I love this movie so much

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I have seen just about every Studio Ghibi film released in the US and must say that "The Cat Returns" is unique among them. Sure, it's strange...but so are most of the rest of them (especially "Spirited Away"). But it manages to be very different and a bit different from the Miyazaki films when it comes to the animation but especially the story. The film begins with a young girl, Haru, racing into traffic to save a cat from being squashed. Have you ever heard the expression "No good deed goes unpunished"? Well, this is sort of what happens next. Late at night, a strange procession of cats walking on two legs is carrying a litter with their fat king. They stop to announce to Haru that she is going to receive many wonderful rewards for saving that cat, as it's their Prince!! When she awakens the next morning, she thinks it's all been a dream...until weird presents start arriving. But the weirdest part is yet to come...the cats are going to honor her by allowing her to MARRY the Prince!!! What!?! So, after hearing a voice telling her to find the Cat Bureau, she ends up meeting a cat Baron and going in search of the cat kingdom!!Mega-weird...but also mega-charming and fun. I loved this film because it dared to be so different and it really hooked me. I have no idea why this one was released here in the States with zero fanfare...just a direct to DVD release a few years ago. Well worth seeing.

I really like cats but this film really makes you want to have your own cat because the way it turned out with the cats was incredible! I think even other non - cat owners should watch this just to see the fun in it. I was so thrilled to have found out Anne Hathaway, she absolutely was the best choice to voice Haru. She just sounds like herself in this then other movies she has done. I wish her character and Cary Elwes' character The Baron would've kissed in the end to be honest. They deserved each other! I honestly loved Frank Boyles character Muta. His attitude and voice pretty much sounds like his well known fatherly role in everybody loves Raymond. He kept it up really good, I wish he was around today to do more great films!Christ I have to admit, Tim Curry didn't do the accent good but it wasn't his fault, the Cat King could've been improved a bit like he looks like a stray cat who pretends to be a king. The writers should really have done more on the character.I'm glad I watch this movie because it was a purrrrfect watch especially when you're bored ;)

out of all the ghibli studio productions which i have watched almost all, this one is the funniest and the most suited for small children. of course it is still a movie fit for all age groups too. cat lovers will love this movie even more.except for the slow opening, this movie moves at a really quick pace. the story is about a teenage girl named Haru who happens to saved a cat from getting run over by a truck and because the cat happens to be a magical cat prince the cat king wants to reward her by forcing her to marry the cat prince. craziness ensues after that with a lot of funny moments and some unforgettable characters including a very cute ill tempered fat cat named Muta.its not one of Ghiblis best but still very very good and a little different and quite loony.

I guess to begin I'll summarize the movie as I saw it. Initially, the story starts out with an ordinary female student experiencing the minor ups and downs of secondary school. This goes on for a while, but the real action begins when the protagonist saves a cat crossing the street and is drawn into the bizarre, fantastic, and wonderful world of sentient talking cats. The cat world was so original and absurd that I found myself frequently laughing out loud with delight as I watched. Eventually the protagonist gets out of an arranged marriage and makes her way back to the human world with the help of some friendly cats and some animated statues. Along the way she has gained confidence in herself, or something like that.From the summary, you can tell that this is a pretty typical hero's journey / coming of age type of story. Unfortunately, the movie was too short for the story to properly develop. At an hour and a quarter of run time, there is simply not enough room to create and develop characters, introduce a fantastical world, and carry out a plot before the ending. The result was that these various elements (characterization, setting, and plot) all competed for screen time and none of them were really done justice.This was not helped by the writing and characterization, which were quite weak and formulaic. In particular, the supposed personal transformation the protagonist experiences is just not believable. The protagonist is so little developed (she spends most of her time making various dismayed gasps) that she really functions more as a MacGuffin on legs than an actual character.Of the three elements of narrative -- character, plot, and setting, I felt the setting was the best developed. As I mentioned before, I loved the sheer ridiculousness of the Cat Kingdom, somewhat reminiscent of the imperial court of feudal Japan, as well as the dollhouse-coming- to-life aesthetic of the Cat Bureau. Of course, we only get to see a small part of this world, but I felt like the setting had greater potential that could've been explored in more depth.If the creators intended to make the movie a travelogue of the Cat Kingdom, they should have tightened up the story to spend as much time as possible in the fantasy world, and removed some of the irrelevant details from the protagonist's home life. On the other hand, if they wanted to tell an actual story, they should have taken more time to do so and maybe put some real effort into the writing and character development. They could've even done both if the movie were longer. Instead, they aimed somewhere in the middle and achieved neither.As a complete work, I'd consider this movie a failure, but I'm giving it 6 stars for the imaginative world and for making me laugh.