The Baron is separated from the other cats through his wearing of clothes and the refined manner by which he presents himself. He is however, a cat fabricated from the image of what his human creator defines a cat to be and as a result displays a significant contrast of character and behaviour to that of the real cats within the film.įirstly, The Baron possesses more anthropomorphic qualities than rest of the cats in the cat kingdom, despite their ability to speak. Despite The Baron being a statue, he is nevertheless a cat. Baron Humbert von Gikkingen is a figurine created by an artisan, who gave The Baron a soul and the ability to live through creating him with ‘all of his heart’. The film uses the characterisation of The Baron to display how human assumptions and interpretations of animals are regarded as factual and become the social norm. The contrast between these two portrayals demonstrates the difficulties of determining the true characteristics of the cat and the problems that arise when they are misinterpreted. The film contrasts the real cats of the Cat Kingdom against The Baron to demonstrate how we project human characteristics and emotions onto animals, many of which differ from that of our factual and scientific understanding of their behaviours. The Cat Returns however, uses anthropomorphism and animalisation in a more intricate manner to depict a duality between the reality of feline behaviours and the human interpretation of the characteristics of the cat. The cats of the Cat Kingdom’s ability to speak therefore becomes unsurprising to the audience due to the familiar trait of the genre. The concept of anthropomorphism is also commonly explored and accepted within animation, and The Cat Returns conforms to this expected trait. ![]() Fantastical representations of animals including cats inhabiting their own kingdom and arranging marriages is possible due to the premise of animated films as fantasy stories. Hesitant to accept this union, Haru seeks the help of the Cat Bureau, where she encounters Muta, Toto and the Baron, who embark on a journey to rescue Haru from the Cat Kingdom and free her from a life of cat-hood.ĭue to its characterisation as an animation, The Cat Returns is able to explore a variety of animal representations without a focus on realism. Gifts are showered upon Haru from the kingdom in thanks and an arranged marriage is proposed between Haru and the Prince. Upon saving the feline it is revealed that this individual is none other than Prince Lune, Heir to the Cat Kingdom. The Cat Returns (2002) is a Japanese fantasy film animated by Studio Ghibli, which follows dissatisfied schoolgirl Haru Yoshioka, who after saving a cat from a road collision, discovers she has the ability to talk to cats.
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