The Cat Returns, Hiroyuki Morita, Studio Ghibli

The Cat Returns is a Japanese animation directed by Hiroyuki Morita and written by Reiko Yoshida. It is based on the manga Baron-Neko no Danshaku by Aoi Hiiragi. It came after, and is related to, Whisper of the Heart. It was released in 2002. The film is about a girl called Huru. She is always waking up late and trying to run into school, only to be laughed at when she arrives late. As she is walking with her friend she sees that an unusual cat carrying something in his mouth is going to be run over by a truck. She rushes out to safe him. As they get to the other side of the road the cat gets up, bows to Haru and thanks her. This is the start of her adventures with the cats and their world.

It is full of adventure and humour. There are some great characters including Muta (the infamous Renaldo Moon) and the cat King. It doesn’t quite reach the usual heights of some of the other Studio Ghibli releases but still worth watching. In fact it was the highest grossing domestic film in 2002.