Monday Morning Maybe

Add your email and we'll match picks to the services you stream at home.

Poster for The Cat Returns

The Cat Returns

Seen it?

2002 | 75 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Drama, Family

Saturday Special

Why it’s a Saturday Special

It earned strong reviews (88% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it's still drawing plenty of interest. A strong pick for the weekend.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for fantasy fans, adventure fans and families. If you loved Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Spider-Man 2, start here. Critics rate it higher than audiences do, so it rewards patience more than it chases thrills.
The mood
Feel-good.
The pace
Takes its time with its characters, at 1 hr 15 min.
What might put you off
  • Rated G, but peril.
  • It's in Japanese, so expect subtitles (or a dub).

Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsStrong

    88% on Rotten Tomatoes, 70 on Metacritic

  • AudiencesSolid

    7.1 out of 10

  • AwardsBelow par

    2 wins and 0 nominations from smaller awards and festivals

  • Box office & staying powerSolid

    $65 million worldwide; still draws a steady audience long after release

  • Buzz & cultural impactStrong

    About 266K people sought it out in the past year

Trailer

More like this

Want more like this, picked just for you? Get my picks

Cast & crew

Directed by Hiroyuki Morita

  • Chizuru IkewakiHaru Yoshioka (voice)
  • Yoshihiko HakamadaBaron (voice)
  • Aki MaedaYuki (voice)
  • Tetsu WatanabeMuta (voice)
  • Yousuke SaitoToto (voice)
  • Takayuki YamadaLune (voice)
  • Hitomi SatoHiromi (voice)
  • Kenta SatoiNatori (voice)
  • Mari HamadaNatoru (voice)
  • Kumiko OkaeHaru's Mother (voice)