This may come as a surprise, but ever since I seriously started my journey into watching anime back around 2013, I have never seen a Ghibli film before. Yeah sure, as a toddler and as a five year old I saw both Kiki’s Delivery Service and Spirited Away. But those experiences were so long ago that I could not tell you a single thing about either film based on memory alone. Anyways, this was my first venture into the world of Ghibli, and how was it? (update 4/27/24 I've watched them all :] )
Knowing the magnitude and reputation of their films, I was expecting something deep, nuanced, and filled with double meanings that’d make a second viewing experience necessary (I actually saw this film twice now and plan on a third at some point soon). But to my surprise this was a very light hearted and fun adventure romp. Think of an Alice in Wonderland, but where everyone is a cat and there’s no scary acid trip montage at the end. The film follows Haru, a highschool student, who one day saves a cat from a speeding car. It just so happens that this cat is a prince and feels indebted to pay her back. Through various mishaps thereafter, Haru finds herself stuck in the land of cats(and a few dogs) about to be wedded to the prince (and or his father) and it’s up to gentleman (fake) cat Baron and his crew to return Haru back to her world before she stays a cat forever.
The story is fun, cute, and unique. And while the general premise is nothing too wild to write home about, it’s how the film uses it to show off the interesting world and culture of the cats and the Bureau of which Baron, Muta, and Toto are a part of. The initial scenes where we’re shown the cats walking on two feet and being able to communicate with Haru are nothing short of pure whimsy and magic. Speaking of which, the animation is superb. But I’d say the background, artstyle and overall aesthetics are just as good as the animation, if not better. The sequence where Muta and Haru are waiting for Baron to make his grand entrance with all the sun lights beaming on his house, before becoming dusk is an epic sight to behold. Any scene involving the characters soaring through, or traversing the sky in some way is where the beauty of the movie’s visuals stand out the most. As the wind passes through them, with the clouds soaring behind them in both dark and sunny skies, it’s as if you can feel the cool air fervently wisp by you as you make your way through this airborne roller coaster. The character designs were also adorable and extremely cute to look at. With my favorite character design going to the King of the cats, and my second favorite going to Baron, followed by Yuki.
The king is a slobbish, prude older man who wants Haru to himself, and his heterochromia eyes that are always adjacent to each other, along with his frizzy, scruffed up, needle-like fur makes his design possibly the most memorable. Though Baron follows suit not far behind, and though we only see him wearing two outfits throughout, it doesn’t take much to impress me with dapper outfits coupled with an eccentrically gentleman-like personality. Yuki’s design was a tried and true cute cat girl. Having nice, silky, pure white and gentle fur with a cute pink bow around her neck. Every character in this film is given a unique and memorable design even if they only serve as background characters.
With that said though, that brings me to my one and only complaint about this film. If you can even call it that. I was disappointed that we didn't learn anything more about the cat world, Baron’s Bureau, Toto the crow, lore of the world, why is Haru able to talk to cats, etc. Basically what it boils down to is that I want more dammit! This film is an amazing watch no doubt, but it leaves so many questions unanswered in this universe that I left thirsting for more. I was surprised with how fast the film flies by and still feels like this gigantic quest despite only having three different locations we visit. But hey, time flies when you’re having fun.
The fun I had throughout this experience was only enhanced by the epic score. The music in this film perfectly matches each scene and gives every moment more depth and emotion. The part that stands out to me the most in that regard is where the cat kingdom makes their way towards Haru’s place and it plays this sneaky, ominous sphinx/pharaoh/egyptian-like track as these cats walking on their two feet slyly make their way towards their destination.
Earlier I mentioned how I saw this movie twice, well I did and that’s because the way I watched this film was in theaters and it was a two day event. Day one was dubbed and day two was subbed, and though I was the only one in attendance for the dubbed day, there were a handful of others for the subbed date, my kind of people. Funnily enough, I’m surprised to announce that both the dub and subbed versions of the film have phenomenal voice acting. There’s certain characters where I preferred the original to English and vice versa. That’s not to say that I didn’t not like the other side at all, as both do a fabulous job but it’s just a personal preference. For example I preferred the English voices for the king, Natoru, and Baron but generally preferred the Japanese voice actors for everyone else.
The last thing I wanted to mention about this amazing film before heading into the summary and conclusion is somewhat spoiler related, so skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid any such things. But I found it rather amusing that Haru immediately becomes more lady-like and drops her real world crush in favor of a fake cat. Whether Haru becomes a furry and is into cats is none of my business. However I’d be lying if I said I didn’t bust a gut laughing when making this connection. And thinking a cringey joke to myself, “what pussy does to a woman”.
The Cat Returns was my first venture into the world of Studio Ghibli and I’m pleased to announce that I’m thoroughly pleased and look forward to watching more (update 4/27/24 I've watched them all). Though it suffers from not having a long enough run time to expand on the world more, feeling more like a cute adventure than an epic journey that I felt it had the potential to be, that’s also a huge part of the film’s charm. It’s fun, sweet, and an easy watch despite telling a harrowing tale. I left the theaters twice after watching this movie and thought to one day see, “The Cat Return” for a sequel. Amazing film, I’d recommend this to anyone whether they’re familiar with anime, ghibli, and cats or not.
