Duckyworth's Thoughts: Felidae ~ 1994

Nov 21, 201248 min read

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Duckyworth

Published: Nov 21, 2012

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Hello, my friends!

Well, I'm in the home run of my first semester of my University course.... Only about three weeks left of University before I have a well-deserved month long Christmas holiday! (I didn't half a Hallowe'en half term...

) I should be able to stick with it for three more weeks...

Nothing TOO bad... a bit of stress and anxiety here and there, but's that's all to be expected with University...

I've also FINALLY started colouring in Dead Space Demise part 21

, I've scanned in the outlines for the next part of the University comic, and I've started drawing the first part of Caught In A Cold Front, the next comic in the Pokemon Tales series.

And with that, let's take a look at today's installment of Duckyworth's Thoughts.

If you thought Dead Space Downfall was violent, Bram Stoker's Dracula was erotic, Watership Down was scary, The Room had gratuitous romance scenes, The Haunting was mysterious and Rock and Rule was obscure..... They still are - but today's film is one that takes ALL of these elements, mixes them up and uses them to create one HELL-CAT of a film.... yep, this one is a feline-filled film noir frightfest!

Okay, so technically, this film isn't a horror film, more a mystery thriller, but it did still shock me greatly... Which film could be obscure, mysterious, gratuitously romantic, violent, scary AND erotic at the same time?
It's time to take a look at the German mystery thriller - Felidae...

This film is a PERFECT example of a film that proves that animation is NOT just for children... Much like Rock and Rule and Dead Space Downfall...

But surprisingly, I feel that this film is quite a bit SMARTER than these two films.. True, the other two are great, but the fact that this film is a MYSTERY film makes way for a lot more intelligent deductions made.

Based on the world-bestseller 1989 novel by the German-Turkish writer Akif Pirinçci, the script for the film was co-written by Pirinçci, so although I haven't read the book or any of the Felidae series (there are currently SEVEN books in the series), I imagine that the film follows the book well.

The whole film questions the idea of evolution via natural selection, mentions Gregor Mendel - the founder of modern genetics, and also mirrors the horrific acts of the Nazi Party in WWII during the Holocaust.... their idea of creating the 'one true race' by killing all those that they didn't deem fit to live.

And trust me... some parts of this film are JUST as horribly depressing and mean spirited....

But first, let's talk about one thing I ALWAYS like to talk about.. The voice actors!

In the English dub, at first... I thought Francis, the main character, sounded like a mixture between Matthew Broderick and Keanu Reeves when I first heard his voice...

I have to admit, the tone in his voice reminded me of Omar from Rock and Rule.. at times, he just didn't really sound interested....

Luckily, he redeemed himself with his clever deductions and some pointsin the film where the voice actor did give it a REALLY good go.

And, thankfully, he DIDN'T do this ->

The voice actor who voiced Francis was actually Joshua Jackson... I.. don't really know him from anything, but I decided to put his name in in case anyone DOES recognise him.

Other voice actors I found in this film REALLY surprised me.... We have Bluebeard, a grumpy old feline with bladder issues

voiced by Burt Reynolds (who voiced Charlie in All Dogs Go To Heaven

), a smart cat named Pascal who has a HORRIBLE secret, voiced by the well known John Hurt (The Horned King in Black Cauldron, Hazel in Watership Down and John Merrick in The Elephant Man and many more

), the Guardian of the Dead called Jesaja, voiced by Cam Clarke, a bullying cat with the STRANGEST hunchback I've ever seen named Kong, voiced by Ian McShane (Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda and Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and his henchcats Hermann and Hermann, voiced by Bob Bergen and Mary Kay Bergman, the leader of a suicidal cult called the Claudandus Sect, Joka, voiced by Christopher Lloyd (Judge Doom in Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Doc Brown in Back to the Future and Drew Blanc in the Toonstruck game), a..... awkwardly introduced Egyptian cat named Nhozemptekh, voiced by Jennifer Hale (Billy's Mom in Grim and Evil

) and a blind but wise cat called Felicity (voiced by Kath Soucie, who also voiced Bimbette (the French maid brush) in Beauty and the Beast, Sally Acorn in Sonic SatAM, Princess What's Her Name in Earthworm Jim

, Bubbles in Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Mom in Dexter's Laboratory, Phil and Lil in the Rugrats, Kanga in the new Winnie The Pooh films, Jessie in Red Dead Redemption and some extra voices in Wreck-It Ralph..... wow... she's done a lot hasn't she?!

