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The studio that released brilliant films such as Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), and Spirited Away (2001) brings the audience another fantasy tale. This script was passed over by the anime master Hiyao Miyazaki and the first time director Hiroyuki Morita got his chance to make a film. Morita proves that it is very difficult to follow in the footsteps of his mentor Hiyao Miyazaki with whom he worked when they made Kiki’s Delivery Service. Nonetheless, Hiroyuki Morita gives his best effort, as he presents to the world his first feature, Cat Returns. ***

The young high school girl Haru struggles with her life, as she frequently oversleeps, her clumsiness surface due to stress, and she often arrives late to school. Her peers only notice her when she comes late, or something awkward happens to her. On top of this she seems to be a magnet for accidents, as balls hit her head and she is at the wrong place at the wrong time. This leads Haru to question why these bad events happen to her. Her best friend points out that it might be a bad omen, and her life might get much worse in the near future. ***

On the way home from school Haru notices a cat that is about to cross the road. What the cat does not see is that a truck is about to run him over, but fortunately to the cat’s best interest Haru leaps across the street and saves the cat with her lacrosse stick. When they land the cat stands up on his two back paws and brushes off the dust. Haru cannot believe her eyes and when the cat begins to talk it is too much for her. The cat promises to return later to properly express his gratitude, which only leaves Haru in a stammering bewilderment. ***

During the night Haru receives a Royal visit from the Cat King of the Cat Kingdom who wants to personally display his appreciation of the brave rescue of his son. The Cat King on the other hand is a laidback furry thing that seems to enjoy his sleep more than anything, as he ushers out the words “Thanks a lot, babe.” The cats hand over a parchment to her, which states what they promise to give her, as a gift of their deepest appreciation. These gifts, however, are more suitable for cats, as Haru is overwhelmed with cattail plants, catnip, and neatly packaged mice. ***

After a tough day Haru bumps into one of the Cat King’s clerks to whom she vents her anger and expresses that she has no use for the gifts that were given to her, as she is not a cat. Embarrassed for the mistake the cat clerk seeks to rectify the error, as he hears about Haru’s troubles. This leads the cat clerk to disclose that the Cat King has decided to make Haru his daughter-in-law. ***

Troubled by the Cat King’s persistence she fears that she might not escape the planned marriage to the cat. When her anxiety is at its strongest, in regards to the cat marriage, she hears a voice out of thin air that tells her to go to the Cat Bureau for help. Haru follows the voice’s suggestion, which leads her to meet Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, Muta, and Toto. Together with her new friends she is about to embark on an adventure to try to stop the arranged cat marriage, which does not come with little difficulty. ***

The use of humanoid felines brings a cheerful, yet bizarre atmosphere to the story. Creepiness of the film is further enhanced through the story, as the main characters enter the Cat Kingdom. The journey into the Cat Kingdom and the Cat Kings behavior brings notions of Alice in Wonderland, which also has an eerie mood through Alice’s venture with the mysterious land that she entered. The Cat King’s true nature appears later when the audience meets him for the second time, and he is not the same nice and laidback pussycat that he was the first time. ***

Cat Returns borrows some elements from other animated films such as Whisper of the Heart (1995), which introduced the Baron. The strong element of felines is also present in Kiki’s Delivery Service, which seems to follow the director. These borrowed elements do not harm the cinematic experience. On contrary, it enhances the film, and its value. However, the character development is rather narrow and limited, unlike Spirited Away or Kiki’s Delivery Service. This could possibly have something to do with the short running time of the film, which is no more than 75 minutes and within this narrow time frame much must be covered. In addition, the theme does not seem to be fully developed, as there seems to be some plot holes in the story. This means that Morita does not measure up with his mentors, but he shows a strong promise as a future anime artist. Nonetheless, Cat Returns offers a joyous cinematic experience that will most likely be mostly enjoyed by anime fans, children, and feline lovers. *** ---

Cat Returns comes in an anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 with a nice and clean picture. The colors come across as a little too bright where the dark colors might seem a little faint, but it could be the director’s decision in order to elevate a positive feeling in the film. There is also noticeable edge enhancement, but it does not distract the viewing of the film. Otherwise there is no visible pixelation or smear in the picture. ***

Crisp and clean sound will ooze out of the speakers, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 will not provide a challenge for those with an advance speaker system. There is also a Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese language track for the perfectionist of anime, which comes with solid English subtitles that are easy to read. *** ---

Even though this DVD comes in a 2-disc edition it does not offer a wide selection of extras. The extras are of variable quality with the best feature, Original Japanese Storyboards, on the second disc, which is the only extra on the second disc. Original Japanese Storyboards basically is the storyboard for the whole film set to the sound of the film, which gives great ideas for filmmakers and film aficionados. It is also a good introduction to the beginning of filmmaking for those who are new to it. ***

On first disc the viewers get two features, trailers & TV spots, which are concluded with how the owner of the disc can register their DVD. The first feature is Behind the Microphone that introduces the audience to the English voices of the characters, which consists of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry, Elliott Gould, and Andy Richter. The English voice cast gives their input on how it was to be the voice of their character and how they decided to portray the characters. The second feature is a 34-minute venture into the making of the film, which brings the viewer back to 1999 when the project begun. There is also information in how characters were created in the film, which interesting. The whole making of Cat Returns is a very detailed journey into how they ended up making the film. Ayano Tsuji’s ties up this making of the feature with song and a playing ukulele, which is the theme song of Cat Returns. Lastly, there are also trailers and TV spots of the film besides the trailers of future and new releases on the DVD by Buena Vista and Disney. *** ---