Cat Burglar

The Tex Avery-style sight gags on Cat Burglar can get tiring because they’re doled out at hyper speed. But Rowdy’s deaths, and even the vignettes where he succeeds, make up for that.

Cat Burglar is a fun corrective that nudges you to think about how passively you consume – while also trying to frantically remember the names of the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The script, with its myriad twists and earnest embrace of bygone animated wackiness, is sharp and funny no matter which scenario unfolds. It almost makes you want to mess up a little, if only to see more of the bizarre turns the heist might take.

The chief pleasures of Cat Burglar aren’t really the interactive ones at all. Rather, the joy comes from the brilliantly observed homages to cartoons of the golden era before health and safety became a thing and cartoon violence was of exquisite imagination.

Cat Burglar is at its most enjoyable when it isn’t trying to be clever or ironic and instead replicates the eyes-on-stalks energy of classic Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera animations. But then, every so often, along comes the interactive bit as a reminder you’re still trapped in the Brookerverse.