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Parents' Guide to

A Cat in Paris

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Animated thriller's action makes it best for older kids.

Movie PG 2012 64 minutes
A Cat in Paris Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 8+

Based on 8 parent reviews

age 7+

Beautiful and interesting movie.

Took my just-turned-6 & just-turned-9-year old boys to see this. Thought-provoking story and beautifully done cartoon. We have a cat; they love cats; they loved this story because the cat is one of its heroes. To me, even though the conflict scenario here (kidnapping) was more realistic than the one in Paranorman (zombies), the violence in this movie was more cartoonish than not. We just returned from seeing Paranorman, which was very scary for my 6-year-old. He wasn't frightened at all during this movie. It was wonderful also to have the boys experience something obviously not made in the US - made as almost a love story to the city of Paris - so many architectural landmarks in the film.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
age 8+

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (6 ):

There's a sophisticated simplicity to Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol's elegantly crafted caper. Meticulously hand drawn, the animators depict a highly stylized, vibrant Paris (is there any other kind?) that's full of colorful rooftops, restaurants, and statues that will make any viewer want to book a flight to the City of Lights. The plot (despite the one little twist) is easy to follow, and it captures some surprisingly hefty themes for such a short (64 minutes) film: grief, loneliness, moral ambiguity, betrayal, and revenge are all touched upon with a delicacy that's accompanied by an evocative jazzy score. They obviously didn't make this movie just for kids (if they had, Dino would talk), but also for adults who love animation.

It's obvious why the Academy chose to honor A CAT IN PARIS alongside Hollywood offerings such as Rango (which won), Kung Fu Panda 2, and Puss in Boots. While Puss is a cat of loud and flashy action (and lots of sarcastic quips), Dino is simply always there, knowing when to comfort, push, and prod. Even without words, Dino speaks to the characters (especially Zoe and Nico) and the audience in an authentic and often hilarious way. If you have older kids willing to read subtitles, give the French original a chance, but even the English-dubbed version is a wonderful reminder to children that animation is more than singing and talking animals or flashy 3-D sequences.

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