The forty-somethings, bottle-fed at the “Club Dorothée”, have eyes that shine when we talk about Cat’s Eyescult animated series from the 80s. The teams tell it: “ Everywhere we turned, we ran into a fan. » So the “live action” adaptation (in the flesh) which is arriving on TF1 excites as much as it scares. Let fans be reassured, transposing today and in the heart of Paris, the adventures of the Chamade sisters hold up solidly.
Modernize and reinvent without betraying, this is the challenge that screenwriter Michel Catz (with the predestined name) launched seven years ago with Mehdi Sabbar and Benjamin Dupont-Jubien, directors of the independent production company Big Band Story, by tackling the adaptation of the cartoon Cat’s Eyes who turned 40 last year.
And for that they had to discuss for a long time with the creator of the manga, the Japanese Tsukasa Hojo, also father of Nicky Larson. « It’s a big brand, we weren’t the only ones there », explained the head of the adaptation Michel Catz during the first screening at the La Rochelle festival in September.
Spectacular settings
It took convincing. In the specialist magazine Le Film Français, the producer explains that he negotiated on the basis of a 60-page document detailing all the ideas on which the project was based and most of which hit the mark with the Japanese. Tsukasa liked the idea of the series being a prequel manga, that is to say that the action takes place before that of the books and the cartoon. We discover the sisters at the moment when they choose to become burglars to replenish their father’s art collection. They are also at a pivotal moment in their relationship. “I really liked the fact of telling a new story. I didn’t want the series to stick too closely to that of the manga”admits Tsukasa Hôjô in an interview for TF1. On the other hand, he was very attached to the DNA of the series, for example to the fact that the sisters don’t kill anyone.
I didn’t want the series to stick too closely to that of the manga.
Tsukasa was also seduced by the setting offered to their adventures: Paris (not the real one, the one in the cinema!). Races on the roofs, a burglary in the Eiffel Tower (from the first episode) or at La Monnaie de Paris, an episode at the Louvre and another in Versailles… The capital is filmed in all its most beautiful ways. The prior agreements for filming in these different locations were part of the arguments put forward to negotiate the adaptation rights, signs of the project’s ambition. This emblematic Paris is also, as for Lupina real asset for export. This is not trivial because Prime Video has partnered with TF1 for the production and international broadcast is therefore already planned.
With a budget of 25 million euros, it was necessary to entrust the production to someone experienced and in whom TF1 had confidence: it was Alexandre Laurent, who had already produced several major series for the channel (such as The Charity Bazaar), who took the controls. Met on the set of Female fightershe explained to us that he didn’t like green backgrounds. He confirms here, using digital effects as little as possible.
Strong female characters (and more numerous than in the manga) and very contemporary, action, beautiful settings, and humor, this is a very “2024” recipe. All carried by a cast made up of known faces: with a leading trio already seen in other series (Balthazar for Constance Labbé, I promise you for Camille Lou, Here it all begins for Claire Romain), surrounded by a range of actors known to the general public, such as Carole Bouquet, Grégory Fitoussi, Élodie Fontan and Gilbert Melki. The road to success seems set.
“Cat’s Eyes”, 8 episodes of 52 minutes, on TF1 on Monday evening. Two new releases per evening. And soon on Prime Video. The cartoon is available on the TF1+ platform.
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