Baron, The Cat Returns: Movie/Manga Comparison
By chance, I found a copy of "Baron, The Cat Returns" by Aoi Hiiragi at the library. I heard varying comments about the manga (that the Ghibli Movie was based on), so I'm adding my own opinion and comments on the matter.
& because I saw the film first, my comments are sort of backwards, e.g. Character X is better in the manga, but Character Y was better in the movie., etc etc.
Characters
Haru: Although I felt some of the other characters deviated a bit from the movie, Haru was exact, same kind of spaz-ism in both.
Hiromi: Same as in the movie, she shows no mercy when she teases Haru.
Haru Mama (Naoko): Just as .... no words to describe her really. She doesn't show up enough for me to come up with a good word for her. Same with Machida. (Interesting, Tsuge is not shown at all.)
Muta: A lot like he is in the movie, just as mean in his jokes and speech, but as in the movie, manga!Muta has a softer side that encourages him to protect Haru. Muta's real identity in the movie, Renaldo Moon, changed slightly in the manga. In the manga, he is Lunardo Moon. I dislike this translation if only because it sounds too much like a longer version of Lune, the Prince's name. If Lunardo is suppose to be an exiled cat, why would anyone name their son after him? If, you know, he was long exiled before Prince Lune's birth, and the creation of that story wall, which is part of the castle.
Toto: Same as in the movie.
Baron: Slightly different. Not a lot, but enough to change the mood. In the film, Baron was romanticized greatly. In the film, he is just as dashing, but he's also got more humor.
For example:
* When Toto and Muta starts arguing, he sweatdrops and gives off an "oh geeze" kind of look.
* He signals Haru to enter his office by grinning and a hand motion.
* He's a bit more showy. When Muta yells at Baron to quit "putting on airs" after Haru is kidnapped, Baron gives a (x_x) look.
...etc
Yuki: In this version, she's Haru's long lost pet. She ran away from Haru years and years ago, gives no reason for having left Haru (technically she did, in a sense, when she said "cats come here when they can no longer be in the human world," but that isn't really any clearer!), and refuses to leave Cat Kingdom. [note: (1) in plots.] I dislike manga!Yuki if only because she's a bit more forward with her comments ("some cat office... nobody managed to prevent them from bringing Haru here"); she *was* the one who recommended the Cat Office after all... And she acts the same way towards Prince Lune, not afraid to scold to him when he misses a step. Also, we don't learn much about her either.
Cat King: As crazy as in the film.
Prince Lune: He is more humble, a tad clueless at times, but he keeps his dignity (when he's not around Yuki). Unlike the movie, he doesn't wear any fancy uniform. Ghilbi's Prince Lune is just as, if not more, grand and dashing than Baron is. Especially since he risked his life to search for Yuki's fish shaped snacks, AND he commands a whole army.
Plot
, Haru hears Yuki's voice right from the beginning. I wonder if this has to do in part with what follows; she turns around after hearing the voice, barely missing two people on a bike zooming past her. Maybe Yuki saw it coming, from the cat kingdom.
, Haru continues to hear Yuki's voice, at home. I'm not sure why Yuki would need to contact Haru at this point, unless she realizes that the King was going to ask her to marry Prince Lune. If there's an explanation, I'd like to hear it.
, Haru is *suddenly* outside her home, just before she meets the parade of cats. That makes no sense at all. Maybe it's "cat magic," but the events don't really flow as smoothly.
, Canned mice is creepy! I imagined the mice are actually dead, but still packaged in one piece. Kind of like an expensive treat only rich mice are privileged to.
, Introduction of the Baron was, while "magical," much less so, and not as spectacular as in the movie. In the manga, Haru must have been there one minute, and gone the next, to the people standing around the store window.
, I imagined Muta's comment ("cat's can't pronounce the 'ph' sound") suggested that because Muta has been in the human world long enough, he picked up the ability to use "ph" words, not unlike immigrants that learn new sounds in a new country. This of course, was never animated. I don't have the original version of the manga, so I have no clue if the same idea was used.
, Baron's discovery of an entrance into the Kingdom (by diving into the paw-shaped-pond), explains how he gets in, unlike in the movie. In the movie, he suddenly appears at the ball in a costume. The film tends to romanticize Baron's character by adding an air of mystery; perhaps he managed to get in through magic, a back door, an ally/spy in the kingdom, who knows? In the manga, he's graceful (landing right on top of Muta), though ironically, a bit more crude as well, using Muta as a soft landing spot. He also held a conversation with Muta, while standing on top of him.
