Michael Sinterniklaas Movies

French animators Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol directed this comedy-drama in which a family discovers their house pet is living a surprising double life. Zoe (voice of Oriane Zani) is a seven-year-old girl traumatized by the death of her father, a police detective who was on the trail of Victor Costa (voice of Jean Benguigui), a powerful underworld boss. Ever since the passing of her father, Zoe has been mute, and her mother Jeanne (voice of Dominique Blanc), also a detective, has been working hard to track down Costa and the killers and bring them to justice. However, it turns out a criminal is hiding right under their noses -- while Zoe sleeps, her beloved pet cat Dino slips out of the house at night and serves as a companion and assistant to Nico (voice of Bruno Salomone), a suave burglar who has robbed some of the wealthiest and most elegant homes in Paris. One night, Zoe follows Dino as he spends the night on the town, and as she crosses paths with Nico, she finds herself in the clutches of a handful of ruthless gangsters. Une Vie De Chat (aka A Cat in Paris) received an Academy Award nomination in 2012 as Best Animated Feature. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 

G.I. Joe SIGMA 6 is the code name for a group of highly trained covert special mission operatives. Duke, Snake Eyes, Heavy Duty, Scarlett, Long Range and Tunnel Rat - who use high-tech, state-of-the-art gear along with their other hero skills to go up against the forces of evil. G.I. Joe must defend the world against the evil Cobra in their most daring mission yet! With some of your favorite G.I. Joe and Cobra characters, and some great new ones, get ready for non-stop action and adventure!

The half-hour Italian TV cartoon series Winx Club was set in a magical nether world where various colorfully garbed witches, warriors and fairies carried on a neverending good-evil battle. Created by the brilliant but slightly off-kilter Professor Polonium, the Winx Club consisted of good female fairies. Members of the club, who represented their world's Fairy Side included red-headed, compassionate Bloom, yellow-haired sweetie pie Stella, level-headed but insecure Flora, blue-haired, musically inclined Musa, pink-haired technogeek Techna The Winx Club trained at the Cloud Academy side by side with the representatives of the "Warrior Side", among them youthful warrior Prince Sky (who was sweet on Stella), warrior-in-the-making Brandon (who liked Bloom), resident nerd Timmy and obligatory "rebel" Riven. The villains of the piece were the Senior Witches, each endowed with element-controlling powers: blue-haired Icy, brown-haired and psychic Darcy, a black-haired Stormy. Others in the cast were Professor Gryffin, the former teacher of the Senior Witches, who regretted ever showing them how to use their powers; Mr. Knut, the Witches' much-put-upon servant; and Kikko, Bloom's cute little pet bunny (a character obviously inspired by Pokemon's Pikachu). While fast action was the main bill of fare on the series, there was also an abundance of peppy musical numbers. In America, Winx Club was picked up by the Fox network and run on its Saturday-morning schedule beginning June 19, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Magical Do-Re-Mi was the English-language title of the half-hour anime series which debuted in Japan as Oja majo doremi in 1999. The series focused on a trio of young girls who were training to be witches (benevolent ones, we hope). Doremi Harukaze was clearly the protagonist, having urged her best friends Aiko Senoo and Hazuki Fujikawa to join her in her magical apprenticeship. Although "witchling" Doremi did her best to learn her trade from her mentor Marjorika in the Magic Hall, Doremi was the self-proclaimed "unluckiest girl in the world", and was weighed down by her unhappy home life; these shortcomings more than anything else, held her back from her ultimate goal. In the English version of the series, Doremi Harukaze became Dorie Goodwyn, Aiko was Mirabelle Haywood, Hazuki was Reanne Griffith, and Majorika was Patina. In America, Magical Do-Re-Mi joined Fox's "4Kids" Saturday-morning schedule on September 10, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi