The Cat Returns
In 1995, Studio Ghibli released a film titled Whisper of the Heart. That project introduced Baron, a cat figurine who came to life within a fantasy sequence. The studio received a request from a Japanese theme park in 1999 to create a twenty-minute short starring cats. Hayao Miyazaki wanted three key elements to feature in that short: the Baron, Muta, and a mysterious antique shop. Aoi Hiiragi was commissioned to create the manga equivalent of the short. The theme park later canceled the project entirely. Miyazaki then took the existing work done by the Cat Project and used it as testing for future Studio Ghibli directors. The short was now to be forty-five minutes long. Responsibility was given to Hiroyuki Morita, who had worked as an animator in the 1999 film My Neighbors the Yamadas. Over a nine-month period he translated Hiiragi's Baron story into five hundred twenty-five pages of storyboards. Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki decided to produce a feature-length film based entirely on Morita's storyboard. This decision came partly because Haru, the main character, had a believable feel to her. It became the second theatrical feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Isao Takahata.
Haru Yoshioka is a shy but noble high school student who has a suppressed ability to talk with cats. One day she saves a cat from being hit by a truck on a busy road. The cat she saved turns out to be Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom. As thanks, the cats give Haru unwanted gifts such as catnip and mice. She is offered the Prince's hand in marriage. Her mixed reply is taken as a yes. Wanting none of this, Haru hears a kind female voice which tells her to seek out Muta, a large white cat. Muta leads her there to meet Baron Humbert von Gikkingen. They find the entrance to the Cat Kingdom on Earth: five lakes forming a cat's paw. Haru is treated to a feast at the castle of the Cat King. She begins to slowly turn into a cat with fangs, whiskers, a tan tail and paws. The King hopes that she will make a suitable bride for the Prince. When Baron is discovered and forced to fight the guards, he and Haru are helped by Yuki, a white cat maiden in the palace. After Yuki shows them an escape tunnel, Haru, Baron, and Muta move through a maze to a tower that contains a portal to Haru's world.
The King goes through a series of efforts to keep them in the kingdom long enough for Haru to remain trapped in her cat form. His ultimate plan is to force her to become his daughter-in-law. Prince Lune and his guards return to the Cat Kingdom, revealing that the King was not acting on his behalf. He plans on proposing to Yuki instead. Muta reveals himself to be Renaldo Moon, a notorious criminal in the Kingdom who devoured a whole lake of fish in one sitting. Haru learns that the strange voice who had advised her to go to the Cat Bureau was Yuki's. In her childhood, Haru had saved Yuki from starvation by giving her the fish crackers she was eating. Thus, Yuki has now repaid her kindness. When she rejects the King's marriage proposal outright, Muta tells Haru, I respect a woman who stands up for herself. He proceeds to help her escape from the King's soldiers. Eventually, Baron, Haru, and Muta escape the Cat Kingdom with the aid of Prince Lune and Toto. Haru embraces her true self. She tells Baron how much she has come to like him. He tells her the doors of the Cat Bureau will be open for her again if the need ever arises.
The film was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Hakuhodo, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi and Toho. Telecom Animation Film, Production I.G, and DR Movie helped animate the film. The screenplay was written by Reiko Yoshida. Hiroyuki Morita directed the project as his first and only film for Studio Ghibli. The voice cast included Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Tetsu Watanabe, Yosuke Saito, Aki Maeda and Tetsurō Tamba. In 1995, Studio Ghibli released a film titled Whisper of the Heart. That project introduced Baron, a cat figurine who came to life within a fantasy sequence. The studio received a request from a Japanese theme park in 1999 to create a twenty-minute short starring cats. Hayao Miyazaki wanted three key elements to feature in that short: the Baron, Muta, and a mysterious antique shop. Aoi Hiiragi was commissioned to create the manga equivalent of the short. The theme park later canceled the project entirely. Miyazaki then took the existing work done by the Cat Project and used it as testing for future Studio Ghibli directors.
The film was released on the 20th of July 2002, as the highest-grossing domestic film at the Japanese box office. It earned a total of one billion yen at the box office overall. According to Metacritic, which gave a score of seventy out of one hundred based on eleven critics, the film received generally favorable reviews. Lisa Nesselson of Variety described the film as catchy entertainment for kids and adults. She highlighted the thrillingly imaginative finale. Michael Booth of The Denver Post noted that director Morita has a slightly cruder, more realistic sense of the world and its looniness than does Miyazaki. Neil Smith of the BBC noted that while the film can't quite match the invention of 2003 Oscar-winner Spirited Away, The Cat Returns is still an enchanting, magical fable with a twisted vein of surrealism. The film won the Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival. GKIDS re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on the 16th of January 2018 under a new deal with Studio Ghibli.
Aoi Hiiragi wrote a 2002 manga published by Tokuma Shoten. The story in the manga is largely the same as in its film adaptation, with a few minor differences. A comedic ending features the cat Natoru coming into Haru's room to pester her. The manga also includes a mildly dark revelation involving Haru's cat friend from childhood, Yuki. In this version, Yuki was struck and killed by a vehicle. The Cat Kingdom is a sort of cat heaven, and Yuki helps Haru out of gratitude for feeding her fish crackers when she was a little girl. The film instead portrays the Cat Kingdom as a physically real dimension parallel to Haru's home city. The visual design for Baron, as originally illustrated by Hiiragi in the manga, featured him as a dark gray cat with large blue eyes and long pointed ears. In the Studio Ghibli version, Baron is orange-and-yellow with smaller green eyes and shorter ears. This design change was carried over from the way Baron was visually portrayed in the film adaptation Whisper of the Heart. Muta is a side protagonist in both Hiiragi's manga and the film adaptation, while in Whisper of the Heart, he is an antagonistic villain called Moon.
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Common questions
Who directed The Cat Returns?
Hiroyuki Morita directed the film. This was his first and only feature for Studio Ghibli.
When did The Cat Returns release in theaters?
The film released on the 20th of July 2002. It became the highest-grossing domestic film at the Japanese box office that year.
What is the origin story behind The Cat Returns project?
A Japanese theme park requested a twenty-minute short starring cats in 1999. Hayao Miyazaki later used the existing work as testing for future directors before Hiroyuki Morita developed it into a full feature.
How does the manga version of The Cat Returns differ from the film?
Aoi Hiiragi wrote a 2002 manga published by Tokuma Shoten with minor differences including a comedic ending featuring Natoru. The manga also portrays Yuki as struck and killed by a vehicle while the film shows her alive helping Haru escape.
Why did Baron change appearance between the manga and the film?
Baron appeared as a dark gray cat with large blue eyes in Aoi Hiiragi's original illustrations. The Studio Ghibli version made him orange-and-yellow with smaller green eyes to match his design in Whisper of the Heart.