Netflix's ‘Cat Burglar’: a break from ‘Black Mirror’
From the producers of “Black Mirror” comes “Cat Burglar,” an interactive short that contrasts “Black Mirror”s interactive movie, “Bandersnatch.” Photo illustration by SIMRAH AHMAD, Staff Photographer
Cats are said to have nine lives, but in Netflix’s “Cat Burglar,” the cat only has three. It is up to you to keep the cartoon cat alive and help it steal five paintings.
“Bandersnatch” — an interactive film in the Netflix series “Black Mirror” — grappled with free will and the distinction between dream and reality. With its dark themes, “Bandersnatch” is aimed towards adult watchers of “Black Mirror.” But the recent release of “Cat Burglar” — an interactive animated film from the same creators — seeks to expand the accessibility of interactive media to a much wider demographic.
“Cat Burglar” lacks the typical darkness and depth of “Black Mirror” — instead allowing viewers to decide the fate of a video game coder who questions reality by answering trivia questions to help an animated cat steal paintings.
Brad Petitfils, who teaches Chapman University’s Examining the Black Mirror course, said that “Cat Burglar” diverges from typical content seen in “Black Mirror.”
“‘Black Mirror’ typically focuses on the dark side of innovation, almost tending toward the dystopian, ‘Cat Burglar’ has a totally different field, probably because it’s presented in cartoon format. It’s sort of light and slapstick; that is not what you see in ‘Black Mirror’ at all.”
In fact, “Black Mirror” treads on the dark side so much so that creator Charlie Brooker told Radio Times that current reality is dark enough, and there is no need for the intensity that is associated with the “Black Mirror” name.
"At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on one of those,” Brooker told Radio Times. “I’m sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I’ve been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh.”
“Cat Burglar” is inspired by cartoons written by “Looney Tunes” creator Tex Avery. In an effort to bring joy to the “Black Mirror” adult audience, Petitfils said, shows including “Black Mirror” and “Cat Burglar” are looking back to the 1980s.
“I think that there's a big nostalgia factor there … Looking with shows, like ‘Stranger Things’, for instance. We're looking back to the ‘80s, for some reason,” Petitfils said. “There were ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books for young adults and children right around the same time.”
Claire Annino, a sophomore creative writing major, told The Panther that “Black Mirror” created a realm of their own by fusing video games with film.
“(The producers of Black Mirror are) kind of playing into their own theme of bringing different aspects of reality and (turning) them into new formats, because usually ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ things are pretty limited to video games,” Annino said. “They're combining the film industry and the video game industry, which is something that I feel like could potentially happen in a ‘Black Mirror’ episode as well.”
Brooker’s decision to incorporate the fun of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books with television displays the versatility and bravery in experimentation seen in “Black Mirror.”
“I feel like (the ‘Black Mirror’ creators) have such a pool of opportunities … They made an interactive movie, and then they made an animated, interactive (short),” Annino said. “They just keep going. I feel like they don't really have a lot of limitations.”
Even when “Cat Burglar” served as a break from “Black Mirror”s usual social critiques, Petifils said it is still conscious of the current gloom of the pandemic by providing the comfort its watchers need. When you have to choose whether the boy in “Bandersnatch” will jump off the building, you sweat; but when the cat in “Cat Burglar” dies, you laugh.
The only questions you will be confronted with when watching “Cat Burglar” are: “What goes better with ice cream: sardines or cake?” and “What is authentic Australian candy: raw koala or caramello koala?” all while being a cartoon cat’s accomplice in an art heist.
“In this post-pandemic world, we don't need … this darkness in our lives anymore,” Petitfils said. “We maybe need to be focused more on joy and laughter.”