts with the much more dysfunctional characters. While not as good as "The Secret Of Nimh" this is still a fairly unique movie that I recommend. Don't let the animation fool you. It's very adult, so please don't think children should see it. ***

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.

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.

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