Felidae

Felidae is a noir cartoon about cats and murder, based on the best-selling novel by the same name. It is very rare and unique in its genre - an animated animal picture with some of the most disturbing and dark subjects in film.

A serial killer slaying fellow cats in gruesome manners when they are on heat with the wrong race. There are visions of hell, animal experimentation, dead mutilated bodies, sex scenes and race purification - very much like Germany was during the Nazi regime.

It starts out as a plot similar to Basic Instinct, has a human-like tone just as Watership Down had, gruesome murder notions and Satan worshiping somewhat akin to Angel Heart and a few tragic characters like in Apocalypse Now.

Not recommended for children of course! But it is true to the novel and shows the world as we are in now, violent, hateful and cruel and more so in the past but with a future that still leads a way to hope.

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.

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.

When I rented out this movie a few years ago, I was expecting a cute, maybe even sappy happy little movie. Instead, I got one of the most disturbing animated strips I've ever seen.

First of all, having read the two books by now, kudos to Pirincci for making a murder story concerning CATS into such an intriguing tale. I remember being mesmerized by it more than the usual Who-did-it? murder mystery. It held me glued to the screen and actually repulsed in some of the more gorey scenes (Yuh huh, plenty of gorey stuff at that. In an animated cat movie. Whaddaya know.) I think the best thing about the movie, as well as the book, is the perspective from which the story is told: We see the entire movie with Francis, the cat, narrating and giving off his wisecracking and smartarsey comments. It's amazing just how well Pirincci portrayed the general cat's attitude; He manages to keep the arrogance and general feline-ness about them yet manages to bring more complex, what we believe to be human themes into the story without making it seem presumptuous or farfetched.

So if you like cats, aren't too turned off by the idea of seeing some fur and intestines flying while our most beloved kittycoos reveal their somewhat darker side, this is a movie you should definately see.

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