The Cat Returns (2002) - Terrific Anime Dubbed in English

The Cat Returns (2002) - Terrific Anime Dubbed in English

You can get into endless fights on the Internet over whether anime dubbed in English is as good as the original Japanese It all depends on the actors and execution as to whether or not your typical anime dubbed in English works as well as intended. Phil Harman, for example, did a funny but notorious voice-over for the cat in Kiki's Delivery Service that, as anime dubbed in English, changed the character from a sweet, shy little thing into a wise-cracking know-it-all more palatable to Western audiences. Whether such anime dubbed in English changes are an improvement or detract from the viewing experience is difficult to say. Anime dubbed in English requires artistic choices to suit the English-speaking markets. In "The Cat Returns" (2002), directed by Hiroyuki Morita, Studio Ghibli was able to assemble an outstanding American voice cast to have the anime dubbed in English.

Haru saves a cat

Haru (Anne Hathaway: all actors listed are from the anime dubbed in English version) is a shy and quiet high school student is know for being able to talk with cats. She saves the life of a cat with odd eyes one day and he turns out to be Luna, Prince of the Cats (Andrew Bevis). She is confused when his father, the King of Cat (Tim Curry)s, comes that night to offer his son in marriage as a reward. The King interprets her reaction to have accepted the offer.

Haru is just a normal girl

Haru has second thoughts and, guided by a sweet female voice, visits the Cat Bureau to straighten things out. There, Haru meets Muta (Peter Boyle), a large white cat, who takes her to see the Baron (Cary Elwes), the Cat Bureau's founder, and Toto (Eliott Gould) a raven. Both the Baron and Toto are statues that can come to life. Haru and Muta are taken to the Cat Kingdom while Toto and the Baron follow behind to the entrance to the Cat Kingdom, which is a sequence of lakes forming the image of a cat's paw.

But Haru is special: she talks to cats

Haru turns partly into a cat with tan paws, ears and whiskers so that she will make a suitable bride for Prince Luna. Baron tells her at dinner that she can continue becoming a cat if that is her destiny, it all depends on what she wants. The palace guards attack Baron, and he, Haru and Muta have to flee from the castle in a tunnel shown to them by a sympathetic female white cat servant Yuki (Judy Greer).

Haru sees a cat while walking

The Cat King wants Haru to stay in the Cat Kingdom and become his daughter-in-law, so he tries to stop the three from escaping. They find a way out in a tower that has a portal to the normal world. Prince Luna, though, doesn't really want Haru, he wants to marry Yuki. Yuki turns out to have been the female voice that instructed Haru to go to the Cat Bureau in the first place as repayment for a childhood act of kindness by Haru toward Yuki. She is the title character of "The Cat Returns." Muta, meanwhile, is a wanted criminal in the Cat Kingdom for eating too many fish.

The Cat Kingdom!

Prince Luna and Toto help the three fugitives escape. Haru discovers that she actually likes the Baron, and he hints that there may be more adventures waiting for her at the Cat Bureau.

The Cat Procession

The Baron is a character from a manga from Aoi Hiiragi concerning a girl who writes fantasy sequences, one of which created the Baron. The manga was turned into "Whispers of the Heart," and the character of the Baron was so popular that Studio Ghibli decided to do another film featuring him. It began as a short created on commision for a theme park, and then was worked up into a full-fledged screenplay by Reiko Yoshida. Morita, one of the studio's animators, developed it into a feature film. This was the studio's follow-up to the hugely popular "Spirited Away," and "The Cat Returns" was a big hit as well.

The Baron looking contemplative

"The Cat Returns" is an animed dubbed in English that takes a while to pick up speed. Once it does, though, this anime dubbed in English moves at a very fast pace. Cat lovers will enjoy all the varied personalities in this animed dubbed in English of the cats acting just like cranky, innocent and suave humans. The cats are very determined in this anime dubbed in English and will not take "no" for an answer from the shy young girl Haru. There is a lot of humor, such as when the cats try to make Haru laugh at dinner in the Cat Kingdom. The Baron is very suave (like Puss in Boots, another smooth-talking animated cat) and makes it believable that someone might actually fall in love with a cat.

