Felidae 4K UHD Review

Deaf Crocodile

Blu-ray Release: February 11, 2025 (following a 2024 limited edition)

Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color

Audio: German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono

Subtitles: English, English SDH

Run Time: 81:51

Director: Michael Schaack

Two cats, Francis (Ulrich Tukur) and his grizzled, one-eyed companion, Blaubart (Mario Adorf), attempt to unravel killings that stretch back decades, involving death cults, genetic experimentation, and a mysterious martyr religion. (From Deaf Crocodile’s official synopsis)

Outside the sentiment that states all animation is for adults if it’s good enough, the term ‘adult animation’ applies to everything from Ralph Bakshi’s transgressive classics (Fritz the Cat [1972], Heavy Traffic [1973], Coonskin [1975], et cetera) to primetime sitcoms, like The Simpsons (1989 - infinity), counterculture clip shows, like MTV’s Liquid Television (1991 - 1995), award-winning experimental documentaries, like Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir (2008), and arthouse stop motion, like Jan Svankmajer’s Alice (1988). Even hentai tentacle porn has its place in the hierarchy.

Very few of these films and shows could be confused for the mainstream idea of children’s entertainment. The Disney brand casts a wide shadow over the industry, even in countries where feature adult animation flourishes, so successful filmmakers tend to visually differentiate their work from homogenized House of Mouse output. Only the most inattentive grandparent could possibly confuse Heavy Traffic with the latest Disney hit or its most recent straight-to-video knock-off. And, just in case, Blockbuster Video stuck a friendly ‘not for kids’ sticker on basically all of their anime tapes. But there are exceptions to every rule and, in this case, that exception is Michael Schaack’s 1994 animated thriller Felidae, a film that appears at first glance so slick, cute, and innocuous that you wouldn’t blame grandma for accidentally showing it to your three-year-old.

Based on the novel of the same name by Akif Pirinçci, who co-wrote the screenplay with Martin Kluger, Felidae fits the tone of and matches themes with Martin Rosen’s Watership Down (1978) and The Plague Dogs (1982), both mature, often disturbing movies adapted from Richard Adams novels that follow the traumatic lives of talking, non-anthropomorphized animals (Francis’ prophetic visions may actually be a reference to Watership Down’s secondary lead, Fiver). But Rosen’s films utilized a modest and realistic style, based on the designs of illustrator/animator Arthur Humberstone. They instantly set themselves apart from Disney and Don Bluthe’s talking animal movies.

Minus important context, Felidae could easily be confused with the likes of An American Tail (1986) and, no matter the quality of Pirinçci’s story, I don’t think it would’ve worked as well, had Schaak and company utilized a more experimental, adult-coded animation style. It needs the cute factor to bolster the shock value. And I’m happy to verify to all the like-minded sickos out there that, while the bulk of Felidae’s maturity is owed to its subject matter (murder, suicide, sex, cult conspiracy, eugenics, et cetera), there are some appalling gory sequences. Its closest companion is probably Mori Masaki’s Barefoot Gen (1983), which also contrasts appealing mainstream character designs (albeit of the anime variety) with nauseating piles of blood and viscera. Is it a gimmicky approach to filmmaking? Yes, but it’s already a murder mystery told from the point-of-view of a domesticated cat.

In terms of animation quality, similarities to Bluthe’s post-Disney work are clear, but I think the better comparison (at least  in 1994) would be to Disney’s own B-movie/STV sequel wing, Disney MovieToons (later Disneytoon), which had connections to studios in Canada, Australia, Spain, and France. MovieToons worked on smaller budgets, but still had a pretty high level of quality, as seen in films like A Goofy Movie (1995), which garnered a theatrical release. Felidae has a similar level of polish, including CG enhancements to vehicles and hand-painted backgrounds. It’s not always consistent, but, in terms of craft, scope, and detail, it’s quite ambitious and all done for about one-third the cost of the already thrifty Goofy Movie.

