The King Cat

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Hayao Miyazaki was confident Hiroyuki Morita was up to the task of directing his first feature film.

Akiko Nasu, Akiko Sato, Akiko Shimizu, Eiko Inoue, Eriko Ishikawa, Eun Kyoung Kang, Eun Sil Lee, Fumie Kawamata, Fumino Okura, Haruna Kiryu, Hiromi Takahashi, Hiroshi Iijima, Hyeon Ok Choi, Hyun Ji An, Hyun Suk Kim, Jin A Park, Kaori Seki, Kuk Dong Han, Kumi Nanjo, Kyoung Mi Kim, Mi Ae Na, Mi-Sung Jang, Miho Fujimori, Naho Mitsuishi, Nobuko Takahashi, Noriko Matsumoto, Oh Soon Kang, Ryuji Uchida, Sayuri Nagashima, Shihomi Miyachi, Tomoko Yamamoto, Yong Kyoung Park, Youn Hee Lee, Youn Suk Ra, Young Shim Lee, Yukiko Kakita, Yun Hee Park An issue of King-Cat could be a textbook in midwest sensibilities. Porcellino’s spare, unhurried lines perfectly capture prairie grass and Lake Michigan horizons. Over decades of drawing comics, Porcellino’s artistic approach became more and more simple. A philosophy began emerging, quietly threading all of his work together. Moving slowly allows for true appreciation of things: a snowfall, a groundhog, a suburban house all lit up at night. He started translating his deep appreciation of the midwest landscape into every issue of King-Cat. A man’s relationship with his cat takes a horrific turn, leading to unexplainable supernatural events that rob him of everything he has.Next came the Baron Baron. He's a simple and incredibly elegant character. Therefore, I composed an extremely pompous piece, like trumpets playing fanfare music. As for Muta, I transposed its rustic side into music. I composed the theme of the king of cats so that it seems to illustrate the Kingdom. Behind its majestic, imposing appearance, this Kingdom appears to be a sham. I didn't want to give a good impression of it. I wanted the contrast with the Baron, who comes to save Haru, to be striking. Wanting none of this, Haru starts to freak out about marrying a cat and even the fact that they are going to drag her off to the kingdom themselves, Haru hears a kind, female voice, which tells her to seek the Cat Bureau. Haru meets Muta, a large white cat the voice told her to seek for directions, who leads her there to meet the Baron (the same Baron from Whisper of the Heart), who is a cat figurine given life by the work of his artist, and Toto, a stone raven who comes to life much like the Baron. Soon after meeting them, Haru explains her situation and Muta is not amused, while Toto points out that he should be grateful that she saved his own kind and a fight insues. To divert all of this Baron invites Haru in for some tea which she finds delicious, according to Baron each time he makes it is's different. Muta tells her that the Cat Kingdom is no place you should be if you don't trust yourself. Baron actually suggests that he and Muta go there themselves and while Muta declines Baron is able to change is mentioning that they can discuss this over some cake. Toto in the meantime gets some of his special mulberries. Baron tells Haru to always believe in herself, if she does she will be less scared. While Baron prepping the cake with Muta the King's servant comes and as a result, Haru and (soon Muta) are forcefully taken to the Cat Kingdom, leaving Toto and the Baron in the human world to follow the group from the air. The Baron and his crow friend find the entrance to the Cat Kingdom on Earth: Five lakes forming a cat's paw.

From the zine’s earliest days, Porcellino chronicled midwest mundanities. Early issues explored fiction and experimental writing (including the Madonna ‘n’ Me issue, which just records his daydreams about the pop star), but Porcellino really hit his stride when recording quiet moments of everyday life. A heavy sense of responsibility set on Morita as he became the head of a team of 387 people. He initially regretted his choice, thinking that he was not up to the task. In particular, he took a long time to grasp the spirit of shojo (comic book for girls) and it was only after many mistakes and trials and the unwavering support of his team that the adaptation took shape. Haustiere sorgen für Faszination bei Kindern. Auch ich bettelte damals um einen Hund als Spielkamerad. Als der tierische Weggefährte dann neben mir stand, musste ich lernen, dass mit ihm nicht nur Spaß, sondern auch Verantwortung verbunden ist. Das Resultat versäumter Spaziergänge oder fehlender Aufmerksamkeit ließ nie lange auf sich warten. Auch der schlabbernde Hund in Marta Altés Kinderbuch sorgt für allerhand Überraschungen, als er plötzlich das geordnete Reich von König Kater bezieht. Er hinterlässt stinkende Häufchen, wälzt sich in der frischen Wäsche und sabbert mit seiner schlabbrigen Zunge alles voll. Indeed, Miyazaki set up the project with the aim of giving a chance to young filmmakers. He has already set up directing courses within the Studio to find a successor, but no talent emerged immediately. Isao Takahata then suggested the young Hiroyuki Morita, a young collaborator of the Ghibli studio. He had noticed a great sensitivity in him when he took charge of the key drawings of " My Neighbors the Yamadas" (1999) and " Koro's Big Day Out" (2002), shown at the Ghibli Museum. Morita, aware of the incredible opportunity that presented itself to him, agreed to direct his first film.

In 20 years of working at Quimby’s Bookstore, Chicago’s emporium for all things zine, manager Liz Mason has seen a lot of King-Cat Comics move off the shelves. “Chicago can claim him as its own, but really, it’s suburban Chicago,” she says. “He writes about what it’s like to be skating around in the suburbs. I sort of take pride in the fact that one of my favorite artists grew up not far from where I grew up.”