This is a movie that has been very close to my heart ever since I was a child. It features gorgeous animation inspired by painting movements such as post-impressionism, surrealism and art nouveau, a wonderful soundtrack with Judy Garland of all people in the lead role, and a charming story with CATS, yet somehow I never see people talk about this movie.
The basic story is simple. Mewsette is a country cat living an idyllic life in a small French village, yet when her owner's sister comes to visit Mewsette is immediately charmed by her stories of Paris and high society. After an argument with her lover Jaune-Tom, Mewsette decides in a fit of anger to make her way to Paris and believes this will make her dreams come true. On her way to the big city she meets a charming stranger who takes her under his wing and promises to transform her into an elegant city cat and show her all the great things of Paris. But all is not as it seems, and this supposed gentleman and his "sister" may in fact have more nefarious plans for Mewsette than they're letting on...Can Jaune-Tom and his friend Robespierre find their way to Paris and save Mewsette before it's too late?!
Maybe a surprisingly dark story with veiled allusions to human trafficking and even suicide in what is still an animation for all ages, but what really sets this movie apart is the art. The animators weren't afraid to embrace their artistic influences and in fact there's a sequence in the movie that's just Mewsette drawn in the styles of various different painters from late 19th and early 20th centuries. The music is also solid through and features many dreamlike sequences taking place in the characters imagination.
I highly recommend this movie to everyone who is interested in animation and art history, because there really are some fascinating influences present here. I've included a YouTube link here to one of my favorite songs from the movie, though unfortunately there are no really good quality clips of this movie on YouTube, so the video is sadly a bit wobbly.