The Cat Returns

Starring:Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda, Takayuki Yamada, Hitomi Sato, Kenta Satoi, Mari Hamada, Tetsu Watanabe, YÃ´suke SaitÃ´, Kumiko Okae, Tetsuro Tamba, Yo Oizumi, Youko Honna, Ken Yasuda, Courtnee Draper, Katia Coe, Judy Greer, Rene Auberjonois, Kristine Sutherland, Randy Montgomery
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The Cat Returns (2002) brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart (1995). On her way home from school, Haru, a confused 17-year-old, prevents an elegant gray cat from being hit by a truck. She's inadvertently saved the life of Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom, and his royal father decides to thank her. He fills her locker with gift-wrapped mice and decides she should come to his kingdom and marry Lune. Haru seeks help from the Cat Bureau, and eventually returns to relatively normal life, with the assistance of Muta and the Baron.

Amazon.com

The Cat Returns (2002) brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart (1995). On her way home from school, Haru, a confused 17-year-old, prevents an elegant gray cat from being hit by a truck. She's inadvertently saved the life of Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom, and his royal father decides to thank her. He fills her locker with gift-wrapped mice and decides she should come to his kingdom and marry Lune. Haru seeks help from the Cat Bureau, and eventually returns to relatively normal life, with the assistance of Muta and the Baron.

The Cat Returns recalls Whisper of the Heart and Takashi Nakamura's Catnapped, but it offers neither the wistful charm of the former nor the bold visual imagination of the latter. Hayao Miyazaki has been seeking young directors for Studio Ghibli for several years. After preparing the script and storyboards for Whisper, he turned the film over to Yoshifumi Kondo, who died tragically shortly after the film's release. The Cat Returns was directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who shows promise, but lacks Kondo's elegant sensibility. The DVD extras include a fulsome making-of documentary, Morita's voluminous storyboards, and mini-interviews with the vocal cast that includes Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, and Elliott Gould. (Rated G: minor scary imagery and cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon

Description

From the creators of the Academy Award(R) winning SPIRITED AWAY (Best Animated Feature Film, 2002) comes the visually stunning THE CAT RETURNS, a spectacular animated journey to a world of magic and adventure. Haru, a schoolgirl bored by her ordinary routine, saves the life of an unusual cat, and suddenly her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined. The Cat King rewards her good deed with a flurry of presents, including a very shocking proposal of marriage to his son! Haru embarks on an unexpected journey to the Kingdom of Cats where her eyes are opened to a whole other world and her destiny is uncertain. To change her fate, she'll need to learn to believe in herself and appreciate her everyday life. Featuring the sensational voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Tim Curry, and Elliot Gould, THE CAT RETURNS is a magical animated adventure that will delight and inspire everyone.

Customer Reviews:

A fairy tale.......2007-06-03

This is an amazing, classic tale which, just like some of Disney's classics, just pulls you into the story and doesn't let go. A must see!

Another good movie from Studi Ghibli.......2007-05-21

This movie follows the staple storyline for many Studio Ghibli films...a young girl enters a magical realm and in the process learns about herself and/or helps others.

This should be enjoyed by all ages.

One note though on the translation of the title into English; the Japanese title "Neko no Ongaeshi" should translate into something like "The Cat(s) Return(s) a Favor" or "The Gratitude of Cats". I'm not sure why they chose just "The Cat Returns," which implies that a cat goes away and then comes back, which isn't the story at all!

the cat returns.......2007-05-13

A sweet and whimsical story that big and little kids will enjoy

More adventurous and enjoyable than the original.......2007-04-05

The Cat Returns is the sequel for the slow-moving Whisper of the Heart. The link between these two stories is the nattily dressed cat called The Baron. However, this story is much different than the one of Whisper of the Heart.

Haru is the girl in this story. She's a clumsy, stressed-out geek, and basically pitiable. But one day she sees a cat that's about to get hit by a car, and saves him. To her shock, he stands up on two paws, brushes himself off, and then politely bows, thanks her, and leaves!

This is the beginning of Haru's adventure. In the next few days she's showered with mice, cattails, catnip, and even an offer of marriage! In the end she has to confront the King of the Cat Kingdom to get her life back to normal.

The extent of the story is dotted with comedy and lightheartedness. Haru grows up tremendously over the course of time, and in the end we see a girl who's much happier with her life. This is a very enjoyable movie and, regretfully, I liked it much better than Whisper of the Heart.

(I have to say that Peter Boyle did a great job as Muta the irascible, portly cat. He brought the character to life perfectly. Sometimes Muta really makes the movie!)

Cats Galore!.......2007-03-09

The vocal representation in this film is HUGE! many big name star's voice's are used and they work exceedingly well. The cats are all very cute and the whole story is light-hearted and funny. There are points of intensity that children are sitting on the edge of thier seats for, and parents are laughing at the things the kids don't quite understand, but even if they do understand them, it's still appropriate for them to enjoy.
Great movie for all ages, even my mother who hates cartoons, liked this one.

Miyazaki 13 Pack (Castle in the Sky/Kiki's Delivery Service/Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind/Porco Rosso/Princess Mononoke/Spirited Away/Grave of the Fireflies/The Cat Returns/Howl's Moving Castle/My Neighbor Totoro/My Neighbors the Yamadas/Pom Poko/Whisper of the Heart) (1999)

Average customer rating:

Pricey, but worthwhile collection of Ghibli's works.

