Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2591 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-09-26
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Animated, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Cat Returns brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart. 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. --Charles Solomon, Amazon.com

Special Features
EXTRAS

• The Making of "The Cat Returns"

• Complete Storyboards—Get An Insider’s Look At The Film’s Artistry

• Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews

A Jellicle Adventure
The Cat Returns is a fun film which I quite enjoyed, and so did my 3 year old daughter.

"Quite enjoyed" though is quite poor compared to how we've felt about other Ghibli films - "My Neighbour Totoro" is the favourite film of my daughters, and I'm quite a fan myself. And that's the problem with this film; it's okay, but not fantastic.

The premise of a girl who saves a cat's life only to find that she's inadvertently now to be married to the cat she saved - the prince of the cat kingdom - even though she doesn't want to, gives humour to the film, and gives it a great quirky edge. We witness an adventure, headed up by a cat baron who looks like he's walked out of a Willy Wonka convention, and get an insight into the life of Haru - the plain, shy schoolgirl who finally gains confindence.

Like all Ghibli films, The Cat Returns doesn't patronise its audience. It might sound like a childish film about talking cats - but it has dark moments, and the characters are well developed. The Cat world is a hierarchical one, it's not all goody-goody niceness - it's grim.

In a nutshell: A film the family can enjoy. It might not get watched as much as other Ghibli classics, but it's still worth a watch. The dubbed version seems a bit overly Americanised (especially the school scenes) but not enough to destroy the magic.

A charming film, perfect for all ages
Barcode: 5060034571674

Ok first things first - this isn't as good as Ghibli classics Spirited away and Princess Mononoke. But considering those are two of the greatest films ever made that is kind of to be expected - you shouldn't let that fact lower your opinion of this film. What we have instead with the Cat Returns is a fun tale full of sentiment and feeling.

The voiceovers are top notch, the animation equally good. The Cat King i think can get on your nerves slightly with his over cheesyness but then in a way that is part of his appeal. Don't go into this film looking for something serious, just relax and enjoy it - it's a perfect film to see with kids and in that respect a good way to introduce them to the world of Anime.

Of course, that's not to say there isn't depth to be found in this film. The artwork is just jaw-dropping in its beauty and the juxtaposition of the real world and the cat kingdom is very powerful. Themes of friendship and loyalty are strong throughout the film and make for a heartening watch.

Definitely recomended - go see it!

Not really a sequal to Whisper of the heart
If you think this is a sequal to Whisper of the heart, it isn't really.
They have taken the shop, 'Moon' and the Baron from Whisper of the heart and put them together with a different girl (Haru).

I'm sure everyone's said the storyline enough by now, but incase you still don't know it:
Haru is walking down the street, and saves a cat from getting run over. The cat is actually a prince, so his father, the cat king repays her with lots of cat themed presents like mice. They announce they will collect her in the evening and take her to the cat world to marry the prince. A voice tells her to see the Baron, led by Moon (who is called something else in this film). The cats take her to their kingdom, and the Baron and Moon try to save her. The more she gets used to being in their kingdom, the more she becomes a cat. By the end the prince comes and stops the king from marrying them, and she gets home again. The end.

I don't think its suitable for anime fans, its too childish. There is humour in it, but, not enough to make me want to watch it again. Yet the artwork was so detailed, its not really suitable for young kids to appreciate it. Then who is it suitable for?
I would compare this film to the episode of Excel saga with all the dogs, if you scrap all the violence. All the voices were too American as well.

Whisper of the heart was much better, however if you watch the cat returns first, you might not enjoy Whisper of the heart. So make sure you watch that one first!