)........ And in a dream sequence Michael Bell (Raziel in Legacy of Kain) voices Gregor Mendel... Some COOL actors and actresses here!

And for extras, we have Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Jim Cummings (Psy-Crow, Bob the Goldfish, Captain Matthius and MANY others) and Rodger Bumpass (Squidward Tentacles), among others.

Now let's move on to the main character....

Francis is the new cat in the neighbourhood, and he quickly discovers that murders of the most horrible nature have been occuring all over the neighbourhood... At first, I have to admit, his inner monologue actually ANNOYED me slightly....

I was thinking of a scene from the Nostalgia Critic's review of the Thief and the Cobbler when he was getting annoyed by Tac's inner monologue:

'Oh, god... SHUT UP!! This a-hole has more inner monologue from Seamus from Metroid: Other M!'
And later when he imitated the inner monologue.

'The grass felt soft on my feet. Why don't I monologue about that for several hours? A grass is green, a frog is green. I'm sure I can monologue about that in great detail somehow.'
But as I thought about it, this film IS a murder mystery, so it seemed to have elements of film noir thrown in - so when I thought about it like THAT, I appreciated the inner monologue more, as it showed Francis' deductions.

I think we may know who Peter Williams, my Dead Space OC, may have got his monologueing skills from..

Actually, when I listened to his monologues later on, after I got used to him, it reminded me more of Alex DeLarge's monologue from A Clockwork Orange.. Okay, so maybe the voices aren't TOO much alike, but they both analyse a scene, a character's feelings and the atmosphere of the film really well.

And unfortunately... Francis isn't a fan of Beethoven, I don't think....

Also, I think Francis may be related to Mr Whiskers from Frankenweenie, as he sees visions in his dreams that keep raising questions and points about the mystery. Luckily, it doesn't involve digging out letter shaped poop mounds from his litter box...

And let me tell you, I don't HOW he can get a wink of sleep at night.... as some of the dream sequences are pretty damn HORRIFYING!

In one of them, for example, a creepy version of Gregor Mendel holds undead mannequins of the murdered cats and the suicide victims who were members of the Claudandus Sect (more about them later

) - and they actually start DECOMPOSING and falling apart..

Some of the visuals actually reminded me of the monster from Rock and Rule and the violent scenes from Dead Space Downfall... In fact, some of the murders reminded me of the scene when Allisa Vincent is looking through photgraphs of the suicides and homicides that took place on the Aegis VII Colony at the start of Downfall. Well... I suppose Francis' dreams could be worse... he could dream of creepy red walruses like our poor penguin friend Pingu

did once...

Speaking of horrifying images, this film may not necessarily be classed as a horror film, but a LOT of the things in this film are quite terrifying.... I've seen a lot of DARK films, and in particular, the dark elements of the film remind me of Watership Down and Dead Space Downfall... But even put up against those two, this is hands down one of the darkest films not just that I've ever reviewed, but one of the darkest I've ever seen...

And I'm not going to lie, that's one of the things that makes this film so enjoyable. Plot twists are ALWAYS shocking and entertaining, and even when you try and think about what possible twists are going to occur, the film can STILL catch you off guard.

I actually felt pretty shocked at certain times - not just in the graphic dream sequences, but in the characters and development of the story. And of course, being a murder mystery, you KNOW that some of the characters are going to get bumped off, but the discoveries of the murders are SO dark, and some of them result in images that are just so plain MEAN-SPIRITED that it reaches major UNCOMFORTABLE levels as far as animated films go...

And.... to be honest, that's kind of refreshing once in a while..

