Once the action moves to the ‘castles and swords’ Cat Kingdom, the movie makes no qualms about shifting to a slapstick approach with lashings of ‘rescue the girl’ adventuring for good measure. All the usual staples of Ghibli are here only with less pathos and more fun, clearly aimed at the younger side of the audience. She is so unlike most Ghibli protagonists that ‘The Cat Returns’ stands out even more as a very light-hearted and fun movie to indulge in which, unlike most western efforts, doesn’t devolve into over the top comedy mugging or sickly sweet sentimentality. Haru leads the show with her ‘every girl’ sweetness tinged with lack of confidence in herself. Whilst the movie is ostensibly a ‘return’ for the dashing Baron (voiced with total suave confidence by Cary Elwes), he is used in good and sparing doses. Instead, she is your typical Japanese schoolgirl type: clumsy, innocent, prone to crushes, and baffled by the events that sweep her away. Unlike most other Ghibli films, Haru (a young Anne Hathaway in the English Dub) isn’t a strong, stoic and independent female lead. Marking only the second film by this point that wasn’t directed by Ghibli founders Isao Takahata ( ‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’) or Hayao Miyazaki ( ‘My Neighbour Totoro’), ‘The Cat Returns’ is a small scale but delightful comedy movie with a good dash of fantastical elements and swashbuckle adventuring. This minor part proved so popular that Studio Ghibli brought the Baron back for a feature length tale of cat-based shenanigans. The latter movie had a short fantasy sequence where the dashing Baron – dapper in hat, cane, and suit – went on fantastical adventures. ‘The Cat Returns’ marks a spin-off entry in the Studio Ghibli back catalogue whose origins can be found in the charming and whimsical, ‘ Whisper Of The Heart‘. Genre: Animated, Comedy, Action / Adventure

Starring (English Dub): Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Tim Curry Haru enlists the help of the living cat statuette, The Baron along with his over large and grumpy cat friend, Muta. But when Haru finds herself betrothed to the Prince, kidnapped to live in the Kingdom of Cats (and slowly transforming into a cat herself) will her new friends be able to rescue her before it is too late? The Cat Returns (2002) – Hiroyuki Morita The Cat Returns – When ordinary schoolgirl, Haru, rescues a cat from almost being run over she is astonished to learn that not only can it walk, but it can talk! The saved cat reveals himself a royal Prince, and his father, the Cat King, is determined to show his gratitude (whether Haru wants him to or not).

The cat returns moota