There are very few shows that are suitable for very young children that don't make most adults winch in mental pain at the thought of watching them.  While shows like Teletubbies and Barney are entertaining for the little ones, they are mind-numbingly dull for adults and older children.  Though my children have weaned themselves from the toddler fair (and now enjoy shows like Robotech and Tenchi,) I still keep an eye out, from habit no doubt, for movies that are suited to a wide range of ages.  One such movie that is sure to please the youngest in the household is Catnapped!  When adults find out that the movie was written and directed by Takashi Nakamura, the director of the cult hit Akira, they are usually willing to sit through this strange and bizarre trip to another world too.

The story revolves around Toriyasu, a young boy who ignores his dog Papadoll.  But when his dog disappears Toriyasu's little sister, Meeko, is sure the aliens have kidnapped it.  She is not too far from the truth.  Before you know it, three talking felines are taking the siblings to Banipal Witt, a colorful and fanciful world that is ruled by cats.  The evil Princess Buburina has catnapped Papadoll and turned him into a giant flying monster that she uses to control the population, along with her power to turn anything she touches into a balloon.  Toriyasu finds out that he only has a short time to change his dog back to normal:  If the sun's rays touch him again, Papadoll will stay a monster forever.

This show is perfect for younger viewers.  The world of Banipal Witt is very colorful and creative.  With odd buildings, and a design style that is reminiscent of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, the bright, whimsical visuals kept me entertained throughout the movie.   The story is simple and straight forward, the good guys and bad guys are easy to tell apart, and there is no violence save for a few people being turned into balloons and floating away.  The pacing is very good too.  The children take off for Banipal fairly quickly, so that the fun can begin without a lot of mucking around in the real world.  The action is pretty constant, with something always going on.  Clocking in at 75 minutes, this film isn't overly long either, ensuring that all but those with the shortest attention spans will sit through it. A great movie for younger viewers, and creative enough to keep older viewers interested.

This movie being aimed at kids, includes the seemingly obligatory message weaved into the show.  The good news is that the "be good to your pets" message isn't too heavy-handed and they don't hit you with it too many times.  It's a more subtle approach than cartoons in the west usually take.  (Anyone remember Captain Planet?)

Audio:

I was pleasantly surprised to find both an English dub and the original Japanese language soundtrack.  There are optional English subtitles.  The sound quality was very good on both tracks.  Dialog was clean and easy to hear, and the background sounds came through nicely.  There was a little use made of the front soundstage, but not a lot.  The dub track was about average as far as the quality ofthe voice actors go.  I enjoyed the original language track more, but didn't find the dub irratating.  Overall it is a nice sounding disc, especially for a children's movie.

Video:

The video was presented with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  Since this was theatrically released in Japan in 1995, I suspect that the image has been altered, but I couldn't confirm this.  As it is, there weren't any  instances where cropping was blatant, so this could have been the movie's OAR.  The video quality on this DVD was a little soft.  The lines were not tight, and the colors were slightly muted.  Not to a large extent, it just did not look as bright and vivid as I though the image should.  There were some minor digital defects present, aliasing and a little banding, but nothing significant.  An adequate picture overall.

The Extras:

There are only a couple of minor extras on this DVD.  First there is a slideshow with 17 stills from the movie that you can cursor through with your remote.  The only other extras are a text piece with information of the characters in the movie, and an outdated listing of anime available from Pioneer.

Final Thoughts:

This is a fun movie, one that children will love, and adults will tolerate.  While I didn't find it bad, it wasn't as gripping to me as it would be to a six year old.  This would be the perfect DVD for a family movie night.  Pop up a bowl of popcorn and gather the whole clan 'round the TV set for an enjoyable evening.  Recommended.