Charlie Brooker Brings Interactive Tex Avery Inspired Cartoon 'Cat Burglar' To Netflix

The concept of the interactive movie breaks down the boundaries between video games and movies. The format has been around for quite some time with Full Motion Video games like the infamous Sega Mega CD interactive B-Movie Night Trap arriving in the 90s. Even earlier than that, fully animated Laser-Disc games appeared in arcades in the 80s including Dragon's Lair and Space Ace which featured original cel animation from Don Bluth. Yet it's fair to say that the format never really took off. At least, not until recently with Charlie Brooker's interactive Black Mirror experience Bandersnatch on Netflix.

Advances in technology have made it easier for them to be produced, and streaming seems to be the ideal format for the interactive movie. Prior to the Black Mirror episode, Netflix had been experimenting with the idea for some time, and had previously commissioned animated interactive experiences based on existing series such as Puss In Boots, Carmen Sandiego, Captain Underpants and Boss Baby.

Their newest interactive release sees Brooker return, but this time for something that could hardly be any more different from his past work. At least, that's how it appears on the surface- we would not discount the possibility that this could actually be a stealthy Black Mirror episode in disguise.

Assuming we can take Brooker and Netflix at their word, however,  Cat Burglar is a family-friendly interactive short that is heavily inspired by classic Tex Avery cartoons. This burglar is literally a cat, named Rowdy trying to outsmart Peanut The Security Pup to break into a museum and steal some priceless paintings. 

Viewers/players must correctly answer trivia questions and their success or failure at that will play out in classic animated slapstick mayhem on screen. The average runtime will be around 15 minutes, but with more than an hour and a half of animation produced, you can play through time and time again and experience multiple different outcomes.

Cat Burglar is created by Brooker, and is executive produced by Brooker and his regular producing partner Annabel Jones alongside BoJack Horseman and Tuca and Bertie veteran Mike Hollinsworth. Hollinsworth is also the supervising director. The animation is produced by Dublin based Boulder Media whose past work includes Danger Mouse, The Amazing World Of Gumball, My Little Pony: A New Generation and Wander Over Yonder.

Cat Burglar will be available on Netflix worldwide from February 22, 2022