The Apartment Cat (1999): A Charming Hand-Drawn Animated Short Film
In Sarah Roper’s 7-minute animated short film The Apartment Cat aka Le Chat d’Appartement (1999), a bored house cat sneaks out and ventures into the city. There, he faces traffic, rain, danger, and—worst of all—dogs.
The Apartment Cat
Original title: Le Chat d’Appartement
Director: Sarah Roper
Country: France
Plot Summary
Cléo is a cat living a quiet, predictable life in a small apartment.
In the morning, his owner bolts out the door without a goodbye. At night, she comes home exhausted, falls asleep, or scolds him for shedding or tracking litter. The cat spends a lot of time alone, watching the city from the window. When birds glide past, free and careless, he can’t help but sigh.
One morning, he sees his chance. As his owner steps out, he slips through the door and ventures into the city. The streets overwhelm him right away: honking cars, barking dogs, and crowds that never slow down.
Still, he keeps going. He climbs higher and higher, chases pigeons across rooftops, and ends up on a narrow scaffold above the street. A fall sends him tumbling, but he lands on his feet and keeps moving.
Cold rain sets in, and the city turns harsh. He hides under a newspaper and later drops into a bucket of water. Life outside proves tougher than he imagined.
However, just when things look bleak, an older couple finds him and offers him a new home.
Hand-Drawn Charm
With a background in the visual arts, director Sarah Roper brings a painter’s sensibility to filmmaking.
The entire short film is hand-drawn, and feels—intentionally—a little rough around the edges. The characters don’t follow realistic proportions, and the buildings lean and stretch.
The colors are soft and muted. Nothing shines, pops, or overwhelms. On the contrary, the art is slow, observant, and comfortable with small moments.
The textures and uneven shading make the film ooze coziness, and you can almost feel the paper underneath the image.
The world Roper creates is small, intimate, and entirely alive in its own rhythm.
The film received a Special Mention at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival.
The Apartment Cat was produced by Folimage, the animation studio behind films such as A Cat in Paris aka Une vie de chat (2010), Un plan d’enfer (2016), Sucré (2005), and many others.
Watch The Apartment Cat on YouTube
The Apartment Cat is available in its entirety on YouTube. It has no dialogue, so anyone can enjoy it.
Final Thoughts
Have you watched The Apartment Cat? Tell us what you think below.
The Apartment Cat (1999) was also featured in Best Cat Movies Set in France.
If you love cats on screen, check out our collection of short films for kids featuring cats. You can also browse all our animated cat movie reviews, and discover even more short cat films.
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 Film Festival in Brussels. When she is not writing, you will probably find her eating out or taking photos of felines for her website, Traveling Cats.
This looks like a lovely story.
I will have to check out The Apartment Cat! It sounds like a fun video and glad it’s on YouTube!