Neko no ongaeshi (2002)

Country of Origin: Japan / USA
Year of Production: 2002
Running Times: 75 mins 11 secs
Length: 6766 ft + 4 frames
Format: Technicolor
Ratio: 1.78:1
Sound: DTS-ES     Dolby EX 6.1

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Tokuma Shoten / Studio Ghibli / Nippon Television Network / Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Hakuhodo / Mitsubishi / Toho / Walt Disney Home Entertainment present a Studio Ghibli production
Supporting Production Studios: Takahashi Production / T2 Studio / Telecom Animation Film / D.R. Movie / Studio  Fantasia
Supported By: Japan Art Fund
Executive Producers: Takeyoshi Matsushita, Seiichiro Ujiie, Koji Hoshino, Toshio Miyagawa, Hidenori Aihara, Hideyuki Takai
General Producers: Toshio Suzuki, Nozomu Takahashi
US Producer: Rick Dempsey
US Production Producer: Ned Lott
Line Producer: Kazuyoshi Tanaka
Associate Producers: Seiji Okuda, Naoya Fujimaki
US Production Coordinator: Vicki Rondou

SCRIPT
Script: Reiko Yoshida
English Language Adaptation: Cindy Davis Hewitt, Donald H. Hewitt
Comic: Baron Neko no dansahku by Aoi Hiiragi
Project Concept: Hayao Miyazaki

DIRECTION
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
US Co-Director: Ned Lott

ANIMATION
Supporting Animation Studios: Studio Cockpit; Anime Torotoro; Radical Party
Production I.G. Ogura Kobo: Hiromasa Ogura, Shihomi Suzuki, Ryotara Ueta, Hiroshi Goroku, Takanori Tanaka
Supervising Animators: Ei Inoue, Kazutaka Ozaki
Key Animators: Tetsuya Nishio, Shinji Otsuka, Michiyo Suzuki, Michio Mihara, Atsuko Otani, Masahiro Koyama, Atsushi Sekiguchi, Nobuyuki Takeuchi, Keiko Shimizu, Shigeru Kimijima, Kenichi Yamaguchi, Nagisa Miyazaki, Hiroomi Yamakawa, Miwa Sasaki, Toshiyuki Komaru, Yuichi Tanaka, Tadashi Hiramatsu, Yoshiharu Sato, Toshiharu Sugie, Shigeo Akahori, Masahiro Kurio, Mariko Matuso, Katsutoshi Nakamura, Hideaki Yoshio, Minoru Ohashi, Tadashi Okumura, Masako Sato, Masafumi Yokota, Shinichiro Yamada, Hiroyuki Aoyama, Teiichi Takiguchi, Yoshinobu Michihata, Hisao Yokobori, Keiko Nakaji, Sawako Miyamoto, Emiko Shimura, Mineko Ueda, Shinobu Mori, Ken Baba, Ayako Hata, Kazuhide Tomonaga
Character / Layout Designer: Satoko Morikawa
Colour Designer: Osamu Mikasa

PHOTOGRAPHY
Digital Camera: Kentaro Takahashi

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Megumi Uchida
Post Production: Tamaki Kojo, Noriko Tsushi
US Post Production: Mary Meacham Hogg, Buena Vista Imaging

MUSIC
Music: Yuji Nomi
Music Performed By: Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Hiroshi Kumagai
Arranger: Takamune Negishi
Song: Ayano Tsuji (Kaze ni naru)
Music Producers: Studio Ghibli, Kazumi Inaki

SOUND
Sound Recordist / Mixer: Makoto Sumiya
US Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Dahl
US Voice Director: Rick Dempsey
English Language Dialogue Recordists: Bill Komar, Bill Higey

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Toyohiko Sakakibara

VISUAL EFFECTS
Computer Graphics: Shinji Nasu, Keisuke Nakamura, Kazuhiro Tamura, Yasuhiko Yoshihara
Composite Supervisor: Kentaro Takahashi
Titles: Kaoru Mano, Malin Post

DESIGN
Art Director: Naoya Tanaka

CASTING
Cating Coordinators: Pug Point, Motohiro Hatanaka, Naomi Yasu, Ayumi Sato
US Voice Casting: Ned Lott

VOICES
Chizuru Ikewaki (Haru Yoshioka)
Yoshihiko Hakamada (Baron)
Aki Maeda (Yuki)
Takayuki Yamada (Lune)
Hitomi Sato (Hiromi)
Kenta Satoi (Natori)
Mari Hamada (Natoru)
Tetsu Watanabe (Muta)
Yosuke Saito (Toto)
Kumiko Okae (Haru's mother)
Tetsuro Tanba (Cat King)
Yo Oizumi, Youko Honna, Ken Yasuda (additional voices)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION VOICES
Anne Hathaway (Haru Yoshioka)
Cary Elwes (The Baron)
Peter Boyle (Muta)
Elliott Gould (Toto)
Andy Richter (Natoru)
René Auberjonois (Natori)
Tim Curry (Cat King)
Judy Greer (Yuki)
Kristen Bell (Hiromi)
Andrew Bevis (Prince Lune)
Kristine Sutherland (Haru's mother)
Katia Coe (little Haru)
Greg Berg, Erin Chambers, Robert Clotworthy, Kat Cressida, Terri Douglas, Courtnee Draper, Jason Harris, Brian Herskowitz, Mona Marshall, Randy Montgomery, Bradley Pierce, Diz White (additional voices)

PLOT SUMMARY

Haru is a young girl in a small town who one day saves a strange cat from being hit by a truck. The cat is carrying an important present and is so grateful to Haru that he arranges for her to marry the crown prince of Cat Kingdom. Haru is horrified and seeks the help of The Baron, head of the Cat Business Office, to prevent the wedding.

AVAILABILITY

France
Theatrical Distributors: Gaumont Buena Vista International

Japan
Theatrical Distributors: Toho Company Ltd

Netherlands
Theatrical Distributors: Paradiso Entertainment

Russia
Theatrical Distributors: CP Classics

UK
Theatrical Distributors: Optimum Releasing

USA
DVD Distributors: Studio Ghibli / Walt Disney Home Entertainment

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Switzerland
Rating: 7

Finland
Rating: S

UK
Rating: U

TIMELINE

2002
July
20: Japan - theatrical release

November
29: Turkey - theatrical release

December
25: Hong Kong - theatrical release

2003
May
2: USA - shown at the Los Angeles Anime Film Festival
15: France - shown at the Cannes Film Festival

July
30: France - theatrical release

August
8: South Korea - theatrical release
28: Russia - theatrical release

September
24: Germany - shown at Filmfest Hamburg

October
5: Morocco - shown at the Marrakech International Film Festival
25: UK - shown at the London Film Festival
30: Czech Republic - theatrical release

2004
September
15: Belgium - theatrical release
19: Finland - shown at the Helsinki International Film Festival

October
22: Finland - theatrical release

2005
January
13: Netherlands - theatrical release

February
22: USA - DVD release (Studio Ghibli / Walt Disney Home Entertainment)

POSTER TAGS

Neko ni nattemo, iin janai?

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

The Cat Returns - English language / German title
Kissojen valtakunta - Finnish title
Le royaume des chats - French title

LINKS

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The Making of The Cat Returns (2004)

SEE ALSO
Mimi wo sumaseba (1995)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Sight and Sound vol.15 no.6 (June 2005) pp.46, 48 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review (by Nick Bradshaw)

KEYWORDS

animals, animation, anime, birds, buses, cats, comic into film, crows, dancing, flashbacks, mice, sequels, sword fights, swords, teenagers, towers

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008