Haru has become part-cat

Anne Hathaway is a delight as Haru in this anime dubbed in English. She is cute, like her character, and keeps the voice light and simple. She may be a bit whiny at times. Peter Boyle is comically grumpy, while Elliott Gould provides a distinctive sound to the voice of Toto. Tim Curry uses an unusual voice for his part that does not really add much to the character of the Cat King. A better choice (if available) for the Cat King in this anime dubbed in English would have been someone like James Earl Jones, whose deep voice would have added depth to the character. Cary Elwes is the true star of this anime dubbed in English, though, giving The Baron a seductive and almost aristocratic personality that carries the entire film.

The Baron protecting Haru

At heart, "The Cat's Return" is a quick, breezy fantasy for children, somewhat similar to other Ghibli Studios productions such as "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro." If you liked "Kiki's Delivery Service," you probably will enjoy this film, too. It has delightful moments that will enchant children, though the story is kept very simple, and the anime is fairly weak for a Ghibli feature film. The score is by veteran Yuji Nomi, and he relies heavily on a full orchestral sound.

The Baron, Haru and Muta

The animation, especially in the background, is very good, but the character designs purposefully are kept simple, which may be disconcerting to modern audiences used to 3D and other highly enhanced animation features. The biggest complaint is that the characters look a bit cartoony, but only true anime dubbed in English experts will likely notice anything like that. The good news is that other Ghibli features have better animation, so if you like "The Cat's Return," you will like those anime dubbed in English features even more.

Decisions, decisions....

"The Cat Returns" is a very good choice for children, the anime dubbed in English version is great. This anime dubbed in English feature should give them a lot of pleasure. The trailer (with subtitles) is below for your convenience.

2012

Read More

The Little Mermaid (1989) - Disney Returns to Form

The Little Mermaid: Ariel The Little Mermaid Headlines a Top Disney Movie

Walt Disney invented feature film animation, and one of his pet projects in the 1930s was an animated feature film featuring Ariel the little mermaid. Just before and then more-so after Walt died, the company turned more in the direction of cute live-action Disney movies for kids such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)."  This strategy worked brilliantly for the studio at times ("Mary Poppins" (1964) and "The Love Bug" (1968)), and didn't at other times ("The Black Hole" (1979)). The inescapable bottom line was that live-action comedies and dramas weren't setting the studio apart from the pack. Disney movies suffered as a result.  Even shifting Disney movies with more mature themes, such as "Dragonslayer" (1981), didn't help. Only Disney movie animation, done the Disney way, could turn things around.  This Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid" (1989), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, features fan favorite Ariel the little mermaid, who flaps her flipper hard to help set Disney movies back onto the right track.

This edition was only available December 2008-January 2009

Disney went back to its roots with "The Little Mermaid" It really was Disney's first pure classic fairy tale since 1959's near-disastrous "Sleeping Beauty." The studio almost made a version of this in the 1930s, but the studio had too many projects going on in the "Snow White" days and "The Little Mermaid" never happened. This Disney movie only happened when the studio refocused on the classic fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen fifty years after the first plans for it were laid, when classic, Disney-style animation was experiencing the first, faint stirrings of a revival with "The Land Before Time" and "The Secret of NIMH" and a few other new titles in the '80s. Original treatments that had been made back in the 1930s - the studio's true glory days - inspired and in some cases guided the animators doing "The Little Mermaid," so it really was a continuation of the true Disney legacy.

Ariel's father, King Triton

"The Little Mermaid" doesn't follow the original fairy tale too closely. Hans Christian Anderson wasn't all sweetness and joy, so certain things had to be changed to appeal to a modern audience. Having a heroine like Ariel the little mermaid die at the end may have worked when the fairy tale was written, but it sure wouldn't work today in this "The Little Mermaid."

