Theatrical release poster.
Felidae is a traditionally-animated adult mystery thriller film produced by the Trickompany animation studio in Germany and 10 other animation studios around the world in 1994. It's an adaptation of the first Felidae novel written by Akif Pirinçci from 1989.
The film stars Ulrich Tukur, Mario Adorf, Helge Schneider, Uwe Ochsenknecht and Klaus Maria Brandauer and Anne Dudley as the main soundtrack creator, alongside Boy George and John Themis.
The film was directed by Michael Schaack, written by Martin Kluger, Stefaan Schieder and Akif Pirinçci, it was produced by Hanno Huth and edited by Klaus Basler.
Plot summary[]
Francis moves into a neighborhood where a series of murders is occurring, throughout the investigation, he is aided by the fierce, gluttonous Bluebeard, the blind but wise Felicity, and the elderly, technology-savvy cat Pascal. His sleep is haunted by terrifying and vivid nightmares, which offer insight into the mind of the murderer and get more terrifying as the days go on.
Plot[]
A cat named Francis moves with his owner to a new neighborhood, and no sooner had he set paw into his new home than he is greeted by the slain body of another cat. Local street cat Bluebeard is convinced that this, and the other three recent killings, must have been committed by a "can-opener", which is cat slang for a human.
Francis disagrees saying that the cats throat has been shredded not cut. Bluebeard asks his name before leaving the garden. Francis comes back from exploring the streets and he has a nightmare of a faceless human. The next morning, Bluebeard comes back and takes Francis to another dead cat corpse in a garage.
As Francis finds out more about the victims, he is sure that not only is the murderer a cat, but that the killings are all connected by one common factor - each of the victims was sexually aroused at the time of death. Francis is aided in his investigations by fierce and gluttonous Bluebeard, who occasionally gives his thoughts on the victims.
Francis soon runs afoul of the local bully Kong and the masochist Claudandus Sect, who he wakes up to in the middle of their ceremony and is caught watching. While escaping, Francis meets Felicitas, however the next morning after Bluebeard brings Francis to Pascal, Pascal reveals that a cat has informed him of Felicitas's death. Francis then has a dream of Gregor Mendel, and in the middle of hunting, Francis discovers that his new home was once the site of a laboratory owned by Doctor Preterius.
Preterius, in his search to create a bonding glue that would heal any flesh wound, performed painful and deadly experiments on countless cats, including the legendary Claudandus. This particular cat was the first upon which the bonding glue worked, something Preterius attributed to superior genetics. He continued routine vivisection on Claudandus, and as his experiments continued to fall short of expectations, the doctor descended into alcoholic madness. One day, the long-suffering Claudandus attacked Preterius, tearing open his throat.
After Preterius's death, the abandoned lab became a meeting site for the Claudandus Sect, who believe that Claudandus was imbued with powers that could help the cat species evolve into something greater. Some believe that Claudandus has ascended to another life, and that by sacrificing themselves through painful rituals, they may attain perfection.
Kong and his Hermann's chase Francis throughout the neighborhood, until stumbling upon Kong's deceased lover Solitaire, who was also possibly carrying his kittens. In the middle of Kong's sobbing, an old cat runs by and Kong attempts to attack them, but he fails after losing the cat's trail out of nowhere. However after he and his followers leave, Francis notices the cat and follows him into tunnels, with Bluebeard trailing behind.
In the tunnels, Francis questions the cat and the cat reveals his name to be Jesaja and how he's the "guardian of the dead". Eventually Francis and Bluebeard leave the tunnels and Francis tells Bluebeard he believes the Cult of Claudandus is preparing them for the arrival of something no one can imagine.
Francis then goes to sleep and has a dream of a golden cat on an Egyptian lion statue, with the two talking for a few moments before everyone Francis once knew turns into stars. The same morning, Francis wakes up to a female cat in heat and goes to mate with her, despite him asking questions, she doesn't respond to any and tells him to keep mating with her.
Bluebeard then visits Francis later by sundown and the two talk about the case, with Bluebeard teasing Francis and explaining that the cat Francis has mated with was apart of a breed that walks alone and is dangerous. Francis tells Bluebeard to talk to Joker while he talks to Pascal, Bluebeard asks if Francis really thinks Joker's the killer and Francis reminds him of what they were told in the catacombs.
Francis and Pascal talk about solving the case and that they may need data on cats who left the neighborhood for no known reason.
It is eventually revealed that Claudandus lives on, having taken the new identity of Pascal, Francis' mentor. Old and embittered, Claudandus now seeks revenge against humanity, citing them as the only truly evil animal. Through selective breeding, he aims to give rise to a 'new breed' of feline - one perfect enough to overtake the humans. Using his owner's computer to keep a listing of every cat in the city, Claudandus is systematically killing the cats he deems unworthy of breeding. He calls his database and his plan simply, "Felidae".
When Francis confronts him, Claudandus reveals that he is terminally ill with a form of stomach cancer. Having been impressed by Francis' intelligence, he hopes that the younger cat will continue the Felidae project after he dies. Appalled by all the suffering Claudandus has caused in the name of "racial purity", Francis refuses and tries to delete Felidae. Enraged, Claudandus attacks him and accidentally destroys the computer, sparking an electrical fire. The two cats fight, and Francis eventually disembowels Claudandus, who remarks as he dies that he, too, was once as pure as Francis.