Miyazaki 13 Pack (Castle in the Sky/Kiki's Delivery Service/Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind/Porco Rosso/Princess Mononoke/Spirited Away/Grave of the Fireflies/The Cat Returns/Howl's Moving Castle/My Neighbor Totoro/My Neighbors the Yamadas/Pom Poko/Whisper of the Heart) (1999)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki , and Kirk Wise
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

An instant library of 13 Hayao MIYAZAKI classics assembled on 24 DVDs. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio, led by one of animation's greatest creators, Hayao MIYAZAKI. The studio creates very high quality animated movies, which is rather unique, since most Japanese animation studios depend on TV series or OVAs. They consistently beat Disney movies in box office revenues in Japan and have received numerous awards. Miyazaki and Ghibli movies are well respected and loved by all Japanese people, children and adults alike. Now own the ultimate Studio Ghibli DVD collection in this hefty collector's pack.

Customer Reviews:

Pricey, but worthwhile collection of Ghibli's works........2007-05-28

The genius of Hayao Miyazaki and his works from Studio Ghibli have slowly been growing in popularity, due in no small part to a campaign courtesy of Disney, headed by Pixar guru John Lasseter. Starting with SPIRITED AWAY, the Mouse House has released most of Ghibli's masterpieces on DVD here in the United States.

Many other websites have gone into detail about Studio Ghibli and their works in general, so I won't recap them here. However, it should be mentioned that all these movies contain high-quality visual transfers (KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY show their age in places, but both still look pretty good overall), as well as the original Japanese soundtracks.

While purists insist that the native language track is the only way to see these movies, Disney has nonethless gone out of their way to commission absolutely stupendous dubs featuring actors such as Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman, Phil Hartman, Minnie Driver, Patrick Stewart, Harold Gould, Uma Thurman, Suzanne Pleshette, Pat Carroll, and Billy Crystal. All give excellent performances; some of the choices are a little odd (James Van Der Beek, Michael Keaton, and probably, to a lesser extent, Billy Bob Thornton), but they're hardly blasphemous and don't detract from the overall experience.

While the adaptation scripts sometimes throw in more extra lines than necessary (KIKI and LAPUTA are most notable for this, although to be fair, they're not too much out of context with the original), for the most part they remain faithful in spirit (if not letter) to the screenplays of Miyazaki, Takahata, and company. And best of all, not even one second is omitted from these movies. Four things should be noted, though.

1. KIKI and CASTLE have extra pieces of music on the dubs--the former is mostly soft piano music courtesy of Paul Chihara, while the latter has a spectacular and arguably superior reorchestration of the full score (previously performed on synthesizers). The man responsible for the new music, interestingly, is the original composer Joe Hisaishi, under the approval of Miyazaki himself! There have been many debates over which interpretation of the soundtrack is superior, but personally I think both versions of the score for LAPUTA are beautiful and can be enjoyed independently.

2. GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES is the only movie in this package not to be dubbed by Disney; produced by New York based Central Park Media, it's not on the same level as the other titles, but it's mostly well done.

3. The DVD of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, a much loved movie, is the newly repackaged Disney release with a high-quality widescreen transfer as well as a new dub featuring real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning as Satsuki and Mei. There was a previous, well-liked dub of TOTORO produced by Streamline Pictures and released by FOX in 1993, but the DVD it is on is pan & scan. There has been a lot of pointless debating over which dub is superior; most of these criticims tend to stem from nostalgia rather than reason. I'd suggest ignoring the controversy and listen to both dubs for two different but no less enjoyable interpretations of a great story.

4. PRINCESS MONONOKE (distributed by Miramax) and MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS are both one-disc sets. And, since MONONOKE was the first Ghibli DVD release, there are only two skimpy extras (although the transfer of the movie itself is impeccable).

There are a group of naysayers who have been overly critical of Disney's treatment of these films, claiming that the Mouse House is somehow sabotaging Ghibli's work. These accusations are senseless and untrue. While Disney has admittingly delayed these movies for way too long (they acquired the rights for them in 1996), the numerous criticisms over the DVDs and dubbing are often overdone and unnecessary. While the DVDs are sometimes simply designed, the films themselves are presented well. Likewise, there is little point in comparing the dubs to the original Japanese versions. While there might be some argument about getting a more authentic experience through the native language track on most of these movies (although films like KIKI, LAPUTA, and HOWL are actually easier to watch in English since they all set in European-based environments), when the dubs are as well done as this, it is arguably better to just watch both. Either one provides an enjoyable experience, although getting the most out of the dubs may depend on what you bring with you to them.

For Anime fans, the works of Ghibli are an essential addition, but fans of animation in general owe it to themselves to give them a spin. A word of caution, though: not all of these movies are for children--PRINCESS MONONOKE has some graphic images of violence; it's the sort of movie that grown-ups will enjoy, and that's not a bad thing in the least.

Eye For Terror (5-Pack - Bonesetter Returns / Final Curtain / Hell Asylum (Special Edition) / Satanic Yuppies / Shock Cinema Vols. 1 & 2)

Average customer rating:

Eye For Terror (5-Pack - Bonesetter Returns / Final Curtain / Hell Asylum (Special Edition) / Satanic Yuppies / Shock Cinema Vols. 1 & 2)
Starring: Brett Kelly , Sherry Thurig , Tanya Dempsey , Amber Newman , and Brinke Stevens
Manufacturer: Fat Cat DVD (Tempe Video)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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Vicious Vixens
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ASIN: B000J10ALY
Release Date: 2006-12-12

Product Description

Get an EYE FOR TERROR with this low-priced DVD set! 5 horrific features on 4 discs, complete with enough bonus features to give you nightmares for weeks to come! Includes: BONESETTER RETURNS (2005), FINAL CURTAIN (2004), HELL ASYLUM Special Edition (2002), SATANIC YUPPIES (1996) and SHOCK CINEMA Vols. 1 & 2 (1990).

Average customer rating:

THE CAT RETURNS

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Disks: 1 Region: NTSC ALL (Playable on any DVD player in the World) Subtitles: English/Chinese Language: Japanese

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