, (1) Lune's gift for Yuki is unimpressive. At first I thought Yuki knew, for a long time, that she would be marrying Lune. Apparently, this isn't true; she blushes when Lune speaks up about his intentions to marry her. Going back to the gift → The calamari cup isn't very impressive as a wedding gift. The movie version's "wedding gift of Yuki's childhood snacks that creates the Haru-Yuki link" is much more romantic (supporting what the movie version is going for).
, Adding to Ghibli's creation of a more "distinguished Baron", Baron, Muta, and Haru soars through the air beautifully, after she has returned to the human world, and falls. In the manga, they simply fall, and Toto's staircase of birds catches them.
Etc.
, There is a photograph of a very elegant looking female cat in Baron's home. She is also shown again at the end of the manga, where Baron was originally displayed in a shop window.
, A breeze in the cat world = connection of the two worlds.
, The cat world is spherical. I liked the play on the change of gravity due to the fact that their world is spherical and so tiny. Seeing as how Muta was thrown off guard when he tried to cheat his way through the maze (and gravity from the other side started to pull him down), there must not exist any birds. Flying would be incredibly difficult if, just leaving the ground could cause one to "fall up."
, The manga's version of the cat castle looks nothing like the the impressive castle we see in the film. It's very much like the bottom half of a tree.
, The way Haru runs to Baron (when she leaves the castle, and finds Baron and Muta fighting the Cat army outside) shows such a close relationship. Rather than running to Muta's open arms, she only has eyes for Baron. XD
, They created the labyrinth because of Muta. XD Which of course, made no difference because he has such a great sense of direction.
, I couldn't follow Baron's logic at all, when he tried to figure out why they ended back at the cat castle after going through the labyrinth. Even though Baron ends up figuring out that the way out of the Cat Kingdom is through the hole in the castle, the readers should notice that Haru was the first one to figure it out. But she seemed to have changed her mind, or forgotten about it. My guess is, she intended to tell Muta (who was still outside), but she had fainted with no way of knowing where she was when she woke up, ran out of any door she could see (to see if she could find Muta and tell him about the way out), and simply forgot once she was outside.
, The addition of the bonus pages, suggesting a Cat Queen, is amusing. :D
Might add random scans here & there, if anyone is interested.
x-posted to ghibli
+ side note: I also had a very brief comment about the English adaption of the film. To see it, click here (LJ tag), and scroll to previous entry, to avoid spoilers for another film in the same entry.
* * *
I didn't realize until I coincidently came across the cartoon, but Babar is celebrating it's 75th anniversary this year. I loved Babar when I was younger. One of the things I remember liking about the animation of Babar, was Pompadour. He was always so dramatic, and over exaggeraged everything.
& because I saw the film first, my comments are sort of backwards, e.g. Character X is better in the manga, but Character Y was better in the movie., etc etc.
Characters
Haru: Although I felt some of the other characters deviated a bit from the movie, Haru was exact, same kind of spaz-ism in both.
Hiromi: Same as in the movie, she shows no mercy when she teases Haru.
Haru Mama (Naoko): Just as .... no words to describe her really. She doesn't show up enough for me to come up with a good word for her. Same with Machida. (Interesting, Tsuge is not shown at all.)
Muta: A lot like he is in the movie, just as mean in his jokes and speech, but as in the movie, manga!Muta has a softer side that encourages him to protect Haru. Muta's real identity in the movie, Renaldo Moon, changed slightly in the manga. In the manga, he is Lunardo Moon. I dislike this translation if only because it sounds too much like a longer version of Lune, the Prince's name. If Lunardo is suppose to be an exiled cat, why would anyone name their son after him? If, you know, he was long exiled before Prince Lune's birth, and the creation of that story wall, which is part of the castle.
Toto: Same as in the movie.
Baron: Slightly different. Not a lot, but enough to change the mood. In the film, Baron was romanticized greatly. In the film, he is just as dashing, but he's also got more humor.
For example:
* When Toto and Muta starts arguing, he sweatdrops and gives off an "oh geeze" kind of look.
* He signals Haru to enter his office by grinning and a hand motion.
* He's a bit more showy. When Muta yells at Baron to quit "putting on airs" after Haru is kidnapped, Baron gives a (x_x) look.
...etc
Yuki: In this version, she's Haru's long lost pet. She ran away from Haru years and years ago, gives no reason for having left Haru (technically she did, in a sense, when she said "cats come here when they can no longer be in the human world," but that isn't really any clearer!), and refuses to leave Cat Kingdom. [note: (1) in plots.] I dislike manga!Yuki if only because she's a bit more forward with her comments ("some cat office... nobody managed to prevent them from bringing Haru here"); she *was* the one who recommended the Cat Office after all... And she acts the same way towards Prince Lune, not afraid to scold to him when he misses a step. Also, we don't learn much about her either.
Cat King: As crazy as in the film.
