Movies - The Cat Returns

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	Movies - The Cat Returns

The Cat Returns ( Neko no Ongaeshi; lit. The Cat(s) Return a Favour) is a 2002 Japanese animated film directed by Morita Hiroyuki and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the manga by Aoi Hiiragi called Baron: The Cat Returns (バロン猫の男爵 Baron, Neko no Dansyaku; lit. Baron, the Cat Baron), which has been published in English by VIZ Media.

Origin

In 1995, Studio Ghibli released a movie entitled "Whisper of the Heart", which was based on a manga by Aoi Hiragi about a young girl writing a fantasy novel. Although the girl's life had no magical elements, short fantasy scenes depicted what the girl was writing about. Those short scenes were so popular that fans demanded that a movie be made of the fictional girl's novel, and that movie was The Cat Returns.

Characters

Haru - A 17 year old girl, the protagonist of the film.
Baron Humbert Von Gikkingen - Usually called Baron, he is a cat statue with a soul allowing him to come to life in the alternate dimension he lives in.
Muta - A fat, cynical cat who leads Haru to the Baron. His real name is Renaldo Moon. Years ago, he devoured all the fish in the lake in the kingdom of cats, then ran off. (It should be noted that the Japanese word for pig is "Buta". Muta is mistakenly called this, much to his chagrin, on a couple of occasions.)
Toto - A gargoyle of a raven who comes alive, much like the Baron.
The Cat King - King of the Cat Kingdom.
Lune - Prince of the Cat Kingdom.
Natori - The bespectacled advisor to the king.
Natoru - The excitable messenger for the king.
Yuki - A mysterious white servant cat of the Cat Kingdom

Plot

The story follows a girl called Haru, a quiet and unassuming schoolgirl who has a long-suppressed ability to talk to cats. One day she saves a cat from being hit by a truck on a busy road. The cat turns out to be Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom. In return, the cats shower her with gifts and inform her she is to be wedded to the Prince of the Cat Kingdom.

Haru hears a kind female voice which tells her to seek out the Cat Bureau. Haru meets Muta, who leads her there to meet the Baron and Toto. Soon after meeting them, Haru and Muta are taken to the Cat Kingdom by force, leaving Toto and the Baron in the human world.

Haru is invited to a feast at the castle of the Cat Kingdom and she begins to slowly turn into a cat. At the feast, the Baron (in disguise) dances with Haru as part of the entertainment, before being discovered. They are helped by Yuki, a snow-white female cat who works as a servant in the palace and who had tried to warn Haru to leave the Cat Kingdom. Haru, the Baron and Muta's escape leads them through a maze to a tower, which contains a portal back into Haru's world.

Lune and his guards return to the Cat Kingdom to discover the King was not acting on his behalf and he has no desire to marry Haru, having instead planned on proposing to Yuki; also, Muta is revealed to be a notorious criminal in the Kingdom (having devoured a whole lake of fish in one session), and Yuki as being the strange voice who'd advised Haru to go to the Cat Bureau. In her childhood Haru had saved Yuki from starvation by giving her the fish cookies she was eating, and Yuki has now repaid her in kind.

Eventually Haru, Muta and the Baron escape, with the aid of Prince Lune and Toto, and Haru discovers her true self and her affection for the Baron.

Credits

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Script: Reiko Yoshida
Music: Yuuji Nomi
Character design: Satoko Morikawa
Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Executive producer: Hayao Miyazaki
Production: Studio Ghibli
Original manga: Aoi Hiiragi

Seiyū:

Haru - Ikewaki Chizuru
Baron Humbert Von Gikkingen - Hakamada Yoshihiko
Muta - Watanabe Tetsu
Toto - Saitō Yōsuke
The Cat King - Tanba Tetsurō
Lune - Yamada Takayuki
.
Yuki - Maeda Aki

Voice Talent for the English Dubbed Version:

Haru - Anne Hathaway
Baron Humbert von Gikkingen - Cary Elwes
Muta (AKA Renaldo Moon) - Peter Boyle
Toto - Elliott Gould
The Cat King - Tim Curry
Lune - Andrew Bevis
Yuki - Judy Greer
Haru's Mother - Kristine Sutherland
Hiromi - Kristen Bell
Natori - Rene Auberjonois
Natoru - Andy Richter

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Cat Returns ]

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Movies - The Cat Returns

Origin

Characters

Plot

Credits

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