FILM REVIEW - THE CAT RETURNS
A schoolgirl saves a cat from being run over by a lorry, and is shocked when the cat
thanks her, and promises she will be rewarded in kind. Soon, her street is invaded by a procession of upright walking cats in clothes, bearing a majestic litter on which the King Of Cats, an elderly rather shabby Persian fur ball rests. Ordinary domestic cats that attempt to interfere are beaten up and driven off by cats in security bouncer outfits. The girl is promised a shower of gifts, good fortune and invited to marry the King’s son, the prince, whose life she had saved. Though she has no wish to marry a cat, the girl starts getting the gifts, catnip flowers bloom in her garden, and the aroma infests her clothes, so she is
followed everywhere by cats, mice in presentation boxes are stuffed in her school locker, alive, - when the mice escape as she panics, the cats that followed her freak out the school in giving chase to them. A spokescat for the King tells the girl she will soon be taken to the Kingdom of the cats, and now an unseen cat tells her to call on the assistance of a special cat protection agent, at a nearby crossroads. The girl goes to this agent, a John steed like cat in dandy clothing with two friends, a huge white moggy and a black raven, - the white cat and crow fight a lot, but the hero cat offers to help the girl; however a sea of cats from the cat kingdom attack and the girl is dragged away to her apparent destiny. Swept into another
dimension, with the white-fat cat going with her, the girl shrinks to cat size and slowly turns into a cat, - The fat cat literally eats the entire wedding feast alone, and then falls into a jar of jelly and is assumed dead. The girl is so upset that the King arranges a series of entertainers to cheer her up, but as each fails in the task he kills them, - simply throwing them out the high castle window - finally the masked cat that turns up to dance with her is the cat rescuer she had called on, - and the whole thing turns into a chase and flight for freedom for the heroes as the wicked king tries to trap them in a vast maze - but the fat cat, now free, helps them, as do two cats, a now grown lady cat who the girl had fed during her childhood and unwittingly saved from starvation, and the prince, who actually wants to marry this cat and not the girl - the king offers to marry the girl himself, but she denounces him as a pervert - his guards attack, until someone realises that the fat white cat is one of a legend who once invaded their land and ate all the fish in the royal moat, - they are so scared by this the entire army runs away, finally rescued by the crows from falling to their deaths and now human again, the cats promise to help her again if needed, inventive, fun, thrilling and beautifully animated.
Arthur Chappell