Hungarian Film Featured at Animation Celebration

Following is a review of today’s screening at the Los Angeles Animation Celebration:

“Cat City” Hungary, (1986) **

Nuart Theater, 9:45 p.m. 1 hour, 33 minutes

During the early ‘80s, the Pannonia Studio in Budapest emerged as one of the artistic leaders of world animation: “The White Mare’s Son” and “Heroic Times” offered a new vision of what an animated feature could be. But a wide American release is needed to make an animated feature a financial success, and distributors regard those films as too unusual and arty to attract viewers here. The result is “Cat City,” Pannonia’s attempt to make an “American-style” feature, suited to this lucrative market.

A rather silly spoof of gangster and secret agent movies, “Cat City” pits a mouse secret operative against oppressive feline bosses in the year 80 AMM (After Mickey Mouse). The film has a few amusing moments, but the minimal story is badly presented and doesn’t warrant 90 minutes of an audience’s time. The animation itself is limited and uninteresting.

The Pannonia artists have proven themselves capable of much more significant work. They should continue that work and stop trying to pander to the lower denominators of American taste.