Sometimes we need a film that's really cruel, to mix it up with all the happy-go-lucky animated films we see, proving that animation is not just a children's film genre... And like Dead Space Downfall, especially with the creatively cruel violent scenes, this is an enjoyably UNPLEASANT film. Even judging by similar films with an 18 certificate, some plot twists of the film are SHOCKINGLY aggressive and cruel.... You know that the film is undoubtedly disturbing, but you don't end up feeling bad for having enjoyed it.

But THAT said, when I first saw this film, there was one murder that made me feel like the film had gone too far...

One female cat had her throat slit, and her unborn kitten foetuses were RIPPED OUT OF HER WOMB and laid on the ground...

When I first saw that.... I couldn't believe my eyes... I was thinking to myself - 'That is.. BEYOND sick.. THAT IS DOWNRIGHT DEMENTED!!!' Even after remembering some of the deaths in Dead Space Downfall (Shen getting chopped in half by Hansen, in particular) and the scene where Dracula's brides eat a BABY in Bram Stoker's Dracula, this STILL shocked me in it's explicitness....

I heard that a lot of people found that murder in particular to be the turn-off point for them.. As soon as they saw that, they turned the film off.

And, I have to admit, I can see why... But I stuck with the film... and it was worth it.

The film just proves just how CRUEL the real world can be, and it's almost like a tough slice of life - much like Watership Down, Plague Dogs and Vuk the Little Fox, but on a MUCH larger scale. There's much more you can get away with when your film has an 18 certificate... and you can show - realistically - how horrid nature can be. True, real cats don't go around planning murders and ritualistic suicide, thankfully

- But some animals can be that brutal.... even if it seems horrendously shocking seeing it for yourself.

I wish the people who made Dog Soldiers watched the scene where one cat is disemboweled, leaving him to die in agony - I would have said 'SEE Dog Soldiers? THAT is what happens when you get your guts ripped out!

' An animated film was more realistic in that sense than Dog Soldiers was!

It's like A Clockwork Orange - even with all of the horrible elements thrown in, you still end up liking the film.

After all, we all enjoy mystery, but when you throw in SCARY moments, you really feel for the characters, it builds up suspense, it draws you into the unnerving atmosphere, and it keeps you guessing and guessing until the mystery is solves.... And I actually did feel pretty tensed up at some scenes in this film... The dream sequence with Gregor Mendel was the one I think creeped me out the most, and I like how even when a scene is INCREDIBLY traumatising, it STILL tells you plot elements and development that you can follow.

Now that I think about it, the creepy, suspense and nerve-tingling events remind me of the Exorcist, especially with some of the medical scenes when we learn about the history of Claudandus... Wow, this film really reminds me of a LOT of other films, doesn't it?!

But a film can't be ALL fear and no fun... And good ol' Bluebeard offers PLENTY pf humorous moments.

Grumpy, gluttonous and GREAT to watch, Bluebeard often follows Francis around, and his snide remarks on Francis' deductions make me laugh - often calling him a 'smartass'.

I'm not sure why, but he reminded me a tiny bit of Bigwig from Watership Down... minus the funny hairdo.

The number of times he SWEARS in the film rose a few chuckles from me too...

Much like the bully character Kong - who is much more than your stereotypical bully - when one of the murders takes place... We really sympathise with him.

Kong's cronies, Hermann and Hermann, seem to be like a more crafty version of Thompson and Thomson from The Adventures of Tintin - and they're just as clumsy.

And of course, Bluebeard is always marking his territory on everything and anything - always saying 'Bluebeard was here'.

Of course, he does much more than just crack jokes, at times he really helps Francis out and provides some really important information for him, including introducing him to the smartest of the characters, Pascal.

And one of the funniest moments in the film is when Francis witnesses members of the Claudandus Sect performing ritual suicide, and he says 'It was no scene from The Aristocats, let me tell you...'

He's got THAT right.... A pop-cultural reference that WORKS...

The other character I REALLY like in this film is Felicity - a blind cat who is actually one of the sweetest characters I've seen for a while.

