Today I’ll be reviewing Felidae – Deluxe Limited Edition 4K disc set released by Deaf Crocodile. This is a very rare movie that’s finally getting an official physical media release in the United States. I’ve been trying to track this movie down for years. In fact I have a bit of a personal history with it. I used to spend about a week at my Abuela’s house in Mexico during the summertime when I was a kid. It was during these visits that I was exposed to some very interesting movies, most of which I shouldn’t have been watching but thanks to basic cable in Mexico having very different rules than American cable they were easily accessible. Anyway, a few summers I shared a room with my youngest uncle that would always get home late, turn on the TV then pass out before turning it off. One night when I was somewhere between 12-15 I stumbled upon the last 40 minutes or so of this movie and it blew my mind. An adult animated mystery movie with talking housecats. Most of what I saw that night over 20 years ago has stayed in my brain, it was titillating and fascinating. I spent so many years trying to find it unsuccessfully, to the point where I worried that maybe I made it up. Was it a weird fever dream mash-up of the Aristocats and Secret of NIMH? Finally a few years ago I found it listed on Letterboxd only to discover the movie is truly very rare and had never been released in the US. How on Earth did that Mexican cable movie network even get the English dub with Spanish subtitles? Finally, after all these years I was able to watch the full movie in its original German dub thanks to this awesome release by Deaf Crocodile. This movie is fantastic if only for how unique it is. I can’t stress enough that this movie is just unexpected in its content and execution. I don’t want to describe the movie any more because if it has piqued your interest you should give it a watch. This was a Holy Grail watch that lived up to my expectations.

This release includes the following:

Special Features

• New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Craig Rogers
• New Dolby Vision HDR color grade by Tyler Fagerstrom
• New video interview with director Michael Schaack, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile
• New video interview with the key animation team including Doug Bennett, Paul Bolger, Eamonn Butler, Bernie Denk and Desmond Downes
• New video interview with layout designer Armen Melkonian
• New commentary by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content

• Slipcase featuring new illustration by Paul Bolger
• 80-page illustrated book featuring:
  • New Essay by film historian Jennifer Lynde Barker
  • New Essay by film critic Walter Chaw
  • Rare production artwork

This is a fantastic release, I appreciated the conversations with the crew to learn about the history of this amazing movie. I reached out to a German friend of mine and she told me this movie is highly regarded in Germany but its popularity has waned because the writer of the source novel for this movie has exposed himself as a polemic with some hateful statements that have denigrated his legacy. In one conversation the director Michael Schaack discusses the negative impact the author has had on this film and the novels it was inspired by. As cool as learning the history of this movie is the film presentation itself is beautiful. Scanned in 4K from the original camera negative you’re getting a very crisp image that looks fantastic on screen. The sound was great, the voice acting is very clear, and I loved the score by Anne Dudley. As a fan of the Criterion Collection it’s always nice to find competitors putting out content that’s also to the standard physical media collectors expect. Which brings me to the booklet that’s included which is the type of bonus content I love. The best part of the booklet being the concept art that was included, I wish Disney would do releases like this for their films. My only complaint is that the disc does not include the English dub, but I understand why that might not have been possible. In fact from what I learned from the special features the camera negative they used was in a really bad state so we’re lucky they managed to get this version on disc and they made it look brand new which is quite the feat.

I can’t recommend this release enough, the movie itself is so unique that that alone is worth a purchase. I’ve always been a big proponent as animation as a medium that should not be seen as only for children. This movie exemplifies what animation is truly capable of and this release is the best way to experience that. If you’re interested in the Deluxe Set it can be purchased here or a standard release here.

Today I’ll be reviewing Felidae – Deluxe Limited Edition 4K disc set released by Deaf Crocodile. This is a very rare movie that’s finally getting an official physical media release in the United States. I’ve been trying to track this movie down for years. In fact I have a bit of a personal history with it. I used to spend about a week at my Abuela’s house in Mexico during the summertime when I was a kid. It was during these visits that I was exposed to some very interesting movies, most of which I shouldn’t have been watching but thanks to basic cable in Mexico having very different rules than American cable they were easily accessible. Anyway, a few summers I shared a room with my youngest uncle that would always get home late, turn on the TV then pass out before turning it off. One night when I was somewhere between 12-15 I stumbled upon the last 40 minutes or so of this movie and it blew my mind. An adult animated mystery movie with talking housecats. Most of what I saw that night over 20 years ago has stayed in my brain, it was titillating and fascinating. I spent so many years trying to find it unsuccessfully, to the point where I worried that maybe I made it up. Was it a weird fever dream mash-up of the Aristocats and Secret of NIMH? Finally a few years ago I found it listed on Letterboxd only to discover the movie is truly very rare and had never been released in the US. How on Earth did that Mexican cable movie network even get the English dub with Spanish subtitles? Finally, after all these years I was able to watch the full movie in its original German dub thanks to this awesome release by Deaf Crocodile. This movie is fantastic if only for how unique it is. I can’t stress enough that this movie is just unexpected in its content and execution. I don’t want to describe the movie any more because if it has piqued your interest you should give it a watch. This was a Holy Grail watch that lived up to my expectations.

This release includes the following:

Special Features

• New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Craig Rogers
• New Dolby Vision HDR color grade by Tyler Fagerstrom
• New video interview with director Michael Schaack, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile
• New video interview with the key animation team including Doug Bennett, Paul Bolger, Eamonn Butler, Bernie Denk and Desmond Downes
• New video interview with layout designer Armen Melkonian
• New commentary by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content

• Slipcase featuring new illustration by Paul Bolger
• 80-page illustrated book featuring:
  • New Essay by film historian Jennifer Lynde Barker
  • New Essay by film critic Walter Chaw
  • Rare production artwork

This is a fantastic release, I appreciated the conversations with the crew to learn about the history of this amazing movie. I reached out to a German friend of mine and she told me this movie is highly regarded in Germany but its popularity has waned because the writer of the source novel for this movie has exposed himself as a polemic with some hateful statements that have denigrated his legacy. In one conversation the director Michael Schaack discusses the negative impact the author has had on this film and the novels it was inspired by. As cool as learning the history of this movie is the film presentation itself is beautiful. Scanned in 4K from the original camera negative you’re getting a very crisp image that looks fantastic on screen. The sound was great, the voice acting is very clear, and I loved the score by Anne Dudley. As a fan of the Criterion Collection it’s always nice to find competitors putting out content that’s also to the standard physical media collectors expect. Which brings me to the booklet that’s included which is the type of bonus content I love. The best part of the booklet being the concept art that was included, I wish Disney would do releases like this for their films. My only complaint is that the disc does not include the English dub, but I understand why that might not have been possible. In fact from what I learned from the special features the camera negative they used was in a really bad state so we’re lucky they managed to get this version on disc and they made it look brand new which is quite the feat.

I can’t recommend this release enough, the movie itself is so unique that that alone is worth a purchase. I’ve always been a big proponent as animation as a medium that should not be seen as only for children. This movie exemplifies what animation is truly capable of and this release is the best way to experience that. If you’re interested in the Deluxe Set it can be purchased here or a standard release here.