Although the consensus in Hollywood is that traditional, hand-drawn 2-D animation is dead, both Spain and France continue to surprise the Academy with nominated feature films. A Cat In Paris, from French directors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, is a pure delight, following the double-life of a little girl’s pet cat in this family-friendly crime-caper.
Studio: New Video/GKIDS
US BD Release Date: October 9, 2012
Original Release Year: 2011
Rated: PG (for mild violence and action, and some thematic material)
Running Time: 65 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Subtitles: English
Movie: 4 out of 5
Poor little Zoe. Traumatized by her father’s death at the hands of a reputed gangster, she has been silent ever since, and her only friend is her pet cat, Dino, who brings her his daily catch of dead lizards every morning. Zoe’s mother, Jeanne (voiced by Marcia Gay Harden), is too obsessed with capturing her husband’s murderer, leaving much of Zoe’s day to day upbringing to housekeeper and nanny Claudine (voiced by Angelica Houston). But Dino has a secret night life, assisting cat burglar Nico (voiced by Steve Blum) in a rash of jewelry thefts. When Victor Costa (voiced by JB Blanc) returns to Paris to steal a prized museum artifact, all of the characters’ paths eventually cross, and it is up to Dino and Nico to save Zoe and help bring Costa to justice.
Drawn in what can best be described as a children’s storybook style, A Cat In Paris is, perhaps, one of the most charming animated films from last year, and one of only two hand-drawn films to have been nominated for Best Animated Feature in 2012 (Chico & Rita was the other, joined by three CGI features, Kung-Fu Panda 2, Puss In Boots, and the winner, Rango). The character design is simple, and at times the animation is somewhat crude, but that just adds to the charm, and proves the Pixar motto of story first (something the company may have forgotten with Cars 2, Pixar’s first snub in the Animated Feature category). Directors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol build empathy for Zoe, and bring a great deal of intelligence and understanding of cats in both their animation and storytelling of Dino, and use a lot of stretch and pull when both Dino and Nico are jumping from building to building along the Paris skyline as well as evading capture during their robberies. There are just enough dark undertones to keep the parents interested, but never getting too dark to alienate the younger audience members.
Video: 4.5 out of 5
A Cat In Paris has been wonderfully presented on Blu-ray in 1080p, retaining the film’s intended 1.85:1 aspect ratio, compressed using the AVC codec. Colors are vibrant and consistent, blacks are well-rendered without crushing, and detail is excellent. Some shimmer is visible, but is intentional in its animation style. Compression artifacts are virtually non-existent.
Audio: 4 out of 5
Both the original French and dubbed English soundtracks are provided in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes. The sound design of both tracks are virtually identical, with clear dialogue, excellent fidelity, and effective use of the surrounds and LFE for music and directional effects (the annoying barking neighborhood dog is a prime example). The English track never sounded dubbed, with the dialogue well-balanced and not overstuffed.
Special Features: 3 out of 5
All of the special features on the Blu-ray disc are presented in 1080p. The DVD contains all of the same content as the Blu-ray, but in standard definition and Dolby Digital. The DVD also includes an additional Dolby 2.0 mix of the English track.
Extinction of the Saber-tooothed Housecat (3:34): This short reminded me of the infamous Bambi Meets Godzilla short from 1969, but using modern animation techniques, including live-action backgrounds and hand-drawn 2D animation. Unfortunately, some of the background plates contain compression artifacts.
The Many Lives of a Cat Video Flipbook (9:00): A brief glimpse at the evolution of the story for the film, in addition to some storyboard sketches, character designs, and poster art.
US Theatrical Trailer (1:54)
The Secret of Kells Trailer (1:57): Trailer for the excellent 2010 Best Animated Feature nominee from Ireland.
Overall: 4 out of 5
A Cat In Paris is a film that was well-deserving of its Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, and the Blu-ray offers up exceptional audio and video. The special features may be a bit on the light side, but considering its foreign language origins, that can be overlooked. Fans of animation will definitely want to pick this up, and parents should consider renting, at the very least.