In the years following Felidae, Pirinçci became a far right, anti-Islamic, homophobic hate-monger, leading publishers Goldmann and Random House to cut ties and Amazon Germany, along with other independent sellers, to delist his books (he also went to prison just last year for ‘inciting hate’). This all came to a head in 2015, so I don’t know if it explains Felidae’s lack of availability outside of Germany over the years – I think the film is just a very hard sell. The original novel was followed by sequels Felidae II (aka: Felidae on the Road, 1993), Cave Canem (aka: Felidae III, 1999), Das Duell (aka: The Duel, 2002), Salve Roma! (2005), Schandtat (aka: Outrage, 2007), Felipolis (2010), and Göttergleich (aka: Like Gods, 2012). His non-fiction work includes the 2014 essay Germany Gone Mad: The Crazy Cult around Women, Homosexuals and Immigrants. 

It doesn’t seem likely that we’ll ever see a remake or sequel, though they did make that Ender’s Game movie after Orson Scott Card went mad and Warner Bros. is currently rebooting Harry Potter, so anything is possible. Still, it’s strange that he became a Neo-Nazi, given the anti-Nazi themes of this particular film. 

Video

It doesn't appear that Felidae ever had a stateside VHS or DVD release. A dubbed version reportedly debuted in US theaters as a Fathom Events limited release in 2022, but to have seen it otherwise required bootlegging, catching it on YouTube before rights holders removed it, or importing German or French PAL DVDs, both of which seem to now be out-of-print. According to specs, Deaf Crocodile’s new 4K UHD (and the included Blu-ray, which I used for the screencaps on this page) is not recycled from the Fathom screening, but a new 4K scan of the original camera negative overseen and remastered by the company itself.

This is the first hand-animated movie I’ve seen on 4K disc (acknowledging that there were four ‘computer animators’ on staff, likely responsible for vehicles specifically), so I’m trying my best to acknowledge the delicate balance to be had between increasing clarity and maintaining a natural, film-based look. Happily, there’s plenty of fine grain and similar artifacts. There are some signs of print damage, but the most notable ‘errors’ are found in the cels themselves, such as slight misalignments and literal dirt. The transfer is quite vivid and the HDR/Dolby Vision enhancements help the brightest colors pop. Francis’ green eyes, for instance, really glow against dark backdrops. While cel details tend to be flat by design, plenty of texture can be found throughout the lovingly hand-painted backgrounds. A really nice transfer all-around.

Audio

Felidae comes fitted with its original German language track in uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. IMDb specs state the film was mixed in Dolby SR, which might explain the rich,  complicated sound of this stereo mix. Deaf Crocodile did their best to include the English dub, but there were rights issues, so they opted to leave it off, rather than risking legal problems. It’s disappointing (it was included on the German DVD and was the track of choice for the Fathom Events release), but understandable. 

The complicated classical score was composed by Anne Dudley, whose other work includes Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Paul Verhoven’s last three features. The title theme is co-written and performed by none other than Boy George. The English dub was rumored to feature Cary Elwes, who denied ever working on the film. Perhaps people are confusing this cat performance with the two cat performances the actor did for Studio Ghibli dubs. Either way, the actual cast remains a secret, because the credits aren’t available. The German performances are great, even if the lip sync doesn’t always work as well as similar Hollywood productions. 

Fun aside: Francis’ bruiser best buddy Bluebeard is voiced by Mario Adorf, who is best known to cult film fans for his work on Italian westerns, gialli, and poliziotteschi. In Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Italian: L'Uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970), Adorf plays an eccentric, shut-in painter who traps and eats stray cats.

Extras

• Commentary with Dr. Will Dodson and Ryan Verrill – Dodson, Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies at UNCG, and Verrill, the host of The Disc Connected podcast, explore the production, stylistic and thematic influences, pop culture references, the careers of the cast & crew, and compare the film to the novel. 

• Interview with Michael Schaak (63:21, HD) – This extensive, 2023 Zoom interview, conducted by Deaf Crocodile’s Dennis Bartok, the director talks about his early life, his schooling, his early work, making Felidae, the logistics of multinational animation production, character design, casting, distribution, and Pirinçci’s odious behavior’s effect on the film and book’s availability.

• Interview with Armen Melkonian (54:25, HD) – A second Zoom interview from Bartok, this time with production designer and storyboard artist Melkonian, who also chats about his childhood, his artistic training, technical aspects of his job, and working on Felidae. 

• 30th Anniversary reunion of Felidae animators (59:33, HD) – Bartok moderates a big Zoom roundtable with animators Doug Bennett, Paul Bolger, Eamonn Butler, Bernie Denk, and Desmond Downes.

The images on this page are taken from the included, remastered Blu-ray copy – NOT the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.