Yes, it's a weird movie; it's also extremely violent and holds a lot of mature themes. But like a lot of reviews pointed out, Felidae it's an interesting and highly original. The plot revolves around Francis a new cat who
discovers when moving into his new neighborhood a series of gruesome murders. In order to solve them he gets involved with a chubby, freaky and rough cat Blue Beard.

And although sounds hard to believe, this is only the introduction. The movie moves as a regular "detective story", even though takes a lot from the contemporary noir moves, since the animators virtually present anything that may pass as morbid or gruesome: decapitated cats, religious cults, genetic experimentation, crazy dreams and... Sadomasochistic cat sex (did I just write that?).

Anyway, the movie flows well, the animation is particularly good especially considering the time of released (and probably limited production). We have exciting persecutions thorough an entire German city, from rooftops to abandon buildings to an underground graveyard. The movie makes an excellent use of the camera and even uses a little of CGI which is pretty well integrated in the background and angles.

Probably the biggest problem of this movie is the plot. Yes, it moves to quickly, has a lot plot-holes and everything seems rushed. Some major characters literally appear a couple of scenes. But still, as a "who-dunit" story has an excellent rhythm, holding the tension and suspense especially though the middle where the killings become more and more disturbing.

The movie owes a lot to his excellent animation and designs, the cats have a very convincing personality and the English voice-overs are specially fitting. As a side note, my sincere kudos to the British actor who play Francis. His "know it all" attitude and narration give a lot to the character and makes it a really charismatic personality.

Even long hard-core animation fans would find something here to raise an eye-brow, so is has to be one the most unique and original animations from the last decade, especially if you're trying to find something obscure, weird and hard to find. Actually this is so rare, that even the books in which these are base upon are difficult to get, and either you have to order them as imports or check the annoying e-bay.

On the whole Felidae is an incredibly interesting and original movie. So yeah, it has is problems obviously, but you can deny the sheer awesomeness of the almost impossible deductions of Francis, which by the way, are one of the best things of the movie. I mean, let's face it, since when have you find an intellectual, detective cat (in the classic vein of Sherlock Holmes) who discovers gruesome murders and even likes to hear Mailer's Symphony of Resurrection??

The film is intriguing, beautiful, and worth a watch!

I adore the character designs (although some cats cease to look like cats because of their builds); I think they're fantastic and perfect the characters personalities. The story draws you in and keeps you guessing. If not else, it's worth it just to see and animated whodunnit handled with class.

The big cons to the movie are a slow beginning, Francis's English voice (he's a bit smarmy in his know-it-all attitude; and you hear him a lot since he narrates the film), and the ending. The ending was a bit of a let-down, but the film is still worth watching.

Another note of interest: If you watch the way the cats move, they move like dogs. When cats run, both limbs on their right side move, then the limbs on the left side. In the film, the cats always move with the opposite limbs in synchronization (like how humans walk). It's a bit distracting, but not too much so.

Give it a watch if you can find it. It's quite interesting and definately enjoyable.

Most mainstream feature films that are "adult" animation seem to fall under two genres, humor and fantasy. Whenever I ask for titles of mature animation at the video store, I am pointed to either Ralph Bakshi (who is responsible for such titles as the sex filed, “Fritz the Cat” and the fantastical, “Wizards”) film, or I am pointed to Princess Mononoke. Of course there are a few exceptions to the two stereotypical genres of adult animation, like “The Plague Dogs”, or “Grave of Fireflies” which are dramas. This now brings me to the German produced “Felidae”, which is so far the only animated thriller/mystery I have ever seen.

“Felidae” is the story of Francis, a cat, who has just moved into a new neighborhood. There he is greeted by a gruesomely murdered cat in his backyard. Later finding the body of another murdered victim, Francis, with his new friend Bluebeard, decides to solve the crimes. Francis who is plagued by his own nightmares, by a of cult of cats in his attic, and the abandoned laboratory (where countless horrors were preformed on cats) in his basement, finds that solving the murders is more difficult then he imagined.

“Felidae” is your classic whodunit story. When I had a suspect firmly placed in my mind, “Felidae” always managed to turn my suspicions upside down. This movie is a compelling, violent story, a very violent story. This is not a film for children, despite the cat theme. This is also perhaps the goriest animated film I have ever seen. “Felidae” also contains a sex scene, but compared to the gore, the sexual themes are tame.

Perhaps my favorite thing about “Felidae” is the secondary characters. Even though Francis certainly contains enough depth, he suffers from the annoying narrator syndrome. We hear his every thought, and every observation, many of which were pointless. Now, Bluebeard and the other characters are compelling, and stay firmly planted in the third dimension. The animation, which is unique, and well detailed, also brings these characters to life.

There are certainly many problems with this film. There are many plot-holes that really detract from the story, and even though the violence is well placed, there are few times when it’s a bit much. Also, the story is too rushed, and needs more time to unfold. The climax as well, is too rushed, and desperately needs five minutes added to it. Even though I thought the English voice acting was very good, I can't help but feel a few things were lost in translation. I really like this movie, but these faults are heavy enough to drag the rating down to three stars.

Felidae is unforgettable, and for anyone looking for something unique in the mature animation field, Felidae is must see.

I dont know what peoples problems are with this film personaly i thought it was a good murder mystery. I know there was gore and a so called sex scene (it was cats mating) but I have seen worse on wildlife documentaries. The animation was ok but it was the story that carried me i was always trying to guess who did it. So if you enjoyed perfect blue you might like this.

Some movie-making people here in Germaby are just odd. They think when they put alot of fart jokes in an animated movie or make the characters barf every minute the movie will be automatically click with a mature audience. Guess what, it isn't so. What this kind of movie tries in the field of animated comedy, FELIDAE tries in the field of animated thrillers. There aren't many of these and FELIDAE cannot change the image you might have of them.
FELIDAE can freak you out. It can gross you out. There are so many violent, disturbing, extrem and downright sick images in this film but they don't make it mature. The story is weak and the characters aren't very likeable. It's also kinda senseless. It has a pointless sex scene between two cats, gay cats, cats that die horrible deaths and a dream sequence that will scare the hell out of you. I don't have a problem with violence as long as it has a purpose but most of the stuff that's shown in FELIDAE seem to be there only for one purpose: the makers of this movie wanted to say something like "Look, we're so not Disney!" afterwards.
The only good thing about FELIDAE is the animation which is better than most of the other german 'cartoons' and some scences that actually can build up tension. To bad it was wasted for this flick. Maybe it has something to with cats being my favourite animals that I don't want to see them getting cut open or falling to pieces but I don't think so - I mean, who wants to see animals getting brutaly killed?!?
FELIDAE is one seriously disturbing movie.