The Cat Returns (2002)

Original title

猫の恩返し

Directed by

Hiroyuki Morita

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, children's film, adventure anime and manga, drama anime and manga, fantasy anime and manga

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 15m

Rated

G

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 2,479 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A teenage girl saves a cat from being hit by a truck. The cat turns out to be a prince from a cat kingdom. She gets pulled into that kingdom's world and must find her way back home.

whimsicallightheartedplayfulcharminggentledreamyfancifulmildly adventurous

What happens

The Cat Returns is a 2002 Japanese anime fantasy film directed by Hiroyuki Morita from a screenplay by Reiko Yoshida, based on the 2002 manga Baron the Cat by Aoi Hiiragi. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Hakuhodo, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi and Toho, and distributed by the latter company. It stars Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Tetsu Watanabe, Yosuke Saito, Aki Maeda and Tetsurō Tamba. This is Hiroyuki Morita's first and only film as director for Studio Ghibli. It is a spin-off of Whisper of the Heart. It was theatrically released in Japan on July 20, 2002, through Toho and in 2005 in the United States through Walt Disney Home Entertainment. It received generally favourable reviews, and won the Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival. GKIDS re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on January 16, 2018, under a new deal with Studio Ghibli. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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