The other night, my husband and I watched another Studio Ghibli film, The Cat Returns, a deceptively amusing film about a teenage girl, Haru, who can talk to cats.
http://www.onlineghibli.com/cat_returns/char.php
For me, the film is rife with themes of her development and emerging Animus.
First, of course the cat has an obvious, oftentimes more 'bawdy' or demeaning reference to the female anatomy. However, most if the primary 'cat' characters in the film are male- except one. Yuki was the first cat that Haru ever communicated with. As a child, Yuki was a stray kitten following Haru home. Haru kindly gives Yuki the rest of her fish cookies to eat. Yuki remembers this kindness and her gestures are ultimately instrumental in Haru's escape from the Cat King's intended fate. This in a sense, represents Haru's primal self - her ego that will help navigate the way instead of allowing the Animus (whether the 'good' Baron or the 'bad' king) to take over completely.
As for the male cats: the Cat King is a lazy, mad, gluttonous, dictatorial (albeit funny) beast who doesn't take 'no' for an answer. (Sidenote-What is great is he is voiced in English by Tim Curry who gives him a kind of soulful beatnick flair, saying things like 'yeah, babe.' )
A counterpoint to this cat is the cultured Baron who is really a cat figurine come to life. He is everything the Cat King is not- truly suave, intellectual, tasteful- I cant believe I am saying this about a cat who wears clothes! Anyway, these 2 represent 2 choices that Haru has: stay in the Cat Kingdom- which in some ways is a pleasant and easy escape, or to take the risk of returning to the real world and her mundane life where she is perpetually late to school and will surely have to struggle with all the 'real' issues of growing up.
This film is charming and silly and is great for a lighthearted view with kids- esp if they are 8-12 year old girls. But, older teens and adults can enjoy Miyazake's innumerable talents for symbol and storytelling if they decide to look a little deeper.
image credit: http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20cat%20returns/CatsShadow16/the_cat_returns-haru-umbrella.png#!oZZ6QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fmedia.photobucket.com%2Fimage%2Fthe%20cat%20returns%2Fpinkfolks%2Fcat.jpg%3Fo%3D6
