A Cat in Paris (2010)
★★½ — A Cat in Paris (2010)
There is something quietly countercultural about A Cat in Paris arriving in 2010, a moment when computer-generated animation had become so dominant that hand-drawn features felt almost like a provocation. Produced by the French studio Folimage alongside co-producers from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium, the film runs a lean seventy minutes and wears its modest scale without apology. It is the kind of production that exists at the margins of mainstream animation, closer in spirit to the European festival circuit than to the multiplex, and it found its way to wider audiences partly through an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. For a film of this size and ambition, that level of recognition was no small thing, even if the nomination proved to be the ceiling rather than a stepping stone.
The film is the feature debut of directors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, who together wrote the screenplay. Gagnol brings a background in French television animation, and that influence shows in the film's pacing and economy. The story is set across a single Parisian night, following a young girl named Zoé, her cat Dino, and a rooftop thief whose nocturnal routines become entangled with a criminal underworld. The voice cast is drawn from French cinema and theatre, with Dominique Blanc, Bruno Salomone, Jean Benguigui, Bernadette Lafont, and young Oriane Zani lending their voices to a story that, in tone and setting, feels distinctly Gallic. French animation has always occupied its own particular register, and if you have read the site's thoughts on No Dogs or Italians Allowed or Josep, you will know that the tradition of hand-crafted, artistically personal European animation has produced some genuinely striking work. A Cat in Paris positions itself within that lineage, favouring texture, atmosphere, and a watercolour palette of shadowy blues and warm amber over the polished but unremarkable sheen of its bigger-budget contemporaries. The city itself, its rooftops, cobbled alleys, and rain-slicked streets, functions almost as a character in its own right, and the jazz-inflected score reinforces the sense of a Paris that is part memory, part illustration.
A Cat in Paris (2010) is a hand-drawn charmer with Parisian atmosphere to spare. A film that clearly values the tactile warmth of traditional animation in an increasingly digital age. The watercolour aesthetic, with its soft lines and moody nocturnal palette, gives the city a dreamlike quality, and there's genuine pleasure in watching the eponymous feline leap across rooftops and slink through alleyways. The score, all smoky jazz and accordion, completes the postcard-perfect ambiance. As a visual and sensory experience, it's pleasant enough. But beauty alone can't carry a film when the story beneath feels thin and familiar. The plot (a young girl, her cat, and a cat burglar entangled in a gangster's scheme) unfolds very predictably. The characters are sketched as broadly as the backgrounds; their motivations feel functional rather than felt. It's the cinematic equivalent of a nicely illustrated children's book, appealing in the moment, forgotten by bedtime. A modest, aesthetically pleasing trifle that earns respect for its craft without delivering much beyond surface charm. Hand-drawn animation deserves celebration, but not every film made in that style deserves remembrance. A Cat in Paris is pleasant, unchallenging, and ultimately just… ok. Ideal for a quiet afternoon with young children.
For me, that tension between craft and substance is what stays with me most. There is real pleasure in seeing directors who care this much about the look and feel of a film, and I have nothing but respect for the commitment to hand-drawn work at a time when it takes deliberate effort to swim against the tide. But care for the frame does not automatically translate into care for the story inside it, and that is the gap A Cat in Paris never quite closes. If you are after French filmmaking with a bit more under the bonnet, the site has covered some fine examples, including Mustang and Sugar Cane Alley. As for this one, put it on for a Sunday afternoon with the kids, enjoy the pictures, and don't expect to be talking about it over dinner.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2010 | Watched: 2026-04-07
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for A Cat in Paris (2010) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Apple TV Store · Fandango At Home
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