La ricompensa del gatto

After the wild but fully justified furore surrounding Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli's next production is a much lower key affair, clearly aimed at a younger market. Having said that, this cynical thirty-something loved it to bits. Ghibli purists seem to be somewhat snobbish about the studio's output, but If this is an example of one of their films designed more for harmless family entertainment, I can stand to see a lot more of it.

This is a wonderful fantasy film, cute and funny, and full of remarkable and memorable characters. The animation is solid and detailed, occasionally even breathtaking, and the soundtrack is gorgeous. The brisk running time ensures the light story doesn't outstay its welcome. In fact, I could easily have watched more, and I'm already looking forward to Ghibli's or Miyazaki's next flight of fantasy.

I wish, I really wish I liked it better. I mean, I know from the synopsis that it's not that much original or innovative storyline but yet I still have hope for it. It is still good because of the duration, it's not dragging... but I think it could be better.

The elements are just way too "familiar" and therefore I felt like nothing new is presented by the movie, I must say it feels a little bit of "Alice In The Wonderland" and then some other fairy tales at the other scenes, like... 'hey, it reminds me of...' moments keep happening to me. I thought at least there'd be anything new. But there's none...

The characters also, are not so memorable... , I mean I can get a grasp of their personalities but there is nothing like, impressive... it's like each character personality are adopted from some other characters produced before in another movie.

I'm sorry, but I really think it could be better. Or, I'm just not the target audience for this movie. Maybe...

Haru is down on her luck. She feels picked on at school, unable to get her life together or even talk to the boy she likes. When she sees a cat crossing the road and stuck in the path of a lorry, she acts quickly to rescue it only for it to stand up and thank her! Haru assumes she has just gone mad but when she tells her mother she is reminded of a similar incident in Haru's childhood where she maintained she was able to understand what a kitten was saying. Regardless, Haru tries to just forget the whole thing but later that night she is visited by the King of Cat Kingdom, The Cat King. Apparently the cat Haru saved was the King's son Lune and she learns that she has been rewarded with marriage to Lune – not that she wants it. Her only help is the Cat Bureau managed by the dashing and debonair Baron.

It is a problem that I bet we wish that we all had in our jobs – the problem that our "normal" standards are so high that anything less than brilliant is perceived as being disappointing. This appears to be the case with Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli simply because it is not as poetic and epic as Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky and others. For those that consider that "it is not perfect" is the same as "it is not any good" then by all means avoid this film but personally I found it an enjoyable little fantasy that I can only imagine children will love. True the story lacks the emotional depth that I wanted it to have but it makes up for it with a good narrative, imagination and some nice humour. All of these combine to produce an enjoyable little fairy tale set in the real world and the cat kingdom. It is very short but then that suited the material.

The animation does not compare to the sheer magnificence to be found in some of Ghibli's finest films but it is still wonderfully cute – although I gave a copy of this to my girlfriend, I avoided watching it with her so that I wouldn't have to cope with her screams of delight at each individual cat on the screen. The English voice cast is also good and they bring out the fun in the dialogue. Hathaway is a good lead – as cute as her character and not labouring under forced depth. Ewles is a perfect Baron and his voice is smooth as you can imagine. Likewise Boyle is a great bit of casting and Gould is a welcome presence even if he has comparatively few lines. Curry is a bit of a disappointment considering how his voice is usually very distinctive but others in the support cast are solid enough.

Those looking for something that can stand alongside the beauty and depth of some of the best films from Ghibli will be disappointed but that is not the same as the film being rubbish. Rather it is a breezy and entertaining film with a fun adventure plot. The animation is very cartoony but this shouldn't matter as it is likely that children will love it. The characters lack depth but work on the level they are drawn while the important ones of Baron and Haru are engaging. Not everything has to be a classic – this isn't but it is fun which was enough for me.

(This review focuses on the English-dubbed version of the movie)

What do you immediately think of when the words "Studio" and "Ghibli" are said together? For most, it's overall the works of "the Japanese Walt Disney" himself Hayao Miyazaki, who brought us such modern animated classics such as the delightful "My Neighbour Totoro", the imaginative and enchanting "Howl's Moving Castle" and of course Ghibli's Western-market breakthrough, the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away". For some others, the name "Isao Takahata" comes to mind too, who brought us films such as "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Pom Poko" (those two films I'm still yet to see). Of course, every now and again, a new director comes along and contributes to Ghibli's colourful and increasingly popular catalogue of animated classics. Sadly, not all of their movies are noted as much as the more widely-known Miyazaki or Takahata movies before them and what a shame to say that a movie like "The Cat Returns" has to be one of those lesser-known movies in question. The director Hiroyuki Morita, who worked on well-known Japanese "anime" titles such as 1988's "Akira" and "Lupin III", started his career at Ghibli as an animator for "My Neighbours the Yamadas" and boy, what a great directorial debut he's made with "The Cat Returns"!

In a nutshell, the story is about a girl named Haru who quickly manages to save a purple cat just as a truck was about to run over it as it was crossing the road. The cat then turned out to be Prince Lune who's Prince to a place called "The Cat Kingdom" and in light of this, cats rewarded Haru with gifts of catnip and mice and she eventually gets taken to the kingdom herself to marry Lune. The two prominent cat characters from "Whisper" return in this movie, the overweight, grumpy white cat Muta and the dashing and charming Baron who is the cat that the title says has *returned* in the first place.

The animation and artistry of the movie is exceptional and arguably one of the most enchanting efforts in animation and artistic direction you'll see from most non-Miyazaki Ghibli movies. Why? Because it may be really simple but everything still enchants you greatly on a subconscious level. You just watch the movie and it feels like a really wonderful dream but unlike most dreams which never come again, you can go back to it many times over on home video. In short, the artistry is so incredible that if your dreams were like that, you'd be excited to go to sleep every night! Well, I would think that anyway.

Most of the characters are well developed, even though a few of them still should have needed better character development, Prince Lune himself is a good example. They've made Haru into a wonderful, truly believable character and Baron and Muta are perfect as her trusted feline companions.

The English dubbing of the movie is perhaps one of the strongest and most entertaining dubs for any anime film so far, let alone any of Disney's previous dubs of Ghibli's films. Cary Elwes portrays Baron with such perfect charm and charisma that suits Baron even more than perfect. Anne Hathaway delivered a surprisingly terrific portrayal of Haru, making an already-believable character even more believable in what I feel is her best role yet! The late Peter Boyle delivered a hilarious and suitably grumpy performance as Muta. But the real surprise came from Tim Curry , an already well-known and highly respected actor who simply just re-invented The Cat King, it was a terrific performance and I'm really happy Tim Curry was chosen!

However, even with all the positives, there is only one big flaw with the movie: the movie was shorter than it really should be! I'm serious here, the movie was only about 1 hour and 15 minutes long and this slightly harmed the development of the story and the development of some characters (is the word "Lune" a clue?). This is a movie that deserves the full 90+ minutes so it's a real shame to see such an enchanting movie end so soon, though once you get over how soon the movie ends, you'll still enjoy the movie anyway.

So overall, "The Cat Returns" is a hilarious and enchanting movie from Studio Ghibli and a promising start for first-time director Hiroyuki Morita. Weather you're a fan of Studio Ghibli, a cat lover or someone who just loves animated films, this movie will blow you away in new and unique ways that are still rare in animation today. Trust me, you will not regret it!

I rate it, 7 out of 10!

• Eric B.

Not their best work. The story gets pretty boring halfway through, despite the fantastical world that it is set in. The source material "The Whisper of the Heart" is more interesting than this one despite having a more mundane setting.