Review of The Rabbi's Cat (2011) by Lil'basse — 26 Nov 2014

It is a good thing that the rabbi's cat develops the power of speech when he does, as he soon has to defend himself from charges of having eaten the family bird. But to Zlabya, the rabbi's daughter, the cat is even more adorable now. Not so much to the rabbi, as the cat, being able to count also and realizing he is old enough, begins to pester the rabbi to have his very own Bar Mitzvah. However, the rabbi soon has bigger problems to worry about like having to pass a French test in order to be recertified which the cat promises to help with.

Considering that talking animals have been around as long as there have been sound movies, it does seem more than a little strange that it has taken until very recently with "The Rabbi's Cat" to fully explore what that would mean in the real world, especially in this timeless Algeria where religions intersect and co-exist mostly peacefully.(If I had to guess, I would have to say this might be the 30's with the 1925 Citroen playing a part, and after the Russian Revolution but no mention of the Holocaust.) But that's not all as this very entertaining film makes great use of hand drawn animation in a variety of styles to detail its world, aided by a very cool soundtrack.