The Cat Kingdom (猫の国, Neko no Kuni) is a featured location in The Cat Returns.
About[]
The Cat Kingdom is a world parallel to the living world, simply inhabited by cats. The Cat King rules the Cat Kingdom. Common cats don't wear clothes, except for noble cats. The cats eat mice and fish. At the castle, the variety of food is much bigger.
Haru is taken to the Cat Kingdom for her marriage with Prince Lune after she saved him from getting run over at the start of the film. The inhabitants put a necklace on her that causes her to slowly transform into a cat. The Cat King, noticing that she isn't happy, decides to put on some entertainment acts, but none of them excite her (as well as some cats getting thrown out of the window), until the Baron gets her to do a slow dance with her.
While Haru is in the dressing room, Muta goes into the refreshment room right next to it, which has heaps of food that he helps himself to, until he somehow gets himself stuck in a giant pitcher of cat nip jelly.
In an additional element not included in the film, it is revealed that the Cat Kingdom is where cats go when they can no longer live in the human world, thus implying Yuki is deceased, and many inhabitants are either spirits or half-deads.
Inhabitants[]
- Cat King (former king)
- Prince Lune (prince, new king)
- Yuki (future queen)
- Natori (former high official)
- Natoru (high official)
- Muta (unknown rediency, former criminal)