Miss Moxy (2025): A Family-Friendly Animated Film About a Cat’s Epic European Adventure

In Miss Moxy, a spoiled cat gets lost on holiday in Southern France. She teams up with a dog and a bird to walk all the way back home across Europe.

Miss Moxy is a charming, heartwarming Dutch/Belgian animated feature for children aged five and up. 

Designed as pure family entertainment, the film offers plenty for parents as well, thanks to its smart humor and playful references to pop-culture classics such as Monty Python and Asterix.

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The Story: A Heartwarming Animated Family Adventure

Miss Moxy (voiced by Sarah Bannier) is a city cat who lives in Antwerp, Belgium, with her eight-year-old owner Joosje (Sana Bouchti) and her parents. She thrives on routine, warmth, and above all, her close bond with Joosje. Safe, loved, and slightly spoiled, she has everything a house cat could want.

That sense of security is put to the test when Joosje’s family leaves for a family road trip to southern France.

A Family Holiday Gone Wrong

Unwilling to be left behind, Moxy hides inside a travel bag and joins the journey. However, what starts as a playful mishap quickly turns into a life-changing adventure.

Upon arrival in France, the family stays at a boarding house. The host, Rita (Barbara Sarafian), is an ambitious and morally questionable woman obsessed with winning a televised animal talent show, in which she plans to enter her dog Tuur (Pieter Embrechts).

While Tuur is good-natured, he is also painfully naïve. This makes him easy prey for Rita’s reckless ambitions and dangerous training methods.

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When Rita discovers that Moxy can play the piano, she immediately sees an opportunity. A musically gifted cat could be her ticket to winning the talent show—and the prize money that comes with it.

Rita locks Moxy away and cruelly tells Joosje and her parents that she saw the cat run off. 

Heartbroken, Joosje believes she has lost her beloved pet forever.

The Great Escape

Thanks to her intelligence and quick thinking, Moxy manages to escape and bravely sets out on her long journey home.

Things get even more complicated when the last companions she would ever choose decide to follow her: Tuur, the well-meaning but dim-witted dog, and Ayo, a loud and unpredictable bird (Frank Focketyn)

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What follows is a classic animated road movie with smart humor, narrow escapes, and heartfelt moments. 

At the same time, it is also a coming-of-age story. At the beginning, Moxy is part of a tough girl gang of cats, and she spends her days hunting birds and teasing dogs. But as she forms unexpected friendships with the traditional enemies of cats, Moxy learns to question her prejudices. Her journey teaches her that we often follow others to fit in and how difficult it can be to stay true to yourself within a group. Friendship, however, can come from the most unexpected places, and independence doesn’t mean being alone.

The True Story Behind Miss Moxy

Screenwriter Maureen Verspille wrote the film after hearing a story on the radio about a French family who lost their cat while on vacation. A year later, when they had already given up hope, the cat suddenly appeared at their front door.

Verspille immediately wondered what would happen if this were her own cat, and that idea became the starting point for Miss Moxy.

How did she find her way home? What did she eat? Who helped her along the way? Those questions quickly grew into a feline road movie.

The Director’s Vision: Why Another Cat Movie?

Vincent Bal had already directed a cat movie with Miss Minoes (2001). In that live-action film, a cat turns into a woman and helps uncover small-town secrets, while her feline nature continues to shape her actions.

Even so, Bal felt a strong pull to direct yet another cat story with Miss Moxy. Cats, he explained, offer the perfect balance between independence and vulnerability—qualities that translate beautifully to animation. This time he used animation to fully embrace exaggeration, visual humor, and emotional expression that would be harder to achieve otherwise.

Animation Style and Visual Influences

The film’s visual identity drives much of its charm. For the city backgrounds, it’s easy to draw comparisons to A Cat in Paris aka Une Vie de Chat (2010), particularly in the architectural feel and urban atmosphere. However, the team gave the character designs a distinct, softer style. 

The creative team crafted a look that’s warm, accessible, and timeless, deliberately avoiding overly trendy animation techniques.

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Voice Cast and Familiar Faces

The voice cast features a mix of beloved Belgian actors and familiar names for international audiences.

• Barbara Sarafian, with nearly 70 film and television credits (Bullhead, Brasserie Romantiek, Saint), delivers a delightfully sinister performance as Rita.
• Sarah Bannier, who voices Moxy, previously appeared as Bibi in the director’s earlier cat film Miss Minoes.
• Carice van Houten makes a small but notable return as Pinky, a fellow cat. Most of you will know her as Melisandre in Game of Thrones.
• Pieter Embrechts, as Tuur, brings warmth and comic timing to the role. Fun fact: his mother Tine Embrechts lends her voice to a group of French cows in Miss Moxy.
• Frank Focketyn plays the loud and unpredictable Ayo. He’s a Flemish actor known for his roles in Vaneigens, In de Gloria, Het Eiland, and Any Way the Wind Blows.

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Release Date & Where to Stream

Miss Moxy will be released in Belgian cinemas on February 11, 2026, distributed by Paradiso Films.

You will have to wait a little longer before the film reaches streaming services, but you might catch it earlier at a cinema or a film festival near you if you’re lucky.

It already won the award for Best Animated Feature at Sharjah Film Festival in UAE and the Audience Award at Tauron Young Horizons Festival in Poland. More awards will likely follow soon.

Watch the Trailer

Will You Be Watching Miss Moxy?

Are you planning to watch Miss Moxy with your children in the cinema? Let us know in the comments below.

If you loved Miss Moxy (2025), you should also check out Tabby McTat (2023), a beautifully animated tale about love, friendship, and letting go.

Related: 6 Animated Short Films Featuring Cats

About the Author

Vanessa Morgan is the editor of When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampires Movies, Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children, and Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies. She also published one cat book (Avalon) and four supernatural thrillers (Drowned Sorrow, The Strangers Outside, A Good Man, and Clowders). Three of her stories became movies. She introduces movie screenings at several European cinemas and film festivals and is also a programmer for the Offscreen in Brussels. When she is not writing, you will probably find her eating out or taking photos of felines for her website, Traveling Cats.

Meet the Belgian Cat Who Became a Movie Star: Avalon is a Memoir You’ll Fall in Love With!

Do you like heartwarming stories about the special bond between humans and cats, much like the tale of Miss Moxy? 

If so, you’ll want to check out Avalon. 

This touching memoir is about an extraordinary Belgian feline who didn’t just share a deep bond with his human but starred in the books and movies she wrote. If you love stories that celebrate the loving and creative connection between people and their pets, Avalon is a must-read—available in English, Italian, and French.

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Love Cats in Movies? Grab Your Copy of Meow! Today!

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