Novice director Hiroyuki Morita proved to be a wise choice. The Cat Returns feels more contemporary than other Ghibli productions without losing the fundamentally high quality that sets the studio's work apart from other anime.
It's probably no coincidence that The Cat Returns follows up on a character from Ghibli's only other non-Miyazaki/Takahata movie, Whisper of the Heart. Baron Humbert Von Gikkemgen (voiced in English by Cary Elwes), a cat statue come-to-life who provided some sage advice to Whisper's heroine, helps another girl in The Cat Returns, but in a more visceral role.
Seventeen-year-old Haru (Anne Hathaway) starts the movie as a typically teenager, harried, prone to oversleeping, gossiping, fawning over boys and acting impulsively. That last trait shows itself in the strongest way when she runs in front of a truck and uses her lacrosse stick to save a cat from becoming roadkill. Afterward, the cat stands on its hind legs, thanks the befuddled Haru and goes on his way.
While Haru puzzles over the matter for the rest of the day, word of her heroic deed filters back to the Cat Kingdom, which earns Haru a visit that night from a royal procession, complete with feline Secret Service agents to guard the Cat King (Tim Curry). Turns out that the cat she saved is the royal heir, Prince Lune.
Haru eventually finds herself "invited" to the Cat Kingdom for the rest of her existence. Desperate to avoid a life of catnip and mice, Haru enlists help from the almost-Lilliputian Cat Bureau, led by the Baron and including the raven Toto (Elliott Gould) and a fat feline, Muta (Peter Boyle), also a returning character from Whisper.
With his top hat, cane, coattails and dashingly aristocratic demeanor, the Baron comes off like a 19th-century League of Extraordinary Gentleman adventurer. Though Elwes provides the English voice, a few decades ago it could easily have been David Niven.
A more modern sensibility inhabits The Cat Returns when compared to other Ghibli works. While Miyazaki and Takahata largely focus on quiet relationships, Morita emphasizes madcap action -- for Haru's lacrosse save, animators used a slow-motion technique that would seem jarringly out of place in a Miyazaki film -- and frantic situations. It's no surprise that the original Japanese voice actress for Haru, Chizuru Ikewaki, felt as though she spent most of the movie yelling.
When the film moves to the Cat Kingdom itself, it feels like Haru in Wonderland, filled with courtly felines content with a monarch who alternates between surfer-dude cool ("Ciao, babe") and hair-raising lunacy. The surreal feel escalates once Haru, the Baron and Muta flee into the royal maze and doesn't stop until a final, seemingly never-ending scream before the denouement.
This movie exhibits a craft that belies Morita's inexperience as a director. He hasn't made a poetic film in the manner of his Ghibli mentors, but it's actually more polished in some ways than much of their work, especially in terms of movement. It's a glimpse of Ghibli's future that ought to reassure anyone who cares about animation.
Score: 8 out of 10
The Video
The Cat Returns, perhaps because it's a relatively new movie, looks much crisper than Disney's other Ghibli releases. Although it has the much of the same annoying edge enhancement that plagues Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind and Porco Rosso, the halos aren't quite as obvious here. Nor is the graininess seen in DVDs of older Ghibli movies much of an issue on this disc.
Disney maintains its laudable work on colors and black levels for Ghibli releases. The DVD keeps the original widescreen format.
Score: 7 out of 10
Audio and Languages
This uses Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, but the surround speakers and subwoofer get little use from the movie's many action moments and ambient noises. However, composer Yuuji Nomi should be pleased -- the mix distributes the music very well.
The original Japanese audio is available in 2.0, and anime purists can be happy that the English subtitles are well-placed and easy-to-read.
Score: 7 out of 10
Packaging and Extras
Behind-the-scenes documentaries typically consist of electronic press kit frippery, and while The Making of The Cat Returns has the glowing praise you'd expect from an EPK, it also has more information than American DVD viewers might expect.
This one clocks in at roughly 34 minutes and covers all the major aspects of production. Sometimes it's absurdly detailed -- viewers will not only learn what restaurant was chosen as the setting to tell Morita that he would direct Ghibli's next production, they'll also see the table, the specific seats used by Morita and executive producer Toshio Suzuki and hear about the aroma of the boiled mushrooms served as a seasonal dish.
In between restaurant descriptions and quick trips through the Ghibli studios, the documentary follows the evolution of The Cat Returns from 20-minute short to 45-minute TV movie to full-length feature film. Included are interview clips from Morita, Suzuki, Takahata and even the elusive Miyazaki. Aoi Hiiragi, who wrote the manga that were the basis for Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns, talks about her view of the Cat Kingdom. Other parts of the piece zero in on specific aspects of the film, including voices, music and storyboards.
Behind the Microphones, a standard for Disney's Ghibli DVDs, looks at the English voice work. Tim Curry nails the character of the Cat King perfectly.
Disc one also includes original Japanese trailers and TV ads for the movie.
Also standard for Ghibli DVD releases are the storyboards, set to the movie audio as the only feature on the second disc. Okay for animation diehards, but of little value to most movie buffs, let alone casual viewers.
Much more useful would be a full-length commentary and ancillary material such as tests of scenes that were dropped from the movie. At the very least, Disney should provide the "Ghiblies" shorts that are on the official Japanese DVD release.
IGN's review copy for The Cat Returns didn't come in the retail packaging, but Disney DVDs typically come in standard Amaray boxes.
Score: 6 out of 10