And she provides us the clue that not all humans are evil to cats, a misconception which many characters in this film first thought. And during the scene where Francis meets Felicity.... you really feel sorry for her... 'Who else would want a useless thing like me?'

For some reason, Felicity got a TON of popularity among the fanbase of this film... And I must admit.. I can see why..

She is a very likeable character.

And the voice of Kath Soucie provides yet another character that sounds as beautiful as she looks.

She actually reminds me of a mixture between Hyzenthlay from Watership Down and Mr Whiskers from Frankenweenie - she is psychic after all.. But, again... we don't have to see anyone going through her litter box for letters...

I just wish she got a bit more screentime though, something a lot of fans of this film wished would happen...

Speaking of sympathetic characters, even the villain Claudandus raises some sympathy... A stray experimented on by a scientist called Preterius. In his search to create a bonding glue that would heal any flesh wound, he performed painful and deadly experiments on countless cats, including the legendary Claudandus - leading to many more YUMMY violence...

The experiment scenes reminded me of the experiments in Plague Dogs and The Secret of NIMH slightly, only on a higher scale.... Claudandus was the first upon which the bonding glue worked, something Preterius attributed to superior genetics. He continued routine vivisection on Claudandus, and as his experiments continued to fall short of expectations, the doctor descended into alcoholic madness. Claudandus mentions later in the film that he was tainted by the experiments, and that he was once pure and good.... In the scene he says this to Francis... it is actually quite sad...

Sure he's evil, but I like the fact that he's a sympathetic villain.

Actually, even PRETERIUS is a character you can feel sympathy for.... As he descends into alcoholic madness, we hear him question his experiments, and he even says that he was lost trying to find an answer to natural selection by creating a superior race, but because of the depression he's fallen into via the failure of his experiments.... We see what state he falls into.

In light of Claudandus' beliefs, the Claudandus Sect is a group of cats that feel that if they follow Claudandus' ways, they can evolve into a divine species - and seen as they believe that Claudandus is dead, if they commit ritual suicide, they can join him and attain perfection. Yet another thing that reminds of Dead Space - this reminds of the Unitologists commiting ritual suicide in order to achieve Convergence and become one with their founder Michael Altman. The way that the film questions natural selection and tries to tell us that we mustn't FORCE perfection upon ourselves, and let nature take it's course to evolve us into something greater really interests me.

Again, an example of how intelligent this film can be at times.

Now... let's move on to a subject I always STRUGGLE with.... sexual stuff...

True, there's no three brides scene from Bram Stoker's Dracula, or the appearance of Tommy Wiseau's ASS from The Room

, but this film has some sexual themes at times...

For example, one of the links between all of the murder victims is that they were sexually aroused when they were murdered....

I... don't really understand why that is, but I do appreciate the fact that a cat had been attempting to keep standard males from breeding with the special females, and killed them after they failed to comply, and all the victims were cats that were deemed unworthy of breeding with the cats who bear resemblances to their ancient Egyptian ancestors - the 'purr-fect' breed, if you will..

Personally, I find those Egyptian cats weird, but I suppose the murderer thought the pure cats were the ones who are directly linked to their 'divine' ancestors..

And speaking of Egyptian cats, we move on to the one character I find particularly unnerving..... Nhozemphtekh.

She is introduced later in the film, and flirts with Francis... And.. almost INSTANTLY... they mate..

ANOTHER controversial scene in the film, this scene is at least only 30 seconds long (the sex scenes in The Room were about five minutes EACH, and the Three Brides scene in Bram Stoker's Dracula was about 5 minutes long and was MUCH more violent and erotic) so it isn't anything TOO bad... but it did still shock me at the time. I heard about it before I watched Felidae, and when she showed up, I thought to myself 'Oh dear.. this is it....

' Cue gratuitous sex scene...

And while it was going on, it seemed to last FOREVER! I was thinking 'Oh for goodness sake, it doesn't take that long for two cats to mate! I've regularly had two cats in my garden break in and start doing it many times now, so I know how long it lasts! Just get ON with it! GET ON WITH IT!

