The Cat Returns: The Complete Riffs

Continuing our series of "Ghibli Riffs," let's take a short look at the 2002 animated feature The Cat Returns (Neko no Ongaeshi), which was directed by Hiroyuki Morita and based on an idea by Hayao Miyazaki to feature a movie about the Baron character from Mimi wo Sumaseba. There are not many riffs in this movie, only a few, but they're very easy to spot.

Let's take a look at the riffs in The Cat Returns:

1. The Baron's house, hidden away in a secret village in urban Tokyo, is actually the same house as used by Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Hound.

2. Haru chases the fat cat through an array of maze-like alleys, porches and rooftops in the city en route to The Baron. This sequence is an impressive urban spin on Mei's journey through the forest in My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

3. The image of the tunnel into another realm is a common Jungian archetype in fairy tales that symbolizes a journey into the unconscious. Hayao Miyazaki employed this image in Spirited Away and Ponyo.

4. I don't know for certain if this gag during the castle chase was intentionally riffing Animal Treasure Island (1971), but I was immediately reminded of a nearly identical scene from the Toei Doga classic. Hayao Miyazaki, as we all know, was a key animator and "idea man" for that movie. Again, I'm not sure if this fits the description of a "riff," but it looks close enough, so we'll add it to the total.

5. The entire chase sequence around a giant tower is another throwback to a Toei Doga classic, this time Puss in Boots (1969), which is basically one large Tom & Jerry comedy routine. This shot, in particular, is very close to a shot where the tower in Puss in Boots was knocked down. Hayao Miyazaki directly quoted a shot from that sequence in Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.

6. Finally, this bit at the end made me groan a little when I saw it. It's a direct riff on the climax of Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, particularly the 1984 animated film (although the graphic novel also includes it). It's a cheap bit of deus ex machina that worked for Miyazaki because it was employed as a slight-of-hand trick, distracting you from the fact that none of the movie's major conflicts are ever resolved. In The Cat Returns, it just feels like a cheap gimmick. Oh, well.


Overall, The Cat Returns has its share of charms, and it's nice to see the production team pay homage to a few Miyazaki classics along the way.