TheRetroCritic

Back when I first heard about this one, I kinda just wrote it off as a lesser Studio Ghibli effort purely because it sounded a bit too silly and, not being one of Hayao Miyazaki's very own works, I didn't feel the need to actually sit through it properly. I was an idiot. The Cat Returns is actually tons of fun and way more charming than I expected. Yes, the premise is ludicrous and the first time you see a cat stand up on its back legs and talk it's... insane but the film knows it, which is why Haru, our main character, lives through this whole mad ordeal completely wide-eyed and practically in shock. Anne Hathaway, who plays Haru in the English dub, does a terrific job at capturing those reactions. The plot sees Haru save a cat's life before being introduced to some hidden Cat Kingdom and being rewarded with a place on the throne if she agrees to marry the Prince. She is advised by an unknown voice to find something called the Cat Bureau where she befriends a b