successful series of mystery novels, this gruesome mixture of 
Walt Disney and giallo has the distinction of being populated almost exclusively by cats. Traditionally animated with a beautiful palette of blinding colors, this is certainly not kiddie fare and much more likely to please horror buffs with a perverse edge. Or as the hero observes at one point, “It became obvious I wasn’t watching something out of The Aristocats.” No kidding! 
Stealing the crown from Watership Down and The Plague Dogs as the most gruesome all-animal cartoon 
feature, Felidae is both impeccably mounted and consistently shocking. Even years after Ralph Bakshi, it’s jarring to behold cute cats swearing and slashing. The film also refuses to anthropomorphise its hero; Francis makes gory work of mice and has savage, neck-biting sex with passing females-- hardly typical behavior of a screen detective. The film also contains a number of bravura artistic sequences, including a breathless, highly suspenseful rooftop pursuit and a shocking, Gerald Scarfe-style dream sequence with hundreds of disemboweled cats dancing on puppet strings. At least at some level this was probably intended to get international distribution, especially since it features a score by Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley and Art of Noise member Anne Dudley with a title song by Boy George!
commentary from director Michael Schaak (whose later Käpt’n Blaubär is also trailered on this DVD) and co-writers Veit Vollmer 
and Komplettes Hörbuch; a half-hour documentary featuring studio recording footage of the actors, footage of the artists at work, and an interview with Pirinçci; storyboards and paintings; a cruddy-looking trailer; and a complete audio version of the novel divided by chapter selections. The disc was also available in a limited boxed set edition with a paperback of the second installment in the series, Francis: Felidae 2.
for an enjoyable listen, complete with relevant passages recited from the book, pointed comparisons to the work of Don Bluth, 
and dissections of the themes and their relation to German history. Also brace yourself for plenty of puns with the prize probably going to "sadomeowsochistic." Deaf Crocodile's Dennis Bartok moderates a trio of interview featurettes, all interesting and with no overlap: solo with director Michael Schaack (63m21s), solo with production designer and storyboard artist Armen Melkonian (54m25s), and a reunion of the key animation team (59m33s) including Doug Bennett, Paul Bolger, Eamonn Butler, Bernie Denk and Desmond Downes, many of whom have worked on major studio features and have a lot of memories about putting the film together with significant outsourcing done from the core Hamburg production. All of the interviews also talk quite a bit about their backgrounds relating to what led to this film (including titles like Heavy Metal) and discussions of the unprecedented (and never repeated) feat of putting together a project this ambitious in Germany with such adult content. The beautifully packaged limited edition option comes with a slipcase illustrated by Paul Bolger and a robust 80-page book featuring new essays by Jennifer Lynde Barker and Walter Chaw, both of whom have perceptive reads on the film including its unique handling of the idea of eugenics, obvious commentary on Germany's dark World War II past, the ironic extreme shift in source novel author and co-screenwriter Akif Pirinçci's ideology in recent years, and the many ties to other cinematic works both live action and animated. The book also features restoration notes (pointing out a neat single-frame Easter egg within the film) and a hefty gallery of character design concept art.