From the creators of the Academy Award(R) winning SPIRITED AWAY (Best Animated Feature Film, 2002) comes the visually stunning THE CAT RETURNS, a spectacular animated journey to a world of magic and adventure. Haru, a schoolgirl bored by her ordinary routine, saves the life of an unusual cat, and suddenly her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined. The Cat King rewards her good deed with a flurry of presents, including a very shocking proposal of marriage to his son! Haru embarks on an unexpected journey to the Kingdom of Cats where her eyes are opened to a whole other world and her destiny is uncertain. To change her fate, she’ll need to learn to believe in herself and appreciate her everyday life. Featuring the sensational voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Tim Curry, and Elliot Gould, THE CAT RETURNS is a magical animated adventure that will delight and inspire everyone.The Cat Returns (2002) brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart (1995). On her way home from school, Haru, a confused 17-year-old, prevents an elegant gray cat from being hit by a truck. She’s inadvertently saved the life of Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom, and his royal father decides to thank her. He fills her locker with gift-wrapped mice and decides she should come to his kingdom and marry Lune. Haru seeks help from the Cat Bureau, and eventually returns to relatively normal life, with the assistance of Muta and the Baron.
The Cat Returns recalls Whisper of the Heart and Takashi Nakamura’s Catnapped, but it offers neither the wistful charm of the former nor the bold visual imagination of the latter. Hayao Miyazaki has been seeking young directors for Studio Ghibli for several years. After preparing the script and storyboards for Whisper, he turned the film over to Yoshifumi Kondo, who died tragically shortly after the film’s release. The Cat Returns was directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who shows promise, but lacks Kondo’s elegant sensibility. The DVD extras include a fulsome making-of documentary, Morita’s voluminous storyboards, and mini-interviews with the vocal cast that includes Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, and Elliott Gould. (Rated G: minor scary imagery and cartoon violence) –Charles Solomon
Buy “The Cat Returns” For Only $21.18
March 11, 2008
#1
This is a great DVD for divorced fathers like me who have every-other-weekend custody of both the kids and their cats. From now on, their cats won’t simply “disappear.” They’ll just wander to the “Kingdom of Cats.”
March 11, 2008
#2
Simple basic children’s film which is lovely and sweet for kids but anyone older than ten I can’t imagine getting too much from this.
I’d go for Spirited Away and if you like that Howl’s Moving Castle.
March 11, 2008
#3
I’ve greatly enjoyed all of the other Ghibli features released by Disney, and am easily persuaded by the name Miyazaki on anything! So, even though Miyazaki was only credited with the “project concept”, I was eager to get this DVD.
Well, I don’t regret the purchase or the viewing, but I have to say it’s much the weakest of the bunch I’ve viewed. The story line is like a highly simplified and weaker version of “Spirited Away” in several respects, the animation and imagination are not the equal of any of the other features in the group, and character development is not near as deep.
Even so, there are some good points. Muta and the Baron are amusing, and actually hint at more depth than does the heroine. Bits of the animation and colors in the picture are pretty good.
Overall, not a good introduction to the worlds of Miyazaki. If you want an introduction to his great talent, stick with any one of the other features. If you have seen all of the other available features, and want more, you might find this one worth the price.
March 11, 2008
#4
Well, if you keep in mind this cute movie is NOT from Miyazaki, but the first work as director of 30 year-old or something Morita Hiroyuki, you couldn’t but like it a lot. Of course it is a bit short, of course the script is not perfect, but the animation is good, the voices are great, and as I said, just like “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” everything is “hell of cute.”
March 11, 2008
#5
It seems that Miyazaki has been getting more and more surreal in his old age. He constantly revisits old themes, but gives them a greater dream like quality than before.
The Cat Returns in no exception. Not quite the surreal dreamfest of Spiritd Away, it is quite different from Whisper of the Heart’s reality. Yet it holds a lot of fairytale charm. Much like what Alice in Wonderland would have been like when it was first published before becoming such a part of our culture to render itself a cliche.
The Baron design always interested me from Whisper of the Heart and it’s good to see more of that with other cat characters.
For those who love cats, this is an especially enjoyable treat as the cats here display behaviors that every cat owner will recognize in humorous ways. For instance, the Cat King’s idea of what good gifts are when showing gratitude.
All in all a very good addition to the Ghibli library. There are other Ghibli features that are better, but none of them are worth anything less than 4 stars and if there was a 4 1/2 option, that would be the true score for this film.