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The Cat Returns Actors: Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada Director: Hiroyuki Morita Number of Items: 2 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Running Time: 75 minutes Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-22 Buy from Amazon |
 "The cat came back, unfortunately, in a lesser Ghibli effort."Rounding out the trio of the second wave of the Studio Ghibli DVDs distributed by Disney is THE CAT RETURNS, a curious entry to the Ghibli library. The film, directed by newcomer Hiroyuki Morita, is actually a spin-off of another Ghibli production, Yoshifumi Kondo's WHISPER OF THE HEART. I've practically enjoyed all of the Miyazaki movies I have seen thus far as well as Isao Takahata's GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, for all of these movies are artistically beautiful and not just masterpieces of Japanese animation, but true classics, period. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for THE CAT RETURNS. The story, which involves a moody high school student whisked away to the Cat Kingdom after she rescues a feline from being run over by a truck, is serviceable but uninspired and predictable in a Disney-ish sort of way--a trait that Miyazaki and Takahata's works never shared, and that is a detriment to this film. The biggest problem I have with the movie is the "believe in yourself" message. Rather than allowing the viewer to watch the struggles of the protagonist and determine what she has to learn in order to return to her homeland, she is given this very message verbally about halfway through the movie. Not only does this undermine the theme, it makes the ultimate resolution less satisfactory than it should be. THE CAT RETURNS is not a bad film by any means. It has its preciously delightful moments (an adorable scene where we see a young girl feeding a small, filthy kitten fish crackers and a very charming ballroom dance sequence), a fare share of comedy (mostly in the form of a grouchy fat furball named Muta), and one truly memorable character, a suave, splendidly dressed "aristocat" antique by the name of Baron (his presence carries the movie as a whole). But while THE CAT RETURNS is unquestionably fine for children and families, it is ultimately a lesser effort, both narratively and artistically (the artwork, although colorful and imaginative for the most part lacks the polish that we have come to expect from Ghibli), and consequently, is not especially memorable. Still, take my review with a grain of salt and check out THE CAT RETURNS. Even if it is essentially the weakest of the Studio Ghibli films I have seen thus far, I did enjoy it for what it was, and Ghibli at its least is 205% better than some of the worst animated features out there. While I'm on it, though, I should mention that Disney has done yet another top-notch job in terms of the DVD and dubbing presentation. The visual transfer is crystal clear and vibrant (no surprise since the film is an all-digital production), and the English voice acting (which this time includes Anne Hathaway, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and Elliot Gould) is fabulous as always with special credit to Cary Elwes (Donald Curtis in PORCO ROSSO), who is perfect as the Baron. The extras are the same as the other Disney/Ghibli DVD releases--voice talent featurettes, trailers, and storyboards... but it DOES contain a half-hour long piece on the making of THE CAT RETURNS. Strangely, I found this more interesting to watch than the movie itself, especially considering the source of its inspiration (a stray cat). There is only one catch about the DVD release, though, and that is that the dubtitles provided for the Japanese language track. Considering that Disney has included literal translations for almost all of its Ghibli releases (KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE was dubtitled, but not the same way that this one is), this is a major disappointment for fans that prefer watching Anime in Japanese. As mentioned, though, this is the only shortcoming in the package. Although THE CAT RETURNS is not the masterpiece that its Ghibli predecessors are, it is, as mentioned, still enjoyable for kids and families. And once again, Disney provides another first-class release (aside from the dubtitles) of a Ghibli production.  "A great movie to watch with family, cat lover or not!"In this movie, you meet a girl named Haru. She has... self-esteesteam (pardon any misspelling) issues. That is, until she meets a cat named Baron! In this tale, you'll join Muta, Haru, and Baron on an adventure of enormous proportions. A nice thing is that there are cat villains AND cat heroes. Us cat lovers are sick of having our favorite animal being known as the "bad guy". Cat lovers and cat haters alike will love this movie! "Ranks right up there with the other Ghibli hits!"What can I say about "The Cat Returns", other than that it is a very well thought out, fun and a imaginative movie? It's hard to say. This movie definitely is one of Studio Ghibli's best, for it's wit and humor. The Disney English dub sees to it that you're not dissapointed, with an excellent voice casting, with the likes of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry and Elliott Gould. Each of them brings fun and charm to their characters, sounding like they had fun in the process. The characters themesleves are awesome, Baron being the coolest out of them all in this feature. They're all so charming that they're hard not to like. If you love Kiki's Delivery Service (like I do) you'll love this little underappreciated gem. A great addition to your DVD library. "Great Animation Movie for the Whole Family"The Cat Returns is a light hearted magical tale that will entertain both adults and children. My six year old daughter loved this movie and my 1 year old daughter, who is going through a fetish for cats, got all excited to see the cats in the movie. The plot of the story flows very nicely filled with magic, adventure, humor and interesting characters. The English dubbing is very well done with Anne Hathaway, from Princess Diaries, voicing the self doubting clumsy Haru. Cary Elwes, Princess Bride, doing a great English aristocratic accent for the Baron, Peter Boyle as Matu doing a cat version of his cranky with a biting sense of humor character from Everybody Loves Raymond, Elliott Gould as the raven Toto who serves as a foil for Matu, Tim Curry, Scary Movie 2 and The Three Musketeers, playing the laid back King of the Cats, and the King's lackey voiced by Andy Richter from Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Some of the funny moments of the movie are the parallels between the Cat Kingdom and the world of humans. For example, when an entourage brings the King to see Haru at her home in the middle of the night the King is protected by CIBs, Cats in Black, who serve as secret service agents pushing the normal cats away and throwing them over fences. For the pre-wedding banquet you see cats in famous art works come to life, for example cats in ancient Egypt attire. This film, distributed by Disney, shows more creativity and imagination than recent animation produced by Disney including Home on the Range and Brother Bear. This movie is especially appealing to parents with daughters because the main character is a teenage girl and you see her gain self-confidence and discover herself as she goes through this adventure in a magical world. There are some extras on the DVD including a English version of a Japanese documentary and the comments of the English speaking actors about doing the voice over work. The 2nd DVD disc shows the movie in its original Japanese version. The movie is rated G with a minimal of violence and clean language, except for jerk. "Not Miyazaki but not bad"I loved this movie. It's so cute. I even got my sister to watch it and she hates anime style movies. I consider it to be more of a Disney movie than an anime though it doesn't have as strong of a story as say Nausicaa, or Princess Monoke, but the director shows promise. This is the story of Haru, a drama queen who lives with her mother. It starts with Haru saving a cat from being hit by a truck, the cat turns out to be the cat prince. His father the King is so grateful that the whole kingdom decides to give Haru gifts, the trouble is that they are gifts that only cats would like (like catnip), then they ask Haru to come to the cat kingdom and marry the prince. She then seeks help from the Baron and Muta. It's a great story about believing in yourself. Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries) as Haru. Cary Elwes (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Princess Bride) as the Baron. Peter Boyle (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Muta. Tim Curry does a great job as the Cat King. This is a great movie for older kids, younger kids might be scared because cats talk and because of some violence. I really like this movie and I highly recommend it along with the other Studio Ghibli films I am so glad that Disney has finally taken notice and released these films. Oh BTW, I did watch these dubbed and in Japanese and I didn't notice that any real dialogue had been changed other than a word here and there. |