She must need to get her hair done a lot down there

In this "The Little Mermaid," Ariel the little mermaid (Jodi Benson, who since has gone on to roles in the "Toy Story" franchise besides the two sequels to this film), is the youngest daughter of King Triton (Kenneth Mars). She is dissatisfied with her life in the sea. In a classic case of "the grass is always greener," she longs to live with the humans who walk on land.

Reminds me of a tuna can

As a result, Ariel the little mermaid often argues with her father King Triton over her desires to be with humans.  He calls them "barbaric fish-eaters," which actually isn't too far from the truth. One day, Ariel the little mermaid goes to meet Ursula, the Sea Witch (Pat Carroll). They strike a deal, but her part of the bargain may not be what Ariel the little mermaid thought it was. Animation characters always have to be careful about the terms of bargains they strike with their pals, because the results often don't turn out the way they thought. Just ask Shrek in "Shrek Forever After."

Ursula

Ursula's deal with Ariel the little mermaid turns Ariel into a human for three days in return for Ariel giving Ursula her voice for that time. Ursula carefully puts the voice in a nautilus shell for safe-keeping. If Ariel receives the "kiss of true love" in that time (see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Shrek Forever After"), then she may stay on land; otherwise, she reverts to being a little mermaid and becomes Ursula's slave. Ariel the little mermaid hurries to the surface and quickly finds her man, Eric, walking on the beach.

Ariel the little mermaid, Scuttle and Flounder

Ariel the little mermaid makes terrific progress with Eric, but Ursula doesn't want to lose this bet. She gets her minions to disrupt things, and she turns herself into a beautiful young girl complete with Ariel's voice. Eric, befuddled, believes that Ursula is the little mermaid who saved him, and so he drops Ariel the true little mermaid for the imposter Ursula. Ariel the true little mermaid disrupts the wedding of Ursula and Eric and in the process recovers her voice, showing Eric that it indeed she, Ariel the little mermaid, who saved him.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor

Unfortunately, the sun sets before Eric and Ariel the little mermaid can kiss and thus help Ariel win the bet with Ursula. Accordingly, Ariel the little mermaid turns back into her true form and becomes Ursula's slave. King Triton can't allow this, so he places himself in Ariel the little mermaid's place so that she may go free. This makes Ursula the new ruler of Atlantica, and she immediately uses her new-found power to destroy Arield the little mermaid and claim Eric for herself. A tremendous battle ensues, and everyone's fate hangs in the balance as Ursula, Eric and Ariel the little mermaid battle for control of the oceans.

Buddy Hackett playing a seagull is just weird, but he is very funny

To give you some idea of the quality involved in "The Little Mermaid," every one of the two million bubbles was individually hand-drawn. Two million bubbles. Drawn. By hand. Individually. By someone. That's commitment!  This is a quality production, and a joy to watch.

All the creatures love me - who do I remind you of?

If you've ever been to Copenhagen or seen it in pictures, you are probably familiar with the famous statue in the harbor there of The Little Mermaid.  As an homage, the illustrators for "The Little Mermaid" copied that pose for Ariel the little mermaid repeatedly in this film.

Lovely red hair

There is talk of a "The Little Mermaid" remake which will be "dark."  I don't know how you make a sweet tale about a lovelorn mermaid dark, but then again, old Hans Christian himself managed it (don't ask). Perhaps Ariel is caught in a net and broiled for a restaurant meal?  I mean, enough is enough, this is a fairy tale for kids, nobody needs a "dark" Ariel the little mermaid love story.

Now, don't play hard to get!

This is a classic fairy tale that every little kid should see, but too few do. "The Little Mermaid" was so spectactularly good that it originated what is known as "The Disney Renaissance," which lasted for a decade and completely revived the studio. The trail of "The Little Mermaid" leads directly to 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," which some would call the top animated film of all time. If the kids liked "Finding Nemo" they certainly should enjoy "The Little Mermaid." Ariel's story is next set for its Diamond Edition DVD release in Fall 2013, complete with 3D Blu-ray which should provide awesome underwater effects. If you want more of Ariel the little mermaid before then, you can always turn to the 2008 prequel, "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginnings," or the 2000 sequel, "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea."

Below is the original film trailer.

2012

Read More