Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Anime Movie Review

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Inosensu
Dreamworks
Movie - 100 minutes - 1 disc
$39.98 (2009) Blu-Ray
$29.98 (2009) w/book
$19.98 (2009)
$26.98 (2005) w/Millennium Actress
$29.99 (2004)
ISBN 678149175721
Japanese Audio - English Subtitles
English Audio (Blu-Ray only)
Director - Mamoru Oshii
Studio - Production I.G/Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: The future of humankind in the year 2032 is the progression of technology and its affect on organic life.  Scientific advances have allowed complete transference of human consciousness into prosthetic, cyborg bodies.  More commonplace is the addition of cybernetic enhancements to natural bodies.  Society has leaped forward with access to boundless information over the net and crime has followed.  Special units have been developed by the governments in an attempt to control the infinitely devious forms of cyber-crime.  Can you hack a person's soul?

Your standard black market sex doll dressed up as a geisha

Public Security Section 9 investigates the most serious cyber-crimes and has access to the most advanced technology.  They were once led by Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body cyborg, but she went rogue after merging with a completely artificial intelligence called The Puppet Master.  The rest of the group remains intact and continues to operate.  Batou was the Major's second in command and was very close to her when she disappeared.  He's a stoic tough-guy with a soft side as seen only by his pet basset hound.  Batou continues to search for clues to the Major's activities.

Let's just say you don't want to buy a malfunctioning sex doll

Batou's is now partnered with Togusa, the most human member of Section 9 (least artificial enhancements), who is a family man and was recruited from the police force.  The two investigate a series of gruesome murders perpetrated by life-like sex dolls.  It seems the dolls have malfunctioned and killed their masters.  Now the two Section 9 detectives must unravel the mystery behind the killer dolls.  Is it possible the artificial intelligence programmed into the dolls has gained a life of its own?  Could the Major somehow be behind the evolution of the dolls?  When a faint ghost is discovered in the most recent killer doll's body all bets are off!

Batou and partner Togusa are called in to investigate the grisly murders

Pros: Great animation, exhaustively detailed CG for the time period, lush backgrounds, focuses on Batou who was a favorite of mine from the first film and the manga, more Section 9 characters show up, presents an interesting detective case in the form of the dolls' artificial sentience, a lot for action than the first film, return of the Major (sorta)

The case runs deeper as Batou and Togusa investigate the sex dolls

Cons: Original DVD versions didn't include an English dub, English subtitles include sound effects ("helicopter approaching"), CG effects don't mesh well with regular animation and are too stiff (reminded me of a 3D video game background), Batou is a less compelling main character than the Major from the first film, too many quotes in the dialogue, action for action's sake, indulgent for the director (too much basset hound)

Batou is a complete hardass until he comes home to pamper his basset hound

Mike Tells It Straight: The first Ghost in the Shell was a classic, iconic film which helped define anime for a generation.  Oshii created a cutting edge masterpiece with international appeal and cemented himself as a major director.  The movie was so good it influenced the creators of The Matrix franchise.  Although it deviated from the original manga by a great degree GitS the movie was a standalone experience with its own philosophical and haunting voice.  A sequel was welcome news for fans everywhere and especially with Oshii at the helm again.

These sex dolls bear a striking resemblance to a certain Major

Animation technology had advanced considerably by the time the sequel was in production.  Computer graphics evolved in leaps and bounds with entire backgrounds being rendered digitally.  Even figures could be rendered, but the technology still lacked an organic feel to the human eye.  Oshii went with a combination of the two processes by digitally rendering the backgrounds with seemingly hand-drawn characters.  Western animators would fully embrace the all-digital process (Toy Story, Shrek), but Japanese animators were slower to adopt all digital and make a point to keep character renderings 2D in appearance (which I personally agree).

Batou has a difficult time buying dog food at his usual store

This film is an intense mash-up of incredibly rendered digital backgrounds with traditional ('organic') characters.  The attention to detail is ridiculous and works fairly well until we get to scenes with actual movement (like cars driving down a city street) where the differences become fairly obvious.  The combination works particularly well during the scene where Batou has a shoot out in a convenience store.  The first film was on the cutting edge of animation technology and Oshii continues this trend in the sequel.  Despite the lush backgrounds I felt the CG elements awkwardly interacted with the 2D elements at times and distracted me from the story.  In a few scenes I felt like I was watching a video game with the 2D characters moving through a poorly rendered background.

