The Christmas holidays may be long, but life’s too short to waste a minute of it with this nonsensical mess.

Cats in the Museum is an animated feature that delivers just what its own title suggests. There are some cats, and they are in a museum.

"Vinsent" is a ginger cat who finds himself stranded on an island populated only by a rather savage, but dumb, dog and by a mouse. They inhabit a grand old mansion house where their daily routine is quite literally that - routine! Anyway, a storm comes along and this causes their home to crumble into the sea leaving the cat and his mouse friend "Moris" floating the seas inside a piano! Luckily, that's picked up by a tanker and next thing, they are in the world renowned Hermitage museum in St Petersburg and 'Vinsent" is dragooned into a herd of other cats whose mission is to protect the priceless artwork. Needless to say, "Moris" finds his life now somewhat more perilous - especially as he has a penchant for dining on the fabric of fine art. The "Mona Lisa" is coming to visit and so everyone is on alert, security is heightened - bit still, it gets stolen. All fingers point to the mouse, but is there something more sinister going on that "Vinsent" can get to the bottom of? The animation here is all pretty basic, but it's still quite an enjoyably daft adventure with plenty going on, a few red herrings and just a little romance with the glamorous - if slightly curiously animated - "Kleopatra" before a denouement that I can think of plenty of "art" I'd want to volunteer for. I'm surprised this got an UK cinema release, and it's not really for children. Worth a watch, though.

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