Neko no ongaeshi (2002)

Director:

Hiroyuki Morita

Writers:

Aoi Hîragi (comic "Neko no Danshaku, Baron") and
Reiko Yoshida (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 July 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Journey to another land.

Plot:

After helping a cat, a young girl finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette come to life.

Plot Keywords:

Cat | Anime | Tower | Manga | Love

Cast

Chizuru Ikewaki	...	Haru (voice)
Yoshihiko Hakamada	...	Baron (voice)
Aki Maeda	...	Yuki (voice)
Takayuki Yamada	...	Lune (voice)
Hitomi Satô	...	Hiromi (voice)
Kenta Satoi	...	Natori (voice)
Mari Hamada	...	Natoru (voice)
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Muta (voice)
Yôsuke Saitô	...	Toto (voice)
Kumiko Okae	...	Haru's Mother (voice)
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Cat King (voice)
Yô Ôizumi	...	Additional voice (voice)
Youko Honna	...	Additional voice (voice)
Ken Yasuda	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Anne Hathaway	...	Haru (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

The Cat Returns (International: English title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | French | Portuguese | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | South Korea:All | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:S | Ireland:G | Singapore:G | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U | USA:G

Company:

Hakuhodo

Trivia:

Peter Boyle's first and last English dub role for an anime film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Haru's friend calls Haru, she is seen beside a table with a plant and vase. In the next scene, the table is gone and she is somewhere else.

Quotes:

Haru: Thank you, Moo-ta...
Muta: What? 'Moo'? So now you're saying I'm a fat cow?
Haru: No! You're just fat... Oh!

Movie Connections:

References Labyrinth (1986)

Soundtrack:

Kaze Ni Naru

Another gem by Studio Ghibli

'The Cat Returns' is yet another treat produced by Studio Ghibli, the company which brought us masterpieces such as 'My Neighbour Totoro' and 'Spirited Away'.

The story of this film is much simpler than previous Studio Ghibli productions/epics with a typical modern teenage girl Haru as the heroine. When walking home from school one afternoon, Haru rescues a cat from being ran-over by a lorry only to discover she is responsible for saving the life of Prince Lune, the heir apparent to the Cat Kingdom. Lune's father, the King of Cats, promptly decides the best way to repay such a favour is for Haru to marry his son. Naturally, our heroine is horrified at the prospect and must seek protection from enigmatic Baron, founder of the Cat Bureau, for help before she is carted off to the Cat Kingdom by the very determined cats.

As a cat-lover, I found this film utterly adorable. The scene where the cats from Cat Kingdom descend on Haru's street in the middle of the night was had a very wondrous aura to it and the scene where the cats try to make Haru laugh at her feast was hilarious. The characters, as always, are solid from the refreshingly normal teen-aged Haru to the grumpy Muta to the suave Baron (even though he's an animated cat, the charisma of the character will leave many females empathising with Haru's little crush on him!).

Although the plot of 'The Cat Returns' is a simple affair so it will easily appeal to young children, there is much humour in the film that will keep older kids and adults amused. Also, those who love cats can't help but fall in love with the many feline characters we come across in the film. Now, I'm off to track down 'Whisper of the Heart', which is a 1995 Studio Ghibli film that features the character of Baron.