The CG work in this film is incredible.  This particular parade scene is crazy!

Oshii makes a real case for animation as high level art with this film.  The story is an obvious progression of his viewpoint on society and technology's potential for change, but I felt his execution and particularly the script was a bit too much.  It's a long movie and has quite a few drawn out scenes.  The dialogue was rife with literary quotes which stifled any natural feel to the character interactions.  Try talking in quotes all day and see how long people take you seriously.

Batou and Togusa follow up a lead with an unsavory hacker

With the Major out of the way at the end of the first film, Oshii would shift focus to fan-favorite character Batou and explore deeper into the consequences of limitless advances to technology.  The stage was set for a repeat performance of the first film's success.  Even the composer returned for the sequel.  It was a no brainer, right?

Oshii has mastered the fish eye lens

Batou's personality in the movies is much different than in the manga and Standalone Complex television series where he's a bit of a clown, but Oshii makes him a stoic hardass.  He's just not as compelling or deep of an individual as the Major.  The DVD released by Dreamworks had no English dub which cut it off from a majority of fans of the first film.  Unless you're into foreign films with subtitles then the pre-2009 Innocence releases were not aimed at you.  Thank goodness someone finally added a dub to the Blu-Ray release.

Batou has commando training and he gets to use it!

Dreamworks even pissed off the hardcore anime fans who hate dubs by making the subtitles closed captioned = including sound effects.  My favorite is the very first subtitle in the movie - ("helicopter approaching").  Despite its flaws I thought GitS 2 was a beautifully rendered movie and the story was mildly compelling.  It dragged on forever with those damn quotes, but I got what Oshii was trying to say. Check out this movie if you liked the first film and want to see where Oshii's vision goes.  Definitely get the Blu-Ray version with English dub and crisper visuals.  Standalone Complex is much more interesting and I recommend watching both television series if you haven't already (they were both run on Cartoon Network several times).

Is that the Major?  Is she behind the malfunctioning sex dolls?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

The Simpsons Tribute to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

Hayao Miyazaki has announced his retirement (once again) this past September 2013 and The Simpsons pay tribute to one of the greatest animators of our time!   He has retired before and rumors are already spinning as to the possibility of him returning for another project.  I wouldn't mind.



Absolutely love this homage!  I saw parts from My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service (gotta review that soon), and Princess Mononoke.  It seems they only included films he actually directed, but I didn't see anything from Laputa (Castle in the Sky).

Did I miss anything?  What did you see!?

Homer and his buddy accidentally step into the world of Spirited Away

 

Princess Mononoke Anime Movie Review

Princess Mononoke
Mononoke-hime
Miramax Films
Movie - 134 minutes - 1 disc
$32.99 (2000)
$22.99 (2000)
ISBN 717951007414
Japanese/English/French Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hayao Miyazaki
Studio - Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: A monstrous creature descends upon a village tucked away in the hidden wilderness.  The creature writhes with evil and wishes to destroy all in its path.  One brave, young warrior rises to meet the horror and protect his village.  Yoshitaka riding his faithful red elk, Yakul, manages to fell the beast and reveal it's true form - a massive, decaying boar god.  During his struggle, Yoshitaka's right arm is caught in its foul grasp and becomes infected with the same evil corruption.  The wise woman of the village pronounces sentence on Yoshitaka after he returns to the village - his arm is poisoned and it will eventually kill him once it reaches his heart.  An iron ball is recovered from the boar god's body and Yoshitaka vows to discover its origins to protect others from befalling a similar fate.  He leaves his village behind and begins his journey with Yakul.

Yoshitaka riding Yakul takes aim at the monster attacking his village

During his journey, Yoshitaka, encounters many interesting people and creatures.  They include Jigo, a wandering monk who may have ties to the government and a secret agenda.  Yoshitaka passes by war-torn villages and the evil in his right arm responds to the chaos being wrought by the soldiers.  The right arm gives Yoshitaka power, but makes his attempts at self-defense turn deadly.  Fleeing further west, he enters an ancient forest and experiences the incredible.  A great forest spirit watches over these lands and giant creatures roam the hills as gods.  Among them are a group of massive wolves and a ferocious girl who rides with them.  She is known as San and despises humans.

