Meine Freundin Conni - Geheimnis um Kater Mau

source: Conni and the Cat

This is Germany's original animated movie. The story is an adventure of school boys and girls for their pets not to be sent to the zoo. It's good for watching with family.

Parents will be happy to know that this is a completely innocent film. No obnoxious pop music. No innuendos. No exhaustive toy line to promote to kids. Some of the kids are annoying, though. The spiciest thing is a child uttering "Timbuktu " in frustration, as well as some irresponsible pet ownership. It does not require any knowledge of prior Conni material (it's a German novel series that's been adapted previously into film and TV shows) either. Nothing here is a standout. The visuals are serviceable at best, but the animation is stiff. The music is decently forgettable. The cast of actors (in the English version) do well for the most part. The story is where things fall apart. It's too simple to sustain its runtime. There are no stakes. An obvious b-plot is never addressed (do Conni's parents not notice the family cat has been missing for days?) and a plot thread regarding Luca's fear of abandonment was just left untouched. The character writing is weak. Conni is a brat at the start and is still a brat at the end. Yes, Luca does become less anti-social, but the reason why he was that way in the first place wasn't solved. His point about the kids going back home and forgetting him is still very much true. The other characters simply exist. In short, younger children might be distracted by the animal antics to sit through the movie's runtime, but everyone else will feel like it's already too long at 80 minutes.

Bon film !

Meine Freundin Conni - Geheimnis um Kater Mau