The Cat Returns (DVD, 2005)

My daughter Studio Ghibli. This is another excellent adventure. This actually is the sequel of the movie Places of the Heart, where the little girl sees the cat statue in an antique shop. I purchased this movie to add to our collection of Hayo Miyakaki movies. They all have a running theme of taking care of the earth/our environment, and the characters are so well thought out and creative. I would highly recommend adding this movie to your collection.

Aoi Hiiragi's manga about a schoolgirl's adventures with a very unusual feline comes to the screen in this witty anime feature. Haru is a girl who one day saves the life of a cat while on her way to school. To her surprise, Haru learns she came to the rescue of no ordinary cat -- the kitty introduces her to the Kingdom of the Cats, where the feline potentate attempts to arrange a marriage between her and his son. Brought into a world he never knew existed, Haru learns a few lessons about herself as he discovers more about the strange and magical secret world of the cats. Neko No Ongaeshi (aka The Cat Returns) was released in the United States with a dubbed soundtrack featuring the voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Andy Richter, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, and Elliott Gould. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Ever since seeing SPIRITED AWAY, I've been a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. With charismatic and magical stories and beautiful animation Miyazaki's films have a charm that appeal to young and old alike.

THE CAT RETURNS is another beautiful story about reaching for your dreams and learning to believe in yourself. A school girl named Haru saves a cat from being hit by a truck on her way home from school, and she's astounded to find out that not only can the cat talk, that he's the prince of the Kingdom of Cats. She's then kidnapped and taken to The Kingdom of the Cats, where she is expected to marry the prince!

With the help of Baron, a cat figurine, she must learn to believe in herself, or risk being transformed into a cat forever! Starring the incredible voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Elliot Gould, and Tim Curry, THE CAT RETURNS is a magical, animated adventure perfect for the entire family! This is one my daughter and I can watch together, and we'll be returning again and again for THE CAT RETURNS.

Katie Galloway
Movie Magic USA

The Cat Returns was a very sweet movie about believing in yourself. It was also very funny at times and the animation was wonderful. It has great voice talent in English or the original Japanese. I especially like that Tim Curry plays the voice of the King in the English version.

This part may be a spoiler so if you haven't see the movie skip to the ***

The best part of the movie in my opinion is when it shows the main character, Haru, when she was a girl feeding fish crackers to a small white kitten who is obviously homeless and starving. Then you find out later on in the movie that the same small white kitten, named Yuki, is living in the Cat Kingdom and ends up helping Haru to return her kindness from so long ago. Then to make it even better Yuki ends up marrying the prince, it is really wonderful and it warms your heart.

***

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who loves cats, sweet stories, funny stories, or Studio Ghibli films.

Another delightful Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Gibli film. The story follows a girl called Haru, a quiet, shy and unassuming high school student who has a long-suppressed ability to talk to cats. One day she saves a darkly colored, odd-eyed cat from being hit by a truck on a busy road. The cat turns out to be Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom. In return, the cats shower her with gifts of catnip and mice — and then she is offered the Prince's hand in marriage. It is full of fun, exciting characters and gorgeous animation typical of Miyazaki films.

We get to meet a young girl with a fantastic tale or should it be a cat's tail! Again a fun fanciful tale brought to us by this great studio. Disney backs great children stories and this one is of 'growing up'. It tells several ideas like 'doing for others' (the Baron for her) , pulling your own weight (one white cat joke there) and learning to stand on ones own (her tea blending at the end). You may find even more sound things in this...I have wanted it ever since I saw the cat statue in "Whisper of the Heart." Try this for a light hearted story of boy cat gets his girl cat (not girl turned into one). This was like 'My Friend Totoro' not the darker one about war titled for fireflies. It is a little about the Baron (the gentleman cat statute first seen in 'Whisper of the heart', so the title is not all wrong though it might be more for MOOTA (moo like a cow...ha ha ha this was a read line in the movie). Buy for fun watching unless you don't like cats, its over flowing with them from start to end!