Yoshitaka's right arm is injured during the confrontation

The humans under the leadership of Lady Eboshi have established Irontown near the forest and begun a fierce conflict with the native creatures.  Irontown makes weapons of war in great furnaces that pollute the air and water.  The forest gods rail against the humans and San sides with her wolf clan.  Yoshitaka becomes embroiled in the brutal conflict between man and nature, but which side will he choose?  He is captivated by San's wild beauty, but how can he betray humanity to animals?  Lady Eboshi vows to destroy the forest spirit and Jigo lurks in the shadows.  Can Yoshitaka make a difference amidst these relentless forces before his poisoned right arm claims his life?

During his journey Yoshitaka meets the wandering monk, Jigo

Pros: Amazing animation with meticulous attention to detail, lush backgrounds, incredible creature designs, compelling characters, relevant environmental message which embraces the constant state of change in the world, perhaps the greatest film by Miyazaki, won scores of awards and was the highest grossing film in Japan when it was first released, Neil Gaiman worked on the English dub - which had excellent voice acting (included a bunch of Hollywood stars - Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Crudup, and Claire Danes)

These little guys are Kodama, harmless little tree sprites in the deep forest

Cons: English dub script is different than the original Japanese script (subtitles are based on the dub script), no Blu-Ray version has been released yet and the image quality from the DVD release is showing its age, not necessarily a con, but this movie is not family-friendly like most Studio Ghibli films (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) due to violence and wolf-head, ending is not absolute

Lady Eboshi and her men from Irontown prepare to defend against giant wolves

Mike Tells It Straight: Princess Mononoke is quite possibly the greatest Miyazaki film ever produced.  It embodies all of his main themes from across his lengthy career - environmentalism, man's opposition with nature, strong female characters, anti-war, morally ambiguous villains, a sense of the wonder with the unseen spiritual world.  Some really amazing and dramatic scenes are in this movie starting with the intense confrontation at the beginning with the corrupted boar god, Nago.  The creature design is truly creepy and really sets the tone as far apart from previous Ghibli films as possible.

San rides on the back of a giant wolf and opposes Lady Eboshi

Yoshitaka's poisoned arm makes for some exciting situations.  It gives him superhuman strength which comes in handy against regular humans and puts him somewhat in league with the lesser animal gods.  I found San to be somewhat one-dimensional - all-consuming hate and anger against the humans.  She was a fierce combatant, but Yoshitaka was truly the protagonist in the film.  His personality was extremely noble although it was supposed to be somewhat melancholy.  I didn't see that at all and maybe the English dub had something to do with altering his original portrayal.

San attempts to kill Lady Eboshi!

The other characters were interesting, but not very likable.  Jigo and Lady Eboshi were both complex, but I couldn't help disliking them since they opposed the forest gods.  They both had excellent martial skills and weren't all bad since Yoshitaka befriended them.  So many scenes were epic during the movie and my particular favorites were the opening scene with Nago, the first appearance of the little forest sprites, and the assassination attempt of Lady Eboshi by San in Irontown.  Truly epic stuff and I give my highest recommendation possible to this film.  I love Miyazaki's other films, but this one is more mature and quite possibly my favorite.

The Forest Spirit is a wondrous and mysterious creature

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Howl's Moving Castle Anime Movie Review

Howl's Moving Castle
Hauru no Ugoku Shiro
Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Disney)
Movie - 119 mins. - 2 discs
$29.99 (2006)
ISBN 786936296662
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hayao Miyazaki
Studio - Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: Sophie works in her mother's hat shop and is a responsible, level-headed young lady.  A war is brewing between her country and a neighboring state with soldiers being stationed in her town where several protests have been happening.  She is stopped on her way home by a pair of rude soldiers and deftly rescued from the situation by a dashing young man who appears to have magical powers.  He is being pursued by strange, globular phantoms, but manages to elude them and deliver Sophie to safety. 

Sophie encounters Howl and they fly above the rooftops
to evade his pursuers

He is the renowned sorcerer Howl who is wanted by the wicked Witch of the Waste.  Howl's home is an enchanted castle which walks about on two legs and is magically obscured from detection.  Back at the hat shop Sophie is visited by a rude old woman who inquires on Howl's whereabouts.  Sophie gives the old woman's attitude right back to her, but is shocked to discover the old woman is the fearsome Witch of the Waste.  The Witch curses Sophie by transforming her into an old woman! 