Prince Lune: He is more humble, a tad clueless at times, but he keeps his dignity (when he's not around Yuki). Unlike the movie, he doesn't wear any fancy uniform. Ghilbi's Prince Lune is just as, if not more, grand and dashing than Baron is. Especially since he risked his life to search for Yuki's fish shaped snacks, AND he commands a whole army.
Plot
, Haru hears Yuki's voice right from the beginning. I wonder if this has to do in part with what follows; she turns around after hearing the voice, barely missing two people on a bike zooming past her. Maybe Yuki saw it coming, from the cat kingdom.
, Haru continues to hear Yuki's voice, at home. I'm not sure why Yuki would need to contact Haru at this point, unless she realizes that the King was going to ask her to marry Prince Lune. If there's an explanation, I'd like to hear it.
, Haru is *suddenly* outside her home, just before she meets the parade of cats. That makes no sense at all. Maybe it's "cat magic," but the events don't really flow as smoothly.
, Canned mice is creepy! I imagined the mice are actually dead, but still packaged in one piece. Kind of like an expensive treat only rich mice are privileged to.
, Introduction of the Baron was, while "magical," much less so, and not as spectacular as in the movie. In the manga, Haru must have been there one minute, and gone the next, to the people standing around the store window.
, I imagined Muta's comment ("cat's can't pronounce the 'ph' sound") suggested that because Muta has been in the human world long enough, he picked up the ability to use "ph" words, not unlike immigrants that learn new sounds in a new country. This of course, was never animated. I don't have the original version of the manga, so I have no clue if the same idea was used.
, Baron's discovery of an entrance into the Kingdom (by diving into the paw-shaped-pond), explains how he gets in, unlike in the movie. In the movie, he suddenly appears at the ball in a costume. The film tends to romanticize Baron's character by adding an air of mystery; perhaps he managed to get in through magic, a back door, an ally/spy in the kingdom, who knows? In the manga, he's graceful (landing right on top of Muta), though ironically, a bit more crude as well, using Muta as a soft landing spot. He also held a conversation with Muta, while standing on top of him.
, (1) Lune's gift for Yuki is unimpressive. At first I thought Yuki knew, for a long time, that she would be marrying Lune. Apparently, this isn't true; she blushes when Lune speaks up about his intentions to marry her. Going back to the gift → The calamari cup isn't very impressive as a wedding gift. The movie version's "wedding gift of Yuki's childhood snacks that creates the Haru-Yuki link" is much more romantic (supporting what the movie version is going for).
, Adding to Ghibli's creation of a more "distinguished Baron", Baron, Muta, and Haru soars through the air beautifully, after she has returned to the human world, and falls. In the manga, they simply fall, and Toto's staircase of birds catches them.
Etc.
, There is a photograph of a very elegant looking female cat in Baron's home. She is also shown again at the end of the manga, where Baron was originally displayed in a shop window.
, A breeze in the cat world = connection of the two worlds.
, The cat world is spherical. I liked the play on the change of gravity due to the fact that their world is spherical and so tiny. Seeing as how Muta was thrown off guard when he tried to cheat his way through the maze (and gravity from the other side started to pull him down), there must not exist any birds. Flying would be incredibly difficult if, just leaving the ground could cause one to "fall up."
, The manga's version of the cat castle looks nothing like the the impressive castle we see in the film. It's very much like the bottom half of a tree.
, The way Haru runs to Baron (when she leaves the castle, and finds Baron and Muta fighting the Cat army outside) shows such a close relationship. Rather than running to Muta's open arms, she only has eyes for Baron. XD
, They created the labyrinth because of Muta. XD Which of course, made no difference because he has such a great sense of direction.
, I couldn't follow Baron's logic at all, when he tried to figure out why they ended back at the cat castle after going through the labyrinth. Even though Baron ends up figuring out that the way out of the Cat Kingdom is through the hole in the castle, the readers should notice that Haru was the first one to figure it out. But she seemed to have changed her mind, or forgotten about it. My guess is, she intended to tell Muta (who was still outside), but she had fainted with no way of knowing where she was when she woke up, ran out of any door she could see (to see if she could find Muta and tell him about the way out), and simply forgot once she was outside.
, The addition of the bonus pages, suggesting a Cat Queen, is amusing. :D
Might add random scans here & there, if anyone is interested.
x-posted to ghibli
+ side note: I also had a very brief comment about the English adaption of the film. To see it, click here (LJ tag), and scroll to previous entry, to avoid spoilers for another film in the same entry.
* * *
I didn't realize until I coincidently came across the cartoon, but Babar is celebrating it's 75th anniversary this year. I loved Babar when I was younger. One of the things I remember liking about the animation of Babar, was Pompadour. He was always so dramatic, and over exaggeraged everything.