The movie is about a school girl (Haru) who doesn't quite have her act together and feels a bit unsure of herself. She rescues a cat from being run over and that starts her on a short fantasy based adventure during which she learns to have confidence. Not the most original theme, but a good solid one; and the individual story elements (involving the cats and their kingdom) are reasonably creative.
Now, it is true that the story and characters here are still a bit on the underdeveloped side of things, and I would have to classify it as a movie that would primarily appeal to children under the age of twelve; however, both story and characters have a certain simple charm to them that strongly reminds me of movies such as The Princess Bride. This feeling is reinforced by the fact that the part of Baron Humbert von Gikkingen (the gentlemanly, proper and polite hero of the story) is voiced by Cary Elwes in the English dub.
I note that many fans of Studio Ghibli's more famous works (Nausicaa, Mononoke, Spirited Away, etc...) seem to dislike this movie, or at least consider it a second tier entry in the Ghibli catalogue. I suspect this is due to the visuals.
While never bad, the visuals in this movie are far less spectacular than in most Ghibli films. This didn't bother me as I always consider the visuals to be of secondary importance when compared to whether or not I liked the characters and the story they're in, but it is worth noting that if spectacular visuals are the main reason you are an anime fan, then you won't find much of interest here.
In this particular movie, I do like the characters, and the story (while a bit simple) isn't bad either. My personal rating for this movie: a solid, 6/10.
