#Cast of the cat returns movie#
There’s still a miniature magic detective agency, a Narnia-esque hidden fantasy world, an extremely skeezy king, and some full-on Alice in Wonderland surrealism.Ī lot of the joy of this movie comes from how it never stands still. Just like there could’ve been a whole movie about Haru’s normal high school life, there could easily have been a whole movie about talking cats intruding on her normal life - but The Cat Returns is just getting started. The cats of the world begin to “repay” her for this kindness - mostly with gifts like mountains of catnip and live mice. However, things change for Haru when she rescues a cat crossing the street. Hathaway absolutely nails it, and it only takes a few lines to be charmed by the intensely relatable Haru.Īfter Whisper of the Heart’s lack of true fantasy elements, I wondered if The Cat Returns would go the same way - and after the first few delightful minutes, I was completely ready for that to be the case.
![cast of the cat returns cast of the cat returns](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNzUzMjhmOTUtMGUyZC00MDc2LTkwODktNTNmYTMwOGIzOTNhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzU1NzE3NTg@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,47,500,281_.jpg)
We see Haru wake up late, skip breakfast, not be confident enough to talk to the boy she likes, and basically be a gangly mess of a teenager. We begin with Haru, a high school girl voiced (in the Englsh dub) by Anne Hathaway, who is essentially reprising her Princess Diaries role from just a few years prior. Perhaps it’s most impressive quality is how effortlessly it bounces from scene to scene and even from genre to genre. That runtime suits the breezy, fun-loving nature of the film, which is a cinematic candy bar if there ever was one.
![cast of the cat returns cast of the cat returns](https://images.amcnetworks.com/ifccenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cat_07s16c52_t2.0246.jpg)
You may remember that those fantasy sequences are only there to show us what’s happening in the book that Shizuku is writing, but people loved the Baron, so work began on an animated short that eventually was spun into an entire feature-length film, albeit a short one at just an hour and 15 minutes.
![cast of the cat returns cast of the cat returns](https://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/44100000/The-Cat-Returns-Cast-Meme-By-Blaze-On-F-re-On-Dev-antArt-the-cat-returns-44168953-300-377.png)
This movie was born from the apparently very popular fantasy sequences in Whisper of the Heart. Calling it a “spinoff” isn’t exactly accurate, though. So there you have it - this movie is indeed delightful, from start to finish. The Cat Returns (2002) is a fantasy adventure film from first-time director Hiroyuki Morita, who had previously worked as an animator on such films as My Neighbors the Yamadas, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Akira.īefore we get any further, it’s time for another of my patented Introductory Tweet Screencaps™: