Another Monday can only mean one thing…time for another installment of Review Stew! This week I turned to my Letterboxd watchlist, set it to shuffle, and landed on an animated feature film. Time to explore the secret life of a feline friend with…A Cat in Paris (2010).
Title: A Cat in Paris
Directors: Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol
Released: December 15, 2010 (France and Netherlands)
Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes
Available to stream on: Tubi
Zoé (Oriane Zani) lives with her mother, Jeanne (Dominique Blanc), and her pet cat. Ever since Zoé’s father passed away, her relationship wither mer mom has become somewhat distant. Mostly because Jeanne is busy as a police superintendent, so it is the nanny that winds up raising Zoé.
Though, when the sun goes down, Zoé has no idea what her cat gets up to. As it turns out, her cat spends its nights as a shadow/accomplice to a cat burglar by the name of Nico (Bruno Salomone). The two make their way around Paris stealing jewels and then the cat is back in Zoé’s house before she wakes up in the morning.
While the cat seems to enjoy the double life, what would happen if its daytime life and nighttime life wound up becoming intertwined?
Clocking in at just over an hour long, A Cat in Paris (2010) is an incredible easy watch. The short runtime, the animation, and story itself all help to make it just breeze by.
It is impressive that the animation here is all hand-drawn. Not only does it make it standout from the animation we usually get, but it makes you appreciate all of the little details even more so. Pretty wild looking back to see that this lost the Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars to Rango of all films.
As for the story itself, there’s something for everyone here. For the adults, there are themes of loss and loneliness, though not quite as heavy-handed as some Pixar films. And for the children, the target audience here, you have a fun little crime caper that looks incredible.
A Cat in Paris (2010) is stylish, fun, and full of heart. If you haven’t seen it, definitely go and check it out.
So, if you have seen A Cat in Paris (2010), what did you think of it?
Leave a comment below or find me on Bluesky and tell me all about it!
As always, you can follow me on Letterboxd to see everything else that I’ve been watching lately.