MICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

Until Hayao Miyazaki's forthcoming Howl's Moving Castle reaches us, fans of the great Japanese animator will have to make do with this entertaining, if ultimately lightweight, children's movie from young Hiroyuki Morita.

Emanating from Miyazaki's mighty Studio Ghibli, The Cat Returns - the title more properly translates as The Cat Returns a Favour - revisits a theme often touched on in that company's films: the emotional education of a strong-willed young girl through exposure to the fantastic. While it passes the time nicely enough, the picture has none of the mythical resonance of Miyazaki classics such as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke.

Walking back from school, young Haru spies a cat ambling across the street with a small package in its mouth. After saving the animal from oncoming traffic, Haru is astonished to see it bow to her and voice its thanks. Later that evening a distinguished party of felines, led by The King of the Cats himself, visits Haru and informs her that the animal she rescued is some class of a prince. The next day, in a charming touch characteristic of this eccentric genre, Haru finds mice individually packaged in gift boxes everywhere she looks. It transpires that she has been chosen as the prince's bride, but, a voice from the bushes tells her, if she applies to something known as the Cat Business Office she may be able to wriggle out of the marriage. And on it goes.

After a truly lovely start, The Cat Returns, less lavishly animated than its predecessors, wanders a bit too deeply into the nonsensical.

Children should still have a ball, but older viewers may prefer a bit more horror and menace mixed in with their whimsy.