Sophie gets a rude visit from the nasty Witch of the Waste

Now Sophie is trapped in an aging body, unrecognizable to any of her loved ones, and unable to tell anyone of her condition.  She sets off on a journey to find a cure and manages to gain entrance to Howl's moving castle. The inhabitants of the castle are Markl, a young boy who is apprentice to Howl, and Calcifer, a fire demon under a spell to obey Howl and the power source for the moving castle.

Sophie discovers the result of the horrible curse the
Witch puts on her!

The door to Howl's castle is magic and opens upon several different physical locations - typically wizards' storefronts where Howl poses as other wizards plying their trade.  Howl is out while Sophie gains entrance to the castle and when he returns she quickly explains she is the new cleaning lady.  Howl accepts her and she starts cleaning the castle - which is a daunting mess as no one has cleaned it ever before!

Sophie sets out to find a cure for her curse and happens upon Howl's
 Moving Castle (doesn't look like any castle I've ever seen)

Each of Howl's wizard alter-egos is summoned by the king to participate in the war, but Howl is not interested.  He tries to avoid participating yet cannot when he learns other wizards are transforming into giant creatures and destroying towns.  Now he is being hunted by the Madam Suliman, the king's royal mage, along with the Witch of the Waste.  In order to protect himself and those he cares about he repeatedly transforms into a powerful, bird-like creature, but each transformation brings him closer to losing his humanity.  Can Sophie help protect Howl, break her own curse, and keep her wondrously strange new family together? 

We meet Calcifer, a fire demon who is cursed to
serve Howl as the power source for the castle

Pros: Beautiful animation - hand drawn figures in front of lush/complex backgrounds with unobtrusive computer-aided elements, typical Miyazaki themes - anti-war and discovering inner strength through external struggles, great voice-acting for young/old Sophie, ending neatly wraps up the plot threads, very nice musical score, nominated for Best Animated Feature at 2006 Academy Awards 

Sophie sets to work cleaning the filthy castle

Cons: Film plot and character portrayals are drastically different than the original novel by Diana Wynne Jones, dub actor choices were questionable for Calcifer (Billy Crystal - too silly) and Howl (Christian Bale - too gruff), plot jumps around quite a bit and the reason for the war wasn't readily apparent (maybe I'm just dense, but after like ten viewings I still don't know why the war is happening)

Howl transforms into a giant bird-like creature to try and
oppose the other wizards involved in the war

Mike Tells It Straight: Hayao Miyazaki followed up his critically-acclaimed film Spirited Away with this film based on the novel Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.  His films are usually original creations written and directed by him (with the exception of Kiki's Delivery Service which was based on a short novel), but he was a great fan of the book and wanted to create a film from it. 

Sophie helps Howl to rest after a traumatizing experience

For those fans of the original novel this film is a big departure as it is not a direct representation of the book.  The Witch of the Waste was a beautiful ex-lover of Howl's and is instead an overweight aging madame.  Michael the teenage apprentice who was in love with Sophie's sister is instead Markl the young boy.  Howl was an irresponsible lothario and is instead a gruff anti-war hero. 

The castle and its inhabitants take a break from walking

Obviously Miyazaki used the book as a loose basis for the story he wanted to tell with the characters in order to reiterate recurring themes from past works - anti-war, a perpetual battle between technology and the natural (magical) world, and discovering inner strength through difficult trials.  Despite the change to the characters I think Miyazaki really made them stand for something. 

Heen, Markl and Turnip Head

Instead of a vapid womanizer we get a socially-conscious Howl willing to sacrifice his humanity in order to stop senseless violence.  Sophie discovers adventure and a chance at love after a debilitating curse alters her life.  I like the underlying theme of personal freedom portrayed in this film, particularly Howl's lifestyle and desire to stay unfettered of responsibilities.  His house is always on the move, he assumes false identities, and spreads unsavory rumors to keep himself at a comfortable distance from others.

