Studio Ghibli Thoughts: The Cat Returns

 

The Cat Returns is an anomaly among Studio Ghibli films for being the only “sequel” to a previous movie, being a successor of sorts to Whisper of the Heart. True, other than starring a secondary character in that movie, the Baron statue coming to life, it isn’t exactly a direct successor, but it does have more than a surface connection to that movie other than the fact this is yet another Ghibli movie not directed by the studio’s main directors, with Hiroyuki Morita directing a Ghibli movie for the first and last time.

Although it isn’t mentioned in the movie itself, it is important to know that the story was written by the author of Whisper of the Heart as if it were written by Shizuku Tsukishima, the main character of that movie, who wanted to become an author. It's important because of some similar themes of the main girl trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.

Haru Yoshioka is a very ordinary, but slightly lost, high school girl who saves a magical cat from being run over by a truck. As a reward, the denizens of the cat kingdom kidnap her and plan to marry her off to the cat prince she saved. Although she tries to resist at first, enlisting the help of the Baron and his motley crew, the happy-go-lucky life in the Cat Kingdom starts to show its appeal. However, as she accepts her fate and starts considering lying down like a cat every day, she starts turning into a cat herself.

The moral of the lesson is clearer in this Ghibli movie than in any other, which makes sense considering its considerably shorter run time. As such, it doesn’t particularly feel organic how Haru grows in confidence by the end of the movie, and it's left to the Baron and various action escapades to propel the story and narrative forward.

I don’t think that a longer running time would have necessarily expanded the depth of the plot, and as such, the short length may actually work better for a rather good but basic Studio Ghibli film. One that doesn’t require much attention, and can still be enjoyed as one in the mid-tier of that illustrative pantheon.