Saturday, April 12, 2014

The Cat Returns (2002)

  This is one of the lesser known films from Studio Ghibli and for good reason.  It lacks the magic of Spirited Away or the imagination of Nausicaa.

Haru (Anne Hathaway) is a shy young girl who seems to lack direction.  However, after she saves a cat from being hit by a car, she finds her direction is straight to Crazytown when the cats start talking to her.  It turns out that she had saved the Prince (Andrew Bevis), and the cats are so grateful that they decide to shower Haru with gifts, before telling her that she will have the honor of becoming his bride.  Desperate to get out of this deal, Haru seeks out Baron (Cary Elwes), a cat statue miraculously given life.  This is not explained in any detail.  Apparently, it's a character from an earlier movie called Whispers of the Heart.  Anyway, Baron and Haru have to escape from the cat kingdom before Haru turns into a cat herself.

I'm sure this is based on a book or manga and it probably makes a lot more sense there.  This just feels like a highlight reel, instead of a full story.  The characters don't feel fleshed out and the story isn't very engaging.  You could probably give it to young children but I don't know that even they would enjoy it.

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