' I felt a bit like Conker in Conker's Bad Fur Day when he's forced to watch the King Bee pollinate the buxom sunflower, and he stares in horror.

Thankfully, the scene DID end...

And... you won't BELIEVE the first thing Francis asked Nhozemphtekh after.... 'What's your name?'

Really? It's not until AFTER you've had a naughty with someone that you ask her that....

Referring back to the two cats I've seen in my garden once or twice.. It seems to be almost instantly they... you know, do it...

So maybe this is another bit of realism in the film...

And after the camera started to pan away, I thought it was all over...

But then... I saw Francis close in on Nhozemphtekh again...

I was thinking 'Finally, the awkward scene is over- WHA - NO, NO!! How much longer do we have to watch this?!' Luckily, the camera moved away before we were forced to see more...

Now, let's move on to the animation of the film.

I think it's good.

It reminds me a little bit of Rock and Rule - at times it can be really well stylised, especially during the dream sequences, and even impressive at times..

And some of the more gory animation reminds me of Dead Space Downfall - the Necromorph transformations especially.

At times, it can look pretty Disney-esque.. but let me tell you.. this is NO place to bring your children...

The music of the film is... not half bad.

For some strange reason, some of it reminded me of the creepy music from Return to Oz - especially the music in the climax when the Nome King turns into a giant, and some of it can be pretty at times.

However, most of gives more of an ominous feel, and almost sounds the Batman theme at times.

True, the music isn't the catchiest I've heard.. but it is still nice to listen to.. and it builds up the suspense any good mystery needs.

I espcially love the ORGAN in some of the songs - the one that plays when we're introduced to the Claudandus Sect has some cool organ music in.

Mendel's Waltz, played in the Gregor Mendel dream sequence (that scene is SUCH a powerful scene.... I just HAD to bring it up again

) is perhaps the most epic music in the film... and matches the unease of the sequence - plus, its cool to hear Raziel in that part

. The main theme, performed by Boy George, is on my iPod... and it is pretty cool to listen to.

Felicity's theme is also pretty beautiful... Reminds me slightly of some of the Beauty and the Beast music for some reason and the more serious music in the Wallace and Gromit films, like in the scene where Wallace and the sheep are saddened by Gromit's arrest...

It sounds kind of urban, fitting for the main setting for the film, and the lyrics sum up the start of the film as well.

Here is the theme for you to hear.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYCr2B…

Now, as much as I've gone to give this film credit where it's due... Some things put me off. The violence and sexual content - I can't REALLY pick on the film for that, as it IS an 18 and it's acceptable for that.... But, still, I feel that some of the film isn't as mysterious as some people may have hoped - true, you ask questions all the way through, but strangely enough... Some are never answered... The book ended with the unanswered questions being answered, but the film just ends on an optimistic note - saying that we mustn't force perfection upon our race, we must allow nature to take it's course...

While I like it, I think some of the loose ends could have been tied up..

Also, some of the scenes seemed to go by too quickly or linger on for too long.. I felt that some of the pacing was a bit strange.. Watch the film to find out, but.. I don't know, I felt that some scenes were either too short or too long....

I also felt that some of the characters could have had slightly more screentime - Joka and Felicity for example...

And I thought that some of Francis' dialogue sounded a bit like he was uninterested at times... Not the worst monotone I've heard, but sometimes, it did bother me slightly.

But, I can't really think of any MAJOR flaws the film has..... It's just another film that really shocked me, both in good ways and bad, and I think if you can get past the explicitness of it, and if you give it a chance, the film can be great entertainment to watch.

Just DON'T imagine that any scenes from the Aristocats will come in - and don't expect any Disney-esque charm thrown in... You will be EXTREMELY surprised....

Links to the parts of the film are below.

Check them out if you want - just don't EAT anything while you're watching it... Unless you want to be sick for HOURS....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dqZwC…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GknxoW…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkdNZg…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJFzBE…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_AE3I…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKWnLh…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y6b8y…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-pr1S…

Next time, I shall review a slightly safer film, that I know that some of my friends have seen - next time, we shall take a look at the long awaited critique of 9!