The Cat Returns (2002)

[猫の恩返し]

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Starring: Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda

Synopsis:
After saving the prince of the Cat Kingdom, a girl is overwhelmed by their efforts to repay her for her good deed.

Impressions:
This spin-off of Whisper of the Heart got its start as a short that was later expended to a full-length movie. I like to think of it as one of Shiziku's stories. In terms of animation quality and overall artistic merit, it's a bit of step down from what you'd expect from a Ghibli production, but it's by no means a bad film. In fact, I like it quite a bit and find it rather entertaining. It no doubt helps that I'm such an ailurophile, so a story about a Cat Kingdom is bound to appeal. One thing I feel I should note is that the subtitle track isn't terribly accurate. Oh, it gets the point across in broad strokes, but I actually started to find it distracting because of the disconnect between the actual dialog and what the translation was claiming. Probably not going to be a problem for most of you. This one's worth a watch at the very least, so give it a shot.

Rating:
Watch It