This unique stop motion cartoon based on the French children's show of the same name (later dubbed into English for the UK and international market) that gained huge popularity in Europe (especially England and France) in the 1970s is sadly forgotten today, primarily because it never reached the US market, and today's pop culture memory is heavily influenced by whatever it is that the Americans remember.
A lot of adults who grew up watching this on TV do remember it however, but most of them had not seen the movie since and can't quite put their finger on why this movie, much more than the cartoon itself, was so weird and scary.
I've seen it recently and I'd say there are two reasons for this, one of them being the unique combination of stop motion puppetry and idyllic rustic setting where talking animals live in harmony (a more rural and European take on Winnie the Pooh's 100 Acre Wood in a way) contrasted by the evil cat and its plan to destroy everything and everyone in the world not fortunate enough to be born blue like him.
The other reason is that the movie includes elements of occultism (the haunted factory of the evil blue essence) as well as some plot aspects that seem to imply that the story is a loose allegory where the cat represents somewhat of a "child-friendly" version of Hitler. The cat is basically a racial (or "colorial") supremacist that takes command of a ruthless like-minded army to purge the world of all life and things that are not supreme and pure like him color-wise (i.e. blue). It hardly gets more "Hitlery" than that. For the creators of the show WWII was not some distant memory but a very real event that happened to them or just before their time, so it's not that big of a stretch to consider the possibility that it did influence their writing for this movie, just like it inspired the works of so many others from the era.
Anyway, here's the point - not only should you show this to your kids (it's scary in a good way) but you should also see it again for yourselves and realize from a grown up viewpoint how deep this silly little cartoon actually is. If only someone in America could spotlight this film today, I'm sure it'd quickly find its place among other (un)intentional children horror classics of the 20th century out there.
By the way, that rabbit is totally stoned off his rocker!
A lot of adults who grew up watching this on TV do remember it however, but most of them had not seen the movie since and can't quite put their finger on why this movie, much more than the cartoon itself, was so weird and scary.
I've seen it recently and I'd say there are two reasons for this, one of them being the unique combination of stop motion puppetry and idyllic rustic setting where talking animals live in harmony (a more rural and European take on Winnie the Pooh's 100 Acre Wood in a way) contrasted by the evil cat and its plan to destroy everything and everyone in the world not fortunate enough to be born blue like him.
The other reason is that the movie includes elements of occultism (the haunted factory of the evil blue essence) as well as some plot aspects that seem to imply that the story is a loose allegory where the cat represents somewhat of a "child-friendly" version of Hitler. The cat is basically a racial (or "colorial") supremacist that takes command of a ruthless like-minded army to purge the world of all life and things that are not supreme and pure like him color-wise (i.e. blue). It hardly gets more "Hitlery" than that. For the creators of the show WWII was not some distant memory but a very real event that happened to them or just before their time, so it's not that big of a stretch to consider the possibility that it did influence their writing for this movie, just like it inspired the works of so many others from the era.
Anyway, here's the point - not only should you show this to your kids (it's scary in a good way) but you should also see it again for yourselves and realize from a grown up viewpoint how deep this silly little cartoon actually is. If only someone in America could spotlight this film today, I'm sure it'd quickly find its place among other (un)intentional children horror classics of the 20th century out there.
By the way, that rabbit is totally stoned off his rocker!