Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Original Release: 2002
Choice: Our Girl's
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Yet another top-notch film from Studio Ghibli, The Cat Returns is a follow-up (not exactly a sequel) to the 1995 film, Whisper of the Heart (see my review here). The cat in question is the Baron, a character first introduced as a figurine in an antique shop in Whisper of the Heart. In that story, he comes to life in a fantasy sequence. In this later film, he gets a tale of his own.
Haru, a teenage girl, saves a cat from getting run over by a truck. The cat, it turns out, is actually a prince of the Cat Kingdom. Out of gratitude, the king of said realm sends his emissaries to shower Haru with gifts and, most troubling, to arrange for her marriage to the prince. A mysterious voice sends Haru to the Cat Bureau for help in getting out of this predicament. That's where she meets the Baron and also Muta, another returning character from the earlier movie. Things only get more complicated from there.
The Cat Returns has all of the Ghibli hallmarks: first class animation, a sophisticated plot and a strong female lead. Haru is true-to-life: insecure about all the things teenage girls are usually nervous about, yet spunky and decisive when she's in a tight spot. One doesn't really need to see Whisper of the Heart first since the two stories are independent of one another. However, it's a safe bet that if you like the one movie, you'll enjoy the other as well.
'Haru is true-to-life: insecure about all the things teenage girls are usually nervous about, yet spunky and decisive when she's in a tight spot.'
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My binary is rusty. Does this mean you approve?
DeleteIt means my circuits were too overloaded with response and all I was able to eke out was what you see above. Sometimes faith in a hopeful shorthand is all we have to bridge the distance from bleep to bloop.
DeleteTelekinesis really would be handy sometimes. When lingual faculties fail... on the next Oprah.
DeleteTelepathy. I meant telepathy. But the other would be nice, too.
DeleteWhat about teleportation? Or antipathy? Antipathetic teleportation.
DeleteOkay, now this is just getting silly.
Yes, I 'approve' of what you said about Haru. I imagine this blend of characteristics is universally appealing because it synthesizes both damsel and knight in the one plucky little heroine.
More to the point for me, it makes her a real person. Continuing our conversation over two blogs here, plot lines should be tidy but the more interesting characters usually aren't.
DeleteAlso, teleportation would be very cool - better than flying.
I've written, twice now, about 'universal appeal' and it's not sitting well with me. I don't like what I wrote in response to your conjecture about the 'bad boy' and I'm not entirely satisfied with what I wrote above about the sort of one-size-fits-all character synthesis.
DeleteI'm working very hard right now to strike a balance between joy and craft. It's been very challenging and my inchoate ideas are going to sometimes be articulated in ways that might later inspire (my own) ambivalence or even refutation. To cut through a bit of the jungle though,
'plot lines should be tidy but the more interesting characters usually aren't.'
I do love that.
Universal appeal is a highly elusive goal for the artist, I think. There's also a big difference between what appeals in the short term and what appeals in the long term. Take Journery's "Escape" album. Two songs off of that album charted better than "Don't Stop Believin'": "Open Arms" and "Who's Crying Now." But 30+ years later, there's no doubt which song is the best. I could teach "Don't Stop Believin'" to five-year-olds and they'd think it was the coolest thing ever.
Delete{{{Blinking cursor}}}
DeleteI love that song!!
Nice bit of trivia, btw.
I think universal appeal will always be easier when it comes to plot points than to characters. We don't all fall in love with the same kind of person, we don't all laugh at the same jokes, we don't all like to spend our free time doing the same kinds of things. A universally-appealing character may have broad appeal (humility, courage, a down-to-earth sensibility) but cannot be universal in his/her specific appeal (someone who wears bold prints, prefers Orange Fanta to Coke Zero and is a pyromaniac.)
I just finished going over a book on the recommendation of a couple of colleagues and friends, 'Twenty Master Plots.' (Maybe I can fit it into the, 'A book you really don’t want to read but everyone keeps raving about it' category?) The 'master plots' included The Quest, Escape, Revenge, The Underdog, Forbidden Love, Maturation, Pursuit. In each, there are elements which hold a natural appeal for most humans. I've been looking over them to help me structure the text on which I'm working (rapidly evolving every day as I've mostly been just generating text in order find my way, at this point) because these are the so-called masters, the templates.
Not unlike the four-chord mash ups you see all over youtube based on, yep, Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin.'
Two mistakes we all make:
Delete1) Assuming that our experiences are unique.
2) Assuming that our experiences are universal.
The truth is somewhere in between. Finding the compromise is the key to connecting with your audience.
Consider participating in my last False Start installment, Scoots? I know you've got something that would be appropriate.
Delete(Oh, hey, look! A 'please.' Is that sugar on top?)
Oh, alright...
DeleteSo, when is this happening? Your latest post has me a bit confusing.
Valentine's Day.
DeleteI seem to be confusing people, lately. And here I am vowing to write with greater clarity!
And I vow to spel bettor een tha fyuchur, 2.
DeleteI've got just the thing. I'll clean it up for next Thursday.
Yipee! Seriously, I was all happy when I read you'd agreed to participate.
DeleteI feel like I'm intruding into a conversation here. :) But I love Miyazaki. My kids grew up with Miyazaki: we own most of his movies. I was just thinking of him because we saw A Scanner Darkly the other day, a Philip K. Dick adaptation, and it seemed like a Miyazaki for adults. Both Dick and Miyazaki seem pretty interested in humanity's relationship with technology and nature, and in creating a porous boundary between reality and fantasy.
ReplyDelete"Two mistakes we all make: 1) Assuming that our experiences are unique. 2) Assuming that our experiences are universal. The truth is somewhere in between. Finding the compromise is the key to connecting with your audience."
I really love this. I really, really love this.
Whoops! Just realized that Miyazaki didn't direct The Cat Returns (he is listed as "a planner," whatever that means) or Whisper (he was "writer and planner" for that). I am so used to Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki being the same!
DeleteIt's not an intrusion at all. And thanks for following! I'll be over to visit you as well.
DeleteYou are correct that Miyazaki didn't direct those but he is a man who seems to take his legacy very seriously. I think in ten years or so, the role he has played in launching the careers of others will be more apparent.
Also, I don't know if either of you read what I'd commented on a stream over at SC that included the Dr. Who reference but Steph, Squid is the guy whose words about the market and art I read to you back in December. His blog is wonderfully intelligent and consistently gives rise to all sorts of interesting (and fun!) conversations.
ReplyDeleteSquidman, Steph is a beautiful friend and intensely stimulating intellect who is funny and kind and who has some of the brightest eyes I have ever looked into (which I think is an indication of some mischief magic and it translates without a hitch into her writing.) Go over to her solo blog, Words Incorporated, and try and convince her to add the square heads. :) :)
Always delighted to make new friends!
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