ANI-MOVIES, *The Cat Returns

If anyone remembers the story from Whispers Of The Heart that the main character was writing, then this is that story. The Cat Returns was based on a manga by Aoi Hiiragi inspired by the original movie that was first intended as a short film for an amusement park but was lengthened to be a 75-minute-long feature from Studio Ghibli written by Reiko Yoshida who brilliantly did the screenplay for A Silent Voice, as well as directed by Hiroyuki Morita in his theatrical debut. Despite what some might think, Hayao Miyazaki was not heavily involved in what was Ghibli's first spinoff movie. Released in 2002, The Cat Returns is one of the earliest examples of a 21st Century isekai which reflects elements of various portal fantasy tales like The Wizard Of Oz and Alice In Wonderland, although this is more of a fairy tale than RPG-inspired high fantasy. The movie's fluid animation doesn't contain the lush details that most other Ghibli films are known for, however the backgrounds, humor, and character portrayals are still priceless.

Haru is an inhibited high schooler who saves the life of what she thinks is a stray cat but turns out to be Lune, the prince of a kingdom lying in its own little realm inhabited by talking felines, and now she is engaged to marry Lune. Haru tries to get out this arrangement by going to visit a small anthropomorphic cat called The Baron along with his vastly rotund partner Muta who act as ambassadors between the human and cat worlds, despite this Haru does get abducted by the Cat King's servants and taken to the pussycat planet where she slowly begins to change into a cat. Baron and Muta manage to infiltrate the King's castle and rescue Haru, leading into a long merry chase for our heroic trio and the King's soldiers and escape after being shown an exit at the end of a maze thanks to Lune's true fiance Yuki who happened to be another cat Haru had saved years ago. The King reluctantly gives up and retires, Haru returns home as a full human again along with a renewed sense of self-confidence.

The Cat Returns is a short but thoroughly sweet jaunt into an adventurous otherworld that is charming for anime fans and even the occasional watcher of Ghibli movies, and certainly the most charming family feature Ghibli has done since My Neighbor Totoro. Similar to Spirited Away, Ghibli knows how to create a believable isekai where not everything is dreamlike as there is a healthy amount of danger lying within this otherworld. Hiroyuki Morita brought a unique sense of wonder to the whole production which is largely an enchanting piece of escapism. The dub Disney put together for this is overwhelming with a younger Anne Hathaway as Haru, Cary Elwes reprising his role as The Baron, and Tim Curry totally steals the show as the bipolar hippie King Cat going from Garfield in one moment to the Tasmanian Devil in another. The Cat Returns is not an epic up there with the likes of Princess Mononoke but clearly outshines most of the Disney animated movies since the turn of the century.