Sophie holds a flaming heart in her hands

The spectacular visuals alone are worth viewing and the story is interesting if not a bit scattered.  Fans of Miyazaki and animation in general will really enjoy this film.  It's not the best Miyazaki has done, but in the upper strata for sure.  I would recommend seeing the film and then reading the book to minimize any potential disappointment with the film.  Absolutely see this and it actually improves a bit on repeat viewings.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
    

Spirited Away Anime Movie Review

Spirited Away
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Disney)
Movie - 125 mins. - 2 discs
$29.99 (2003)
ISBN 786936213843
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hayao Miyazaki
Studio - Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: Chihiro is moving to a new town with her family because of her father's work.  She had to leave all of her friends behind and feels sad.  Her father gets lost on the way to the new house and ends up on a deserted road.  Chihiro follows both her parents into a spooky passageway leading to a deserted train station. The station appears abandoned and they continue outside across a field of grass to what appears to be a deserted shopping district.  All of the shops look empty, but food is ready at the restaurants and her parents sit down to eat.  They stuff themselves greedily with no one around and her father makes an excuse to pay the shop owners later.

Chihiro drives with her parents to find their new home.  They don't
seem to care that she has just left all of her friends behind.

It becomes dusk and lanterns begin to glow all along the streets.  Strange shadowy figures coalesce in the streets and Chihiro's apprehension advances to growing dread.  She knows something is wrong, but her parents are oblivious.  Pleading with them to leave she is horrified to find they are transforming into hogs even as they shovel more food into their lengthening snouts.  Panicking she rushes to cross the grassy field and escape, but it has filled with water to become a river with the deserted train station now lit up on the other shore.

Chihiro frantically runs through the previously deserted streets
as the disturbing shadow blobs proliferate and solidify

Chihiro is frightened and alone with the shadowy figures solidifying into bizarre creatures all around her until an authoritative boy tells her to leave before nightfall.  Unable to leave and losing cohesion as surely as the shadows come into form she wanders hopelessly toward the entrance of a grand bathhouse.  The boy, Haku, pulls her aside and bids her eat something lest she evaporate from being.  He saves her and she is led into the bathhouse in order to obtain a job, which is the only way to remain there rightfully.

Haku helps Sen by bringing her to visit her transformed parents,
giving her food, and telling her to always remember her name

Yubaba is the owner of the bathhouse and a powerful witch (with a giant head).  Chihiro signs a contract for a job, but the condition is her name is changed to Sen.  If Chihiro forgets her real name she will be a trapped as a servant forever.  Her parents remain hogs in the bathhouse's pens among the other swine.  Sen vows to rescue them and return to the real world.

Yubaba is very scary and has a really big head!

Sen begins her menial work at the bathhouse by scrubbing floors and cleaning tubs.  She is befriended by another worker named Lin who is gruff, but kindhearted.  The two are given an incredibly odious job to clean out an especially dirty tub and help a disgustingly smelly stink spirit.  The bathhouse patrons are largely from the spirit world and not always what they seem.

Lin and Sen work to clean a particularly dirty bath before
getting assigned an especially smelly customer

Remaining true to herself and drawing on her own inner strength in order to deal with the impossible situation, Sen manages to hang in there and keep a level head.  She is very kind and her good intentions cause a terrible situation which endangers the bathhouse (involving a creature named No Face).  Haku is a powerful spirit himself and trapped in a contract with Yubaba.  Can Sen possibly return to the real world and save her parents from being eaten?

No Face offers Sen some bath tokens.  Initially gentle and
unassuming, the creature later becomes a serious problem

Pros: Wonderful story - just like a fairy tale, beautiful animation with hand drawn scenes meshed flawlessly to computer-aided effects, imaginative character designs - particularly the spirits, highest grossing film in Japanese history (at the time), won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, immerses viewers into a bizarrely magical world, good dub especially Suzanne Pleshette as Yubaba/Zeniba, nice soundtrack, decent subtitles

Chihiro works alongside the soot sprites in the
boiler room to feed the boiler for the bathhouse

Cons: Might be a little scary for some younger kids (particularly sensitive viewers) at some points (especially No Face), I didn't like the one cartoony part where Sen crashes into a wall and goes flat like a pancake (this isn't Looney Tunes), not a Western cartoon and some folks just may not get it (or they'll consider it really weird), plot can jump around too quickly with all of the strange happenings at the bathhouse, things wrap up too neatly and characters can be too nice

Chihiro rides the elevator with a big yet kind radish spirit

Mike Tells It Straight: Spirited Away is easily one of my all-time favorite films and especially among those from Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli (together with Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke).  It's a wonderfully imaginative coming-of-age story which continues to delight me to this day.  This film is another masterpiece by Miyazaki and garnered international acclaim while breaking serious new ground in America after winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002.

