Henri, le Chat Noir is a web series of short films on the existential musings of a cat, Henri, who philosophizes in French (Know Your Meme). Wikipedia credits writer-director William Braden; Henri was played by Henry, a male longhair tuxedo cat.
Origin
- 2007: Braden made the first film while studying at the Seattle Film Institute. Know Your Meme says it was a class project, uploaded to YouTube on May 24, 2007; Wikipedia gives a release date of May 27, 2007.
- April 6, 2012: Braden uploaded the sequel, Henri 2, Paw de Deux.
- August 30, 2012: The first Internet Cat Video Festival took place at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, drawing “an audience of more than 10,000 people.” The Golden Kitty award for best in show went to Henri 2: Paw de Deux, beating Maru “by a landslide,” per Know Your Meme.
- April 30, 2013: Ten Speed Press, a Random House imprint, published Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat. A follow-up, Reflections on Human Folly, was published in paperback in 2016 (Wikipedia).
Filmography
| # | Title | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henri | 2007 |
| 2 | Henri 2, Paw De Deux | 2012 |
| 3 | Henri 3, Le Vet | 2012 |
| – | Henri – Politique | 2012 |
| 4 | Henri 4, L’Haunting | 2012 |
| 5 | Henri 5, “The Worst Noël” | 2012 |
| – | Henri – “On Cat Food Boredom” (four parts) | 2013 |
| 6 | Henri 6, “Cat Littérature” | 2013 |
| 7 | Henri 7 – “The Cat is Sat” | 2013 |
| 8 | Henri 8 – “Artiste” | 2014 |
| 9 | Henri 9 – “Blight of Spring” | 2014 |
| 10 | Henri 10 – “Reigning Cat and Dog” | 2014 |
| – | Henri – “Bacon” | 2015 |
| 11 | Henri 11 – “Oh, revoir” | 2018 |
Titles and years from Wikipedia.
The End of the Series
Henri 11 – “Oh, revoir”, released on YouTube on May 18, 2018, announced Henri’s retirement from the film series. On December 10, 2020, Braden announced that Henry had been euthanized at the age of 17 (Wikipedia).
Henri was a scripted character in a written and directed series, which sets him apart from other internet cats such as Maru, whom he beat at the 2012 festival, Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub.