La Planète Sauvage de Toto: Watching <Fantastic Planet> with My Cat

Toto is from Chungcheongbuk-do province of South Korea. He was rescued (or kidnapped, depending on different perspectives) during the beginning of winter 2019 when the weather in the mountainous rural village was getting harsher and harsher. After a long drive, Toto was introduced to an urban apartment building where he became a member of a human family.

Toto was offered healthy cat food and a soft cushion which he refused initially but took a liking for.

As a welcoming gesture, we screened an old French animated film, Fantastic Planet [La Planète Sauvage] (1973), in the hope of preparing both Toto and us for the reality of cohabitation. The film shows a distant planet where Traag, the humanoid alien, has tamed humans, referred to as Om, a play on the French word “homme”, as pets. The allegory of Traag and Om is maybe too convenient to apply to various themes, including racism and animal rights, and, consequently, Toto was unimpressed by my obvious movie choice.

Turned out he had a rather sophisticated taste in films.

In the film, Traags kept Oms as pets for many years until one of the young Traags, Tiwa, decides to educate her pet, an orphaned Om named Terr, which strangely resonates with the French word “terre” meaning Earth. Tiwa shares her education device with Terr which resembles a…