A Cat In Paris: Special
Edition (2010/Folimage/Cinedigm/New Video Blu-ray
w/DVD)
Picture: B/C+ Sound: B/B- Extras: C Film: B-
A Cat in Paris was a sleeper hit that probably wouldn’t have gotten much (if any)
attention had it not been nominated at last year’s Academy Awards. The film uses classic animation, a great
(brief) tale, and a talented voice cast.
For only running a little over an hour long the film makes a big
impact. Marcia Gay Harden, Anjelica
Houston, and Mathew Modine all lend their voices to this French animated
adventure.
Zoë has a cat and whereas most cats have
9 lives, we know of at least two for this mysterious feline. By day Dino the cat is Zoë’s faithful
companion. He nuzzles, cuddles, and most
of all is there for her. Zoë’s life is
going through a rough spot as her father (a police officer) was just murdered
and her mother (a police supervisor) is so occupied with the case she has
seemingly forgotten all about Zoe. Dino
is the one good thing in Zoë’s life and acts as her rock.
At night while Zoë sleeps, however, Dino
slips out the window to start round 2.
Whereas by day he is a friendly house cat, at night he is right hand cat
to (ironically) a cat burglar named Nico.
The film takes place in the shadow drenched alleyways of Paris, France
as Nico and Dino graceful pounce from rooftop to rooftop. A thief he may be, but Nico’s actions are
like a sleek, skillful ballet as he evades captors and adds a layer of mystery
and darkness to A Cat in Paris.
The blend of light and dark elements in this hand drawn feature is
excellently done and makes the entire experience a delight to watch. A Cat in Paris is an animated film that
both children and adults can enjoy.
The technical features on this
Blu-ray/DVD set are nice, but not perfect.
With the use of CGI today we are accustomed to clean, perfection which A
Cat in Paris does not exactly demonstrate.
The MPEG-4 high definition feature is nice but is soft, with a shadowy
element that can leave the picture quality feeling hazy at times. The colors are nice but not as strong as I
would like to see and the clarity (most likely due to classic style) is just not
there. The sound is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track and is better than
the picture as music and dialogue surround you.
Directionality is also nice and the speaker range is lively.
Extras include several small
segments. Extras are:
·
Extinction of the Saber
Toothed House Cat
o
A cute (dark) short that I
don’t think matches well with this film, but I enjoyed it
·
The Many Lives of a Cat Video
Flip Book
o
Shows the development process
of the film
o
“My Life in Drawing”
§
Explores the film’s creator’s
path into animation
·
US Trailer
- Michael P. Dougherty II
