The Mousehole Cat

This charming, beautifully made gem heralds the start of our family Christmas every year. Bookended by live footage of stunning Cornish scenery, the story it told in simple animation based on Nicola Bayley's original book illustrations, and narrated perfectly by Sian Phillips. Accompanied by a bewitching soundtrack, this beauty of a short film tells a simple tale of everyday heroism and love between an elderly fisherman and his companion cat and his determination to try to save his village form starvation, even if it costs him his life. Gentle, wonderfully told and utterly charming, no one with a heart could fail to love this film.

A fisherman lives alone with his cat in Cornwall. Unfortunately, a fierce storm interrupts their peaceful lives. When food (fish)starts to run out the fisherman and his cat go fishing in the stormy conditions - will he survive? This animation is based on the book of the same name. It's literary influences are prominent. The film features a narrative which is superbly read by Siân Phillips. The animation looks similar to an animated storybook. I have not read the original book but I'm sure this was based on its illustrative style. The animation is nice looking featuring heavy pencil lines and lots of still shots. The story is imaginative (e.g. the storm resembles a larger cat) and is told in an effective way.

Summary: This is a charming, well animated and narrated piece. Unfortunately due to its style it could suffer comparisons to children's programmes which feature a storyteller reading from a book. At thirty minutes the film is also slightly too long. This film should appeal to family audiences as it features all the mystery and charm of a children's story but also enough depth and a detailed, intelligent narration to keep adults interested. For anyone wanting to see this it's released on both DVD and VHS tape (VHS is now out-of-print) in the UK.

This is my first comment on IMDb because I've never seen a video that deserved praise more than this film. I can't believe that there are no comments already - this feature is too good to be so unknown.

I saw this short film on PBS in 1994 and now my wife and I watch this VHS film every Christmas - it has become a tradition with us. It is one of my favorite stories. The incredibly wonderful "animation" is straight from the Nicola Bayley artwork for the Antonia Barber book. The narrator (reader) is Sian Phillips and she does a marvelous job. Your enjoyment will be increased if you love cats.

Two complaints: (1) I can't get my wife to make me a star-gazey pie and (2) I wish it would come out on DVD...

I find this animated festive story is very amazing, Because of the hand-drawn animation, it is written by the British Author Antonia Barber, the animation did captured the Nicole Bayley's illustrations very well, the narration is performed by the lovely Sian Phillips, Mowzer the Cat is the main protagonist of this story, She is Tom's pet cat, She has her heroic deed is to soothe the Great Storm Cat, By singing a beautiful swan song to calm him down and relax, Her owner Tom is the secondary protagonist, Because He helped Mowzer to fish the fish for the people of Cornwall, West Country, England, UK, and as for The Great Storm Cat, He manage to redeem himself, because of Mowzer's beautiful swan song to calm him down, So he has gone from Wrathful to Tranquil at the end, I'm giving this Christmas Story a 10/10 and Merry Christmas.