The Cat Returns (2005)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Just what I expected

Better Late Then Never

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Last year around August, I rented this on DVD. Since my sister and I are "cat people," I wanted her to watch this with me. But when she said that her friend had seen this and told her it wasn't very good, my expectations weren't so high then. After all, I mostly have mixed feelings for Ghibli movies: My Neighbor Totoro and Castle in the Sky were okay to me, while I adored Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service!Thankfully, I ended up really liking this movie! It's a cute, fun, wondrous coming-of-age story. Some people have accused this for having bestiality, but I definitely didn't read it like that: for one, the main character only started having a crush on Baron after (Spoiler)she started becoming a cat herself(/spoiler). But with that aside, I highly recommend this!

Like I said in my review of Whispers of The Heart, there was a character known as The Baron (voiced by Carey Elwes) would feature a more prominent role in this film. Much like Whispers of the Heart, this was a very pleasant surprise.Though, this had a bit more fantasy to it, it was still a very likable film that made me feel really cheerful after I felt it. The characters are all very likable. The main character, voiced by Anne Hathaway, was very innocent and in a lot of ways, was one of the most relatable characters I have seen in a Studio Ghibli film, for me. Shy, needs lessons in confidence that she gradually learns over the course of the film to stand up for herself after being thrown into precarious situations. She's curious, polite and very wide eyed.The rest of the cast does very well, Carey Elwes was great as the Barron, charming yet he clearly always knew what he was talking about. The other cast did well too, Peter Boyle was great and Tim Curry, over the top as always and I loved it. The writing for this film was very clever and it things that don't seem to have that much relevance all seem to add up in the end. And add up quite well in the end I might add.Overall, The Cat Returns is a great film. It's funny, touching and has great characters, what more could you ask for.

The Cat Returns is one of the most unusual, and most charming, children's movies I've seen in some time. When a young woman named Haru saves the life of a talking cat, it turns out that he was the prince of the cat kingdom. The grateful cats make several hilariously misguided attempts to repay her, culminating with marriage to the prince himself- whether she wants it or not. With the help of the cat bureau, Haru must escape the cat kingdom and return home before she loses sight of who she really is.OK, so the story is pretty weird, and may not make a whole lot of sense at times, but that's standard for most children's anime, and most children will have little trouble immersing themselves in its world. Who among us, as a child, didn't think what it would be like to talk to animals? What would their personalities be like? What did they think about? What did they think of us? Did they have their own form of society? The Cat Returns answers these questions in a most delightful way, somewhat reminiscent of the land of make believe in Mister Roger's Neighborhood.These cats are remarkably human. They talk, walk upright, and most of them have clothes. They have jobs and homes, a king (who is escorted everywhere by suit-wearing bodyguards), and a magnificent capitol city that wouldn't seem out of place in Lord of the Rings or The Last Airbender. But at the same time, they're definitely still cats. Their culture is largely based around napping, eating, and the pursuit of small fury animals.More important to this film than plot is the wonder and whimsy it generates. There's just something enchanting about a cat standing on their hind legs, especially with suit, top hat, and cane. And the very idea of kitty soldiers and entertainers is delightful. There are also awe inspiring visuals, like when Haru and her companions descend from the sky on a living staircase of crows.The Cat Returns may not be on the same level as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, but it's still charming and funny, with an important lesson about knowing yourself. Perfect for young cat lovers and Japanophiles.

This movie is very difficult to accurately review. On one hand, it is horrifying how cheesy, poorly scripted and rushed the movie is, but on the other, we know from "Whisper of the Heart" that this story is supposed to be written by Shizuku (it is NOT however the same story she was working on also named "Whisper of the Heart", which from the few details given in the movie, was more akin to a sort of epilogue for the Baron), and presumably while she was still an amateur writer.Although the story is supposed to be lighthearted, I personally found it went wayyyyy to far in that respect. Sure, it was a good approximation of what you'd expect a story from a young girl to be, however that does not change the fact that the plot is so frequently filled with scenes that even young children would find cheesy, terribly infantile "jokes" (sooo many chicken jokes D:), and worst of all, feels incredibly rushed.I'd like to say that I have nothing against lighthearted movies (I loved Whisper of the Heart), however this movie is at best a kid's movie through and through. The storyline takes Ghibli-cuteness and blows it completely out of proportion. Even "My Neighbor Totoro" feels serious compared to "The Cat Returns". Unless you're the giggly type, you'll want to punch yourself in the face at times due to how sickeningly sugary it can be. The thing about Studio Ghibli's signature cuteness in some of their films is that there is always some depth, some contrast. "My Neighbor Totoro" had the sick mother trope to play with, "Whisper of the Heart" had the uncertainty and dramatic ups and downs of an adolescent girl falling in love and finding her place in life, etc, etc. This film has positively no depth. It's constantly silly, which would work if the lines were funny, but they're not. About the only time I laughed during the film was when Haru first saw Prince Loon ("Eh..... eh... you-... eh :O").Just as bad as the film's cheesiness is it's rapid pace. The actual movie is reasonably long, however it just flies by due to the fact that none of the scene's feel important. They all feel like they are leading up to the next, without ever coming to fruition. Haru spends most of the film getting shuttled from place to place by various characters, such as to the "Cat Bureau" at the behest of a mysterious feline voice, exits that scene being dragged away by "evil" cats, arrives in the Cat World and is immediately picked up by the Kingsguard and is escorted to the castle, where she is dressed in a wedding gown. She is then forced to attend a party, and from there is rushed off in an escape orchestrated by the "mysterious" *cough* obvious *cough* "stranger". Without exaggerating, I can tell you that really the only choice as to where to go Haru made in the entire movie was to listen to the strange voice and go to a "Cat Bereau". After that, all of the supporting characters just whisked her from setting to setting, with her doing nothing along the way other than making astute observations about each setting she's in. She has a minimal interaction with the characters (never once does she ask any questions regarding the psychedelic world she is suddenly dragged into, 10 minutes after having a cat talk to her the first time, her inquisitiveness is limited to asking the names of each character), and we learn very little about her, other than that she's a high school student who has a crush on a popular guy. Oh yeah, and her Mom makes quilts. That's about all of the character backstory in the movie. Which brings me to my next point.The characters remain extraordinarily shallow, even for a children's movie. We never learn anything about the regular duties of the "Cat Bureau", or where the statue/cat came from. Why is the King so obsessed with marrying Haru to somebody (it doesn't seem to matter who)? Where was Prince Loon in-between his first appearance (as the first talking cat carrying the present) and his final appearance at the end of the film? Why did it take him so much longer to return to his world, whereas Haru only took about 10 minutes? Why did Haru act at the end as if the entire bizarre experience had taught her some lesson of maturity (she spent the entire film being dragged around a magical kingdom by cats bent on marrying her)? The film makes no attempt to answer these questions (and many more).The quality of animation was also far below Ghibli standards, though for normal anime I'd say it was usually good, and had some moments where it was definitely well done. There were a lot of scenes with characters remaining static in the background, or worse, repeating the same animation over and over again while the "center" character was talking (i.e the King's neverending dizzy expression). A lot of the scenes were fairly drab too, having none of the excellent shading I've come to expect from Studio Ghibli.In short, this might be a good Ghibli movie for very young children, however don't expect anything even remotely meaningful from it. If you want a real "coming of age" tear jerker, watch "Whisper of the Heart" instead, which is excellent.