Andrew Bevis

  • 31 October 2005

The Cat Returns Review

By Christopher Null

Good

This rather simplistic entry into the feel-good anime genre comes from Kiroyuki Morita (last seen animating the raunchy Perfect Blue but also responsible for working on the kind-hearted Kiki's Delivery Service). The Cat Returns is Morita's first outing as director, and it's a fair, if ultimately unrealized experience.The story involves young Haru (voiced for the States by Anne Hathaway), who rescues a helpless cat from an oncoming truck, only to find herself in the debt of a feline kingdom she formerly didn't know existed. Haru is awakened one night by a bizarre procession on her street: It's the king of the cats (Tim Curry), bearing gifts. Before she knows it, she's whisked into the world of the cats, where she is transformed into a half-cat/half-person, and is told she will be marrying the cat she saved, who turns out to be the cat prince.

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