Other Titles • Neko no ongaeshi • The Cat Returns (2003)
Synopses for Neko no ongaeshi (2002)
1.
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
(71 votes)
2.
Studio Ghibli has garnered a reputation for itself as the finest of Animé production houses with films like MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, PRINCESS MONONOKE, and SPIRITED AWAY. First-time director Hiroyuki Morita joins Ghibli's talented crew with THE CAT RETURNS (NEKO NO ONGAESHI). This follow-up to WHISPER OF THE HEART centers around young Haru, who rescues a cat from being run over. The cat is no ordinary feline, however--he is the Prince of the Cats, and for saving him Haru is brought into the Kingdom of Cats to be his bride. But her feline friends Muta and the Baron may have a plan to rescue her from this unusual fate. Like many of the Studio Ghibli films, THE CAT RETURNS is a modern day ALICE IN WONDERLAND, featuring a protagonist who takes a trip into a wondrous and strange fantasy setting.
(72 votes)
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