Story

House cat Blanket (voice of Hannibal Buress) is living a comfortable life in an apartment in a busy Chinese megacity. But his young son Cape (voice of Max Charles) is bored, curious and keen to explore the outside world. Also, Cape has been told that his mother has gone to a place called Peachtopia – a legendary place where cats live in freedom and peace.

Determined to find this place and his mother, Cape escapes the apartment. Blanket, who knows about the dangers of the outside world, sets out on a desperate and dangerous journey to find his son.

Themes

Father and son relationship; ambitions in life; chasing a dream; coming of age; friendship; longing and grief; the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; finding the place where you feel at home

Violence

Cats has some violence:

• Aggressive raccoons chase and beat Blanket.
• Scary raccoons chase Cape. He gets trapped, captured and put into a cage.
• Cape is threatened with being tortured to death.
• Cape gets stuffed into a plastic bag and closely escapes being cremated alive.

Sexual references

None noted.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Cats shows some use of substances. For example, characters consume strong alcohol, like vodka.

Nudity and sexual activity

None noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Cats: a Chinese soft drink brand.

Coarse language

There is some mild coarse language and name-calling in this movie, including ‘fat’, ‘fatty’, ‘idiot’ and ‘stupid’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Cats is a computer-animated movie directed by Gary Wang. Mild animated violence and emotionally distressing themes make it unsuitable for children under seven years. And because of the movie’s emotionally distressing themes, we recommend parental guidance for children under nine years.

The main messages from this movie are about the importance of a father-son relationship, especially when a mother is absent. The movie also suggests that you can’t find peace and a sense of belonging anywhere until you find peace and home in your heart.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with you children include parental love, friendship, sacrifices for loved ones, and the need to take risks to help the people you love.

This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like being a workaholic or a fanatic. For example, the movie’s villain is a frustrated artist who has lost his inspiration and turns his anger against innocent animals.