Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space

TAMALA2010 a punk cat in space is a Japanese anime feature film. Direction, screenplay and music is attributed to the 2-person team t.o.L ("trees of Life"), known individually as K. and kuno. The film is computer animated in both 2D and 3D, and is mostly black and white. The characters, designed by t.o.L and Kentarō Konpon, are reminiscent of Sanrio's Hello Kitty and 1960's anime and manga such as Astro Boy. The film has not been released in any English-speaking countries (other than film festival showings) but the Japanese, Region 2 DVD has English subtitles.

TAMALA2010 was originally envisioned as the first episode of a trilogy – the latter two parts were given the working titles TAMALA IN ORION (which would chronicle Tamala's search for her real mother) and TATLA (which was to explore the character of Tatla in greater depth). A colour TV series was also planned, with the working title TAMALA IN SPACE. As of December 2007, none of these has surfaced – instead there have been two shorter works, the t.o.L written and directed TAMALA ON PARADE and TAMALA'S "WILD PARTY" – three short stories from different writers, storyboarded and directed by Shūichi Kohara and animated by Studio 4°C. Both of these are included on the TAMALA ON PARADE DVD, released in Japan in August 2007. This DVD does not have English subtitles.

Synopsis
The film is in a large part a cartoon cat version of Thomas Pynchon's novel The Crying of Lot 49 (which t.o.L have acknowledged as an influence), with elements of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince. It begins in Meguro City, Tokyo, Cat Earth, a world of corporations and commercialism, where a giant mechanical Colonel Sanders wanders through streets with an axe embedded in its head repeating an advertisement for meat over a loudspeaker. Tamala, bored with the city, leaves her human foster mother and boards a spaceship bound for her birthplace, Orion (while leaving Cat Earth, Tamala's ship passes by a satellite that is reminiscent of Mike Jittlov's Mickey Mouse satellite). Her ship is shot down by the Mysterious Postcat, and she lands on Planet Q in Hate City. There she meets a male cat, Michelangelo, who becomes her boyfriend. While visiting a museum, Tamala discovers a mural detailing the sacrificial rituals of members of the ancient Minerva religion, and the ruins of a statue of a female cat named Tatla. On another date, the couple is pursued by Kentauros, a sadistic dog dressed as a motorcycle cop. He eats Tamala while Michelangelo watches from a tree. The film then changes tone, focusing for a while on a presentation given by Professor Nominos on the history of CATTY & Co. He reveals that the company is an offshoot of the Minerva religion, and that Tamala was born in 1869 to be their mascot. The presentation is gradually interrupted by an attack and the room is burned. He appears to die in the fire but returns, in an undead form, and approaches Michelangelo, telling him of Tamala's history. Tamala, meanwhile, meets with Tatla, and comes to the realization that both of them are the reincarnation of Minerva. She returns to Hate city (much to Michelangelo's surprise), and continues her voyage to Orion, accompanied by the mouse Penelope, a former sex slave for Kentauros.

Characters

 * Tamala &mdash; A young female cat, born in the Orion Constellation on the Odessa star; cute, but uses much foul language. She was genetically engineered in Cat Year 1869 to always remain a year and a half old, in order to be the immortal mascot of the mega-conglomerate CATTY & Co. She is, along with Tatla, the reincarnation of the goddess Minerva, and idol of the Minerva cult. She is voiced by Hisayo Mochizuki


 * Michelangelo &mdash; A young male cat who lives in Hate City on Planet Q. He becomes Tamala's boyfriend, despite being considerably mature and cultured than she. He is voiced by Shinji Takeda.


 * Kentauros &mdash; A sadistic German Shepard who dresses as a motorcycle cop (although he is not a police officer). Although extremely violent, he has a fetish for sailor boys and keeps a mouse, Penelope, locked in a cage for his pleasure. He is eventually killed in a cat riot.


 * Professor Nominos &mdash; an elderly scholar who has been researching the history of CATTY & Co. and has uncovered the vast conspiracy involving Tamala and the Minerva Cult. Voiced by Takeshi Kato.


 * Tatla &mdash; A giant cat robot that lives in another dimension in Meguro City. She is constantly ascending above the city via a huge escalator. She is revealed to be the idol of the Minerva cult, and has a deep connection to Tamala. She is the only character rendered in 3D computer graphics.


 * The Mysterious Postcat &mdash; An immortal agent of CATTY & Co. He keeps tabs on Tamala and tries to prevent her from getting to Orion.


 * Penelope &mdash; A mouse kept by Kentauros. She eventually escapes her cage and joins Tamala in her journey to Orion.


 * Human Mother &mdash; Tamala's human foster mother. She is always depicted nude, playing video games with a giant snake wrapped around her.