The unique origin of Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns.
From an animated short film commissioned by a theme park to a full length feature film.
The origin of a film can range from anything between a classic work of literature to a childhood experience and everything in between. This also applies to a film’s development as each work’s developmental journey is unlike any other. This is also the case in animation, where for example, a short animated film about cats commissioned by a theme park, can evolve into a full length animated spin off film to a studio’s previously released and well received film. This is the story of the production of The Cat Returns.
The Cat Returns is a 2002 Japanese animated film from Studio Ghibli. It is a spin off of Yoshifumi Kondo’s debut and sadly last directorial work, the 1995 anime film Whisper of the Heart, and it was directed by the first time director Hiroyuki Morita.
The Cat Returns did not start out as a feature film, in fact the so called ‘Cat Project’ began its life in 1999 as a short film commissioned by a Japanese theme park who wished the short to be based around cats. Hayao Miyazaki wanted the short to include three elements from Whisper of the Heart, the Baron, the cat Muta and the antique shop in which the figure of the Baron resided in. Aoi Hiiragi, the manga artist behind the manga Whisper of the Heart was based off of, was commissioned to write a manga equivalent to the upcoming short.
Eventually the short grew in length and became a testing ground for possible future Studio Ghibli directors. Hiroyuki Morita, developed Aoi Hiiragi’s manga into a series of storyboards which impressed Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki, enough so, that they decided to make the short into a feature length film with Hiroyuki Morita at the helm.
The film was released in 2002 and became a box office success, but has remained the only directorial work of Hiroyuki Morita. In his video titled, ‘Returning To The Cat Returns’ released in the year 2020, youtuber STEVEM (I highly recommend his channel for those interested in anime and the process behind their production) showcased a tweet by Morita in response to his question about possibly directing another anime film in future. In the tweet Morita responded to his question with “Will do it someday”, something which I personally hope Morita will someday go through with.
Feel free to share any unique or interesting origins of movies, tv shows or books that you are aware of, in the comments.
References
https://ghibli.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cat_Returns#Production