 |
DVD Title |
The Cat Returns |
International Title |
The
Cat Returns |
DVD Length |
Original Length |
75 Minutes |
75 Minutes |
Company |
Year of Manufacture |
Disney |
2005 |
Language |
Subtitles |
Japanese, English, French |
English, French |
Region |
Number of Discs |
1 |
2 |
Aspect Ratio |
Sound |
1.85:1 (Anamorphic) |
2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround |
Extras |
. |
Menus (English) |
. |
Chapters (12) |
. |
Trailers: The Cat Returns (6 in total),
The Incredibles, Bambi: Special Edition DVD,
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds/The Cat
Returns/Porco
Rosso DVDs (Disney), Spirited
Away (Disney), Kiki's Delivery Service
(Disney), Castle in the Sky (Disney) |
. |
Behind the Microphone (9 minutes) |
. |
The Making of The Cat Returns (34 minutes) |
. |
Complete Storyboards (75 minutes) |
 |
|
Captures |
|
Review |
An unlikely early Ghibli release from Disney,
given that the firm's most famous director, Hayao
Miyazaki, had almost no involvement. Regardless,
the company does a good job with this 2002 film
as the video and audio quality are great, if one
can stomach the dubtitles, while there is also
a wealth of added materiel to look over.
|
Video: |
 |
A great, if not slightly flawed, video presentation
for this release. On the plus side, the print
used for the transfer looks to be near flawless,
with not a scratch in sight.
Noise levels are also great, with the animation looking very clean. The movie is also presented with either the English
or Japanese version, depending on which is selected,
and it will change up things like the main
title and credits appropriately. Unfortunately,
the colors are a little harder to gauge here.
They are certainly vibrant, to say the least,
but they look to be washed out as a result to
achieve this as either the saturation or contrast
has been adjusted too high. The brightness level
could also cause a problem for some, but I'm hesitant
to mention it as it depends greatly on the settings
of one's player on how much of a problem this
will be. Case in point, if this
scene looks problematic then one has an idea
what to expect. Like all of the company's releases,
edge enhancement is present in the form of halos,
but it's really the only digital inconsistency
to note.
The Cat Returns is presented in its
original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is Anamorphic
for widescreen TVs.
|
Audio: |
 |
Disney has done another great job with the
audio tracks here, giving a nice 5.1 surround
presentation for the English dubbing and 2.0 stereo
presentations for both the Japanese and French
tracks. All three are presented faithfully as
well, with no distortions and crystal clear dialogue.
Speaker distinction in all three tracks is respectable
as well, with the surround presentation of the
English dubbing being the best, of course.
Despite the qualities of the actual audio tracks,
though, there is one problem with the audio portion
of this release that should be all too familiar
to Toho fans: dubtitles. Yes, that's right, the
only subtitles provided on this release are a
near word-for-word reiteration of Disney's dubbing
for the movie. Now I understand that this DVD
was rushed into release to fill a void caused
by the delay of the company's My
Neighbor Totoro set, but that still doesn't
excuse the lack of effort put forth in this regard.
What I find disheartening, though, is that very
few other reviews for this release appear to have
caught this (a Google search for "Cat Returns"
and "dubtitles" points at those that
did, and kudos to them). On the bright side, the
dubbing doesn't contradict the source material
much, but artistic license has been taken, and
it gets very awkward when subtitles start appearing
on the screen when no Japanese dialogue is being
spoken.
|
Extras: |
 |
With some luck, Disney has packed this two
disc set with a very good selection of extras
for fans and Ghibli enthusiasts to mill over after
the feature itself. The standard extra for these
style of sets is of course included, which is
a full storyboard feature that runs the full 75
minute length of the movie and can be viewed in
either dubbed English or Japanese with removable
English subtitles (or dubtitles, to be more precise).
This is followed by a 34 minute making of documentary
on the film, located on the first disc. This covers
the entire production in detail, with interviews
from producer Toshio Suzuki, Hayao
Miyazaki, and
voice actor Tetsuro Tamba among many others. A
lot of aspects of the movie's workings are also
given inspection, including the creation of the
soundtrack and animation elements behind the movie's
many cats. Unfortunately, this feature is dubbed,
and not very well either. In fact, I could hardly
stop laughing at how bad it was at points. Considering
how much work goes into dubbing vs. subtitling,
I'm amazed that they went through the extra effort
for something that would likely turn off the purists
that would be most interested in such a feature.
Regardless, if one can weather the dubbing then
there is a wealth of information to be had from
this extra.
Next up on the roster is a rather robust collection
of trailers for the movie, all of which are in
good shape. Although unlike other discs from Disney,
they are not subtitled (raising the question as
to if their normal subtitler was sick when this
disc went into production?). Finally, the standard
"Behind the Microphone" feature rounds
out the supplements on this disc. Overall, it's
not one of the better ones Disney has conducted,
even if there are some very familiar faces attached
to this project, such as Cary Elwes, Anne Hathaway,
Tim Curry and Peter Boyle. Still, for those interested
into what some of the English voice actors thought
of the dubbing, this feature will tide them over
for its duration.
|
Overview: |
 |
Bottom line, Disney dropped the ball in respects
to the subtitling of this release, but otherwise
they did a fine job. Anime fans, or those looking
for some family friendly entertainment, should
be more than satisfied with this DVD set.
|
- Anthony Romero |
Buy
this DVD |
|