Francis escapes the burning house, and all remaining traces of Claudandus and the Felidae project are destroyed. He discovered Bluebeard injured and bleeding out in the house, and Francis pulled him outside, and he ends up surviving the attack. Looking over the remains of Claudandus's home, he muses that there must be optimism for a brighter future for both humans and Felidae alike.
Transcripts[]
- Transcript/Felidae (film) - German
- Transcript/Felidae (film) - English
Cast[]
Character[] |
German[] |
Hungarian[] |
French[] |
English[] |
| Francis | Ulrich Tukur | Forgacs Peter | Patrick Poivey | |
| Bluebeard (Blaubart) | Mario Adorf | Karpati Tibor | Patrick Messe | |
| Jesaja | Helge Schnieder | Csuja Imre | Jacques Ciron | |
| Kong | Wolfgang Hess | Hanko Atilla | Benoît Allemane | |
| Preterius | Gerhard Garbers | Balazsi Gyula | Pascal Renwick | |
| Felicity (Felicitas) | Mona Seefried | Kiss Erika | Déborah Perret | |
| Joker | Ulrich Wildgruber | Orosz Itsvan | Philippe Dumat | |
| Gus (Gustav) | Manfred Steffen | Bata Janos | Patrick Borg | |
| Archie | Uwe Ochsenknecht | Palfai Peter | Unknown | |
| Nhozemphtekh | Michaela Amler | Farkasinszky | Unknown | |
| Mendel | Christian Schneller | Szelyes Imre | Thierry Murzeau | |
| Hermann #1 | Tobias Lelle | Forgacs Peter | Serge Faliu | |
| Hermann #2 | Frank Roth | Zsigmond Tamara | Damien Boisseau | |
| Pepeline | Alexandra Ludwig-Hahn | Zsigmond Tamara | Unknown | |
| Claudandus | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Szelyes Imre | Bernard Alane |
English cast[]
The film was released with an English dub only in Australia and North America in the United States for VHS, as well as on a German DVD.
In January 2019, one Behind the Voice Actors user (Millicent) pinpointed the English cast to London, however it might not all be entirely true.
- Francis: Jeff Harding, Cary Elwes
- Gustav Löbel, Gregor Mendel: Marc Smith
- Bluebeard: Graham Parker, Michael Madsen
- Kong: Bob Sessions, J.K. Simmons
- Joker: William Roberts
- Felicitas: Tamsin Hollo
- Claudandus: Peter Marinker, Christopher Lloyd
- Julius Preterius: Don Fellows, John Hurt
- Jesaja: Ian Tyler, Arthur Malet
- Nhozemphtekh: Liza Ross
Soundtrack[]
There are some unnamed soundtracks, but here are the known ones. Anne Dudley created it however Boy George and John Themis created the intro soundtrack.
Differences from the Book[]
The film follows the story of the original novel very closely. However, there are some differences between the film and novel:
- Longer scenes and monologues are shortened in the film.
- The character of Bluebeard is present far more often in the film than he is in the novel. This allows Francis to voice his thoughts aloud as he examines crime scenes and figures out the mystery. The examples of this include the following:
- In the film Francis and Bluebeard read the book of the ancient Felidae, but in the novel only Francis reads it.
- In the film Bluebeard is with Francis when they meet the 'Guardian of the Dead', but in the novel Francis is the only one who talks to him.
- In the film Bluebeard is present during Francis' final battle with Claudandus where he rescues Bluebeard when he is attacked by Claudandus. But in the novel just Francis faces Claudandus in the final battle.
- Bluebeard is given extra lines and moments in the film, which are often a display of black comedy. It also justifies his increased screen time.
- One of Francis's nightmares about Deep Purple slaughtering kittens from the novel is missing in the film.
- In the book Francis asks the Guardian of the Dead to the meeting, but in the film he follows him to the tunnels instead.
- In the novel, Francis discovers the journal of Doctor Preterius. In the film, this becomes a video diary.
- In the book Francis sees Felicity's owner grieving her death, but in the film her owner doesn't appear.
- The novel has an epilogue which ties up all of the loose ends of the plot. The film meanwhile doesn’t tie up all the loose ends and simply ends on a note of optimism.
- Deep Purple appears in the first chapter of the novel, yelling at Francis about his territory. The scene doesn't appear in the film.
Release[]
Felidae was released theatrically in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Australia and France. It was released on PAL DVD region 2 with Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 surround sound for the original German audio and Dolby 2.0 for the English audio dub in Dolby 2.0. There are no subtitles. Extras (in German only) include DVD commentary, trailers and a "Making Of".
A Blu-ray 4K UHD release was in the making by the film restoration company Deaf Crocodile that released on December 31th of 2024, however it released in Canada on February 11th of 2025, unfortunately they're only in the German dub.
Reception[]
Eric Hansen said the film lacked screen time for the plot, and it needed more screen time to avoid confusion. Hansen complimented the voices behind Francis who was voiced by Ulrich Tukur and Bluebeard who was voiced by Mario Adorf, but criticized Klaus Maria Brandauer's voice-over for Pascal as a by-the-numbers performance.
Although people enjoyed the book, the film did poorly at the German box office due to poor marketing.
The Austin Film Society has called the film "catnip for any weirdo who's ever pondered the possibilities of an R-rated Don Bluth movie".
English version[]
The rare English version was originally intended to be released in English-speaking countries around 1995 to 1997, but was postponed. Fortunately the version saw a limited release in Australia and New Zealand by RocVale Film Pty. Ltd. The English audio can only be found on the original German and French DVD releases.
The English version (Alongside many versions) is continuously uploaded on YouTube by people, however it doesn't stay long due to copyright.