The Cat Returns

A beautiful story, maybe a fairy tale. The characters are destinct from each other, standing out, and overall it is just a great family-friendly adventure, which made me gasping for all the events and world-building. It will send you into a world of mysterious wonders, waiting to get revealed in order to amaze you.

I really felt the effort in this. It is a bit hard to say that apart from the above what REALLY makes this so likeable, from the sympathic characters or just hitting the exact perfect pacing - nothing is rushed nor really standing still for too long.

This is actually a sequel or spin-off of "Whisper of the Heart", starring the baron cat again. (Which I don't think having watched yet and certainly not recently)


Be like: Princess Mononoke (likely, never watched it)...nevermind, on the trakt.tv preview screen PM looks rather bloody lol.


Maybe a more modern fairy tale version of Alice might be somewhat fitting as a description

Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: While walking home from school, Japanese teenager Haru (Anne Hathaway) rescues a cat from the middle of a busy highway. When the cat talks to her and tells her that her good deed will be greatly repaid, she is shocked...and is even more dismayed to discover that the Cat King has arranged for her to marry his son, the prince...which would mean Haru would have to become a cat. When a voice tells her to find the Cat Bureau, the felines there vow to help her out of her predicament...but, with Haru already growing whiskers and paws, they may be too late.
Produced by Studio Ghibli.

The Good: The above plot sounds weird, doesn't it? Well, as bizarre as the storyline may seem, this movie makes it work really well. It definitely kept me gripped until the end, something that other movies from this studio (_Spirited Away_, _The Secret World of Arrietty_) didn't do. The animation is excellent, and the voice work--in the English dub, at least--was spot-on.

The Bad: The only complaint I have is that this was a bit short; seventy-five minutes is rather a low runtime for a theatrically released film.

Conclusion: Back in the day, I was a big Anne Hathaway fan...but, I'm just now seeing this. While I've moved on from her and celebrity crushes in general, I still enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I need to check out other movies from Studio Ghibli; the library I work for has plenty of them!

Score: 9/10

Furry for boys and girls but more for girls! But I like the movie!

why does the baron have fingers

(shut up don’t you even try)

What an immensely cute movie. Nothing really makes sense, but I enjoyed every second of it.

It's definitely a kids movie but don't let that stop you from giggling along. I would've enjoyed this if I saw this when I was younger.

I'd heard brilliant things about this but eh I feel nothing.

Didn't grab me at all. The story was meh, the magical kingdom did not feel like a true Ghibli paradise, the overall visual styling was not that appealing to me. I think this is my least favorite Ghibli of all, sorry. But maybe that's because this movie seems more directed at a younger audience.

Often adorable adventure romp in a land of cats, but ultimately a bit slight compared to much of what Studio Ghibli usually offers.