Do you love cats and animated movies too? From The Cat Returns to Whispers of the Heart, we have rounded up 10 iconic anime movies and short films that feature felines as main or supporting characters.
1. THE CAT RETURNS
2. A WHISKER AWAY
3. STAND BY ME DORAEMON!
Sewashi travels back in time to save his great-great-grandfather, Norbita Nobi. The fourth grader is an unathletic, chronic underachiever. He is also an unlucky pushover. Desperate to take control of the situation, Sewashi pressures his beloved blue robotic cat, Doraemon, to help. But Doraemon is frustrated by Norbita's pitiful state and tries to flee to the 22nd century. Unfortunately, he is forced to stay in the 20th century because of his computer programming. To tackle Norbita's troubles, Doremon uses his four-dimensional pocket—a bag that can hold any object.
4. CAT SOUP
5. THE LIFE OF BUDORI GUSUKO
Guskō Budori lives with his parents and younger sister, Neri, in the beautiful Tohoku forests of northeastern Japan. When an endless winter separates him from his family, Budori ventures to Akahige’s marshlands. But not long afterward, the crops are destroyed by the punishing cold. Then he teams up with scientists at the Ihatov Volcano Department, agreeing to induce an eruption to save his beloved homeland. Can Budori protect the people who are closest to him?
6. SHE AND HER CAT: THEIR STANDING POINTS
7. NEKO NO SHUUKAI ("A GATHERING OF CATS")
When an orange tabby cat named Chobi has his tail stepped on too many times by his family, he dreams of merging with other cats and rampaging through the city like Godzilla. Tuna and petting calm his inner demons.
8. TAMALA 2010: A PUNK CAT IN SPACE
9. KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE
Kiki is a 13-year-old witch in training with a talking black cat called Jiji. In exchange for room and board, she befriends a baker named Osono and opens a "Witch Delivery Service." She also meets Tombo, a geeky boy obsessed with making a flying machine from a bicycle. When Kiki is intimated by Tombo's friends, she loses her ability to understand her familiar Jiji or fly on her broomstick. An artist named Ursula tells Kiki she can regain her magic if she can find a new purpose. Kiki then sees Tombo hanging from an airship on TV. Will she be able to rescue him in time?
10. WHISPER OF THE HEART
Based on the manga by Aoi Hiiragi, Whisper of the Heart follows Shizuku Tsukishima, a 14-year-old girl who wants to be a writer when she grows up. One day, she realizes the name Seiji Amasawa is stamped on the checkout cards of every library book she's ever borrowed. Amid chasing after a mysterious black cat, discovering a magical cat statue named The Baron, and drafting her first fantasy novel in two months, Shizuku runs into the mysterious boy who may be her soulmate.
