The Cat Returns

The good: it’s cute, strange, delightful – the whole package
The bad: a bit short
Imagine a world where when you see a cat standing on its two back legs, brushing himself clean with his two front legs, talking to you, you casually say goodbye to it and go on with your life. This is the beauty presented in The Cat Returns—a removal of worldly prejudices and an absurdly happy collection of imaginative delights.

Haru is your typical Japanese student: finds it hard to wake up on time, ignored by a crush, and just keeps on encountering one bad event after another. On one seemingly casual walk to school, Haru notices a cat dropping a small package in the middle of the road. Struggling to pick up the package, the cat finds himself in danger of being run over by a truck. Haru instinctively runs toward the direction of the cat saving him using what seems to be a lacrosse stick. Then there’s the scene I described earlier about the talking cat. Turns out the cat that Haru just saved is the prince of the Kingdom of Cats: Prince Lune.

Go back to what you know about traditional films, or even American-style animation: the mood is either serious with realistic characters, setting, plot, or a lighthearted veneer with animals for characters, settings in space, and magical storylines. The Cat Returns, as with all other Studio Ghibli films, stays away from this setup and delivers a realistic (school life, city setting) yet at the same time fantastical (talking cats) story with just the right blend of humor and seriousness to make the whole package extremely palatable.

Take Muta, an overgrown cat who lives in a world outside the Kingdom of the Cats. He’s the rowdy assistant of Baron, a cat dressed in noble European attire, a statue coming into life when situations demand it. Another statue, the crow Toto, comes to life. They are able to come to life because their creators put a lot of effort and heart in creating them. I’d imagine that the DVD itself of The Cat Returns will be able to come to life seeing as it’s a magnificent labor of love. Anyway, herein we see the magic and the characters brought to life due to it. When we arrive at the Kingdom of Heaven, we’ll see and become fascinated by more characters. I pause and realize the beauty of it all.

There’s little sadness in the film, maybe the farthest the serious tone gets is Haru’s confusion of whether to stay in the cat kingdom or not, but while I was watching it I felt like crying. I envy the genius of its creators and I am saddened by the fact that few will be able to see the film’s genius. (5/5)