Cute Japanese high school girl Haru (voiced by Anne Hathaway) rescues a cat from getting flattened by a truck. The cat is Prince Lune (v.b. Andrew Bevis), heir to the throne of the corpulent and obnoxious Cat King (v.b. Tim Curry). It becomes clear to Haru that the Cat King plans to kidnap her and take her to the Cat Kingdom, where Haru will be obligated to marry Prince Lune.
To prevent this, Haru is advised by yet another cat, Yuki (v.b. Judy Greer), to visit the Cat Bureau, which apparently consists only of aristocratic cat Baron (v.b. Cary Elwes), obese cat Muta (v.b. Peter Boyle), and large black crow Toto (v.b. Elliott Gould). Despite their efforts, Haru is kidnapped by the court of the Cat Kingdom, with Baron and Muta in pursuit to rescue her.
The character Baron was previously in another Studio Ghibli movie, Whisper of the Heart.
How others will see it. The Cat Returns is generally seen as a lesser entry in the output of Studio Ghibli. Worldwide box office was nonetheless 54M, predominantly in Japan, where the studio's anime films are often blockbusters.
Unlike the prior year's Spirited Away, the festival circuit was unrewarding. Today at imdb.com, the movie has a respectable 52K user votes and an also respectable 7.2 (out of 10) user rating. American viewers, for some reason, grade the movie higher than non-Americans (7.4 versus 7.1). The rating dropoff with advancing age is minimal.
The user reviews are mostly positive. A majority of viewers are charmed. Most are familiar with other Studio Ghibli films. There are naysayers, of course, who note that the old master himself, Miyazaki, only has a role of "planner" instead of director. The story may be cutesy for some, as it concerns a teenage girl and a bunch of cats.
How I felt about it. I suppose that The Cat Returns is political, since the Cat Kingdom is headed by a selfish and mercurial dictator. But once Prince Lune returns from his vacation (or whatever it was), it is apparent that he is the actual power of the kingdom, since the Cat King becomes uncharacteristically obsequious in his presence.
The plot is reminiscent of The Princess Bride, which also cast Cary Elwes in the role of rescuer. But suspense is lacking: we never believe that Haru will permanently turn into a cat, or be actually forced to marry Lune. The Baron is not a love interest for Haru, as he is a cat and she is a schoolgirl, too young to marry anyone.
The film's moral is lame: be confident. Believe in yourself. When Haru returns to her world from her adventure in the Cat Kingdom, she is now serenely grown up, to the astonishment of her mother (v.b. Kristine Sutherland) and best friend Hiromi (v.b. Kristen Bell). Before, she was 15 going on 12, but now she is 15 going on 30. Is this supposed to be an improvement?