Tabby McTat Review

The BBC’s adaptation of Tabby McTat is the second feline animated story to be broadcast on British TV this festive period.

Tabby McTat is a busker’s cat. He performs every day with Fred (Rob Brydon), but when Fred is injured chasing a theft, he leaves Tabby McTat as a stray. Tabby McTat gets taken in by Sock (Susan Wokoma) and her humans and he even starts a family with the black cat with a white paw. But Tabby McTat and Fred both wonder where each other is.

Like Channel 4, the BBC has developed a Christmas tradition of adapting a children’s book as an animated special. The BBC has focused on adapting Julia Donaldson’s stories and the team responsible for adapting The Gruffalo adapted Tabby McTat.

It’s easy to compare Tabby McTat to Mog’s Christmas since both were feline-focused animated stories that were broadcast at around the same time. Both even featured original songs. However, that’s where the similarities end. Mog’s Christmas was a deliberating old-fashioned story that was a low-stakes comedy. Tabby McTat had a more sensibility and aimed to be more of an emotional journey and this show had more of a plot than Mog’s Christmas.

Tabby McTat had the plot of animal stories like Paulie and A Dog’s Journey where a pet tries to find their original owner and meet characters who help and support them on the way. Tabby McTat had a shorter run time, so Tabby only spent time with Sock and her owners and he grew to love them as well. He had a personal conflict because he loved Fred, and Sock and his new owners. Tabby McTat also had a similarity to An American Tale since Tabby and Fred were both searching for each other but keeping each other, like Fievel and his family. Tabby McTat will remind some people of James Bowen and his cat Bob since Bowen was a busker and a Big Issue seller who was popular because of a ginger cat he adopted.

Tabby McTat aimed to put people through the emotional wringer. I felt for Tabby when he lived as a stray, lost weight, and was scared of Sock’s owners because he reminded me a lot of my cat. He was a stray who was nervous at first but has grown to be a big love bug. There was a maturity to the story since Tabby formed a family and had a moral dilemma. Even with this emotion, Tabby McTat was aimed at kids. The dialogue and narration were constantly rhyming like it was Dr. Seuss, the cats did cute cat things like Mog did in her special, and there was a happy ending for all involved. It wasn’t Watership Down where there was death, violence, and heartbreak.

One of the notable aspects of animation. Tabby McTat was made with CGI, but it was made to look like stop-motion. The art style and movements were like Aardman Animations’ work and their attention to detail was so great that the characters had fingerprints on them, like they were made from plasticine. It was a wonderfully animated special that had a unique look to it.

Tabby McTat was a wonderful offering from the BBC and the winner of the cat fight with Mog’s Christmas (although all cats are winners). A lot was packed in its 25-minute runtime.