Some Yokai patrons of the bathhouse

The film is not perfect and although I'm highly biased toward giving it an unabashedly favorable review it may not be equally received by other viewers.  My two-year-old loves it, but she hasn't developed a strong sense of fear yet.  Slightly older children may get scared in a few parts (like when No Face eats one of the bathhouse workers).  The plot can be called too whimsical (mostly near the end with the visit to Zeniba's house) and lacking in structure.  Things happen without explanations - some people will dislike when this happens.

Chihiro/Sen on the train with No Face to see Zeniba

On the whole Spirited Away is a creative triumph in animated storytelling.  Chihiro's tale is a great metaphor for being an outsider in a new place and drawing on inner strength/conviction/belief to overcome those feelings of isolation.  She makes mistakes and learns from them.  The characters are not all black and white, good and bad.  Each one has their positive and negative sides, much like real people.

The soot sprites at feeding time - party! party! party!

Spirited Away is long overdue for a Blu-Ray release (or just another release period).  This one I would say is safe to buy before watching - it's that good.  How does Chihiro find her parents among all the other swine?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

The Cat Returns Anime Review

The Cat Returns

Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Disney)
Movie - 75 mins. - 2 discs
$29.99 (2005)
ISBN 786936268836
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hiroyuki Morita
Studio - Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: Haru is a typical high school girl who likes to sleep in late and has a crush on a popular boy.  She is an awkward teenager cruising through life without any real drive or purpose.  Her life changes one day when she saves a cat from being run down in the street.  The cat turns to her after the miraculous rescue and says "Thank you".  Speechless at what she has seen, Haru goes home and attempts to brush off the bizarre encounter.

Haru performs a daring rescue of a cat

In the middle of the night she is visited by a strange procession of cats and the even-stranger Cat King.  He thanks her for saving his only son and says she will receive a succession of gifts.  The next day she awakes to a field of catnip and her locker is filled with mice at school.  The gifts of the Cat King are driving her crazy, but the biggest revelation is yet to come - she is going to be married off to the Cat King's son! 

Haru meets the Cat King - I love the tuxedo cats as the King's 'secret
service' agents

Haru has nowhere to turn except the Cat Bureau where she befriends the Baron (a living cat figurine) and Muta (an obese, but very strong cat).  The wedding day draws near and Haru is whisked away to the Cat Kingdom - can her new friends rescue her?

Haru enlists the help of Muta and the Baron

Pros: Great animation and backgrounds, charming story with some humor and excitement, nice bonus features including dub cast interviews and making of featurette

Cons: Dub scripting has a few dud lines (mostly for the Cat King and Haru) and Anne Hathaway's performance is just okay, film is short at 75 minutes, subtitles are based on the English dub and not the original Japanese audio (i.e. 'dubtitles')

I don't know why, but I bet the Cat Kingdom is nearby

Mike Tells It Straight: The Cat Returns is not quite a sequel to Whisper of the Heart, another film by Studio Ghibli, although it brings back two characters from that feature - Baron Von Gikkingen and Muta (who were both shown in fictional scenes based on the main character's writings).  The director of Whisper of the Heart, Yoshifumi Kondo, passed away a few years after the release of that film and The Cat Returns was given to Hiroyuki Morita as his directorial debut.  It remains one of the few films not directed by Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata

Haru and Muta on the outskirts of the Cat Kingdom

This film is a charming addition to the Studio Ghibli works, but not one of their best efforts.  The comparatively short duration and use of a rookie director seem to be the cause of this shortfall.  The animation quality is very nice with all the lush backgrounds the studio is known.  I would have preferred a longer feature allowing the characters to develop further and the Cat Kingdom could have been explored. 

How would you like this guy as your father-in-law?  Snarf!

My biggest gripe is the dub scripting and voice actors - several lines were butchered and ended up sounding off.  Anne Hathaway's performance was so-so.  The subtitles weren't based on the original Japanese, but instead the English dub (i.e. 'dubtitles') which made watching in original language inaccurate. 

My two-year-old loves this film and it's easily an all-ages favorite, especially for those who love cats.  Overall I would recommend watching the movie, but perhaps not purchasing it unless you find it more than passably interesting.

TO BUY and Recommendations: