Banipal Witt: The World of Cats (1999 edited anime film dub)

Banipal Witt: The World of Cats is a 1999 re-edited children's film derived from the 1995 anime film ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catnapped! Catnapped!]'', originally directed by Takashi Nakamura. The edit was the combined efforts of its original director Robert A. Hughes and Magic World founders Michael Warren and Joseph Haddad, Pascal and Sandra Colline, Margaret Murray and Entervest Finances.

Originally intended to be a direct English dub, the project instead put the source material through considerable alterations, such as editing/cutting scenes deemed too frightening for young children and the addition of pop music to help generate commercial appeal.

Despite semi-American involvement with the production and the distribution rights being granted to Miramax, the edit's release in the United States was extremely limited and not given a proper home media release until 13 years later, although it was given a limited theatrical release in Canada on July 9, 1999.

The dub was first released in Germany on July 8, 1999 and later that year on October 8 in the UK and Ireland, both through Warner Bros. Family Entertainment.

Release dates

 * July 8 1999 (Germany)
 * July 9 1999 (Switzerland) (German speaking region)
 * September 21 1999 (Canada) (video release)
 * September 23 1999 (Israel)
 * September 24 1999 (Australia & New Zealand)
 * October 8 1999 (UK & Ireland)
 * November 18 1999 (Malaysia)
 * November 18 1999 (Singapore)
 * November 26 1999 (South Africa)
 * December 10 1999 (Italy)
 * December 16 1999 (Belgium)
 * December 16 1999 (Netherlands)
 * December 17 1999 (Spain)
 * February 10 2000 (Denmark)
 * February 11 2000 (Norway)
 * February 25 2000 (Sweden)
 * June 30 2000 (Poland)

Production
Robert A. Hughes was tasked with helming a dub of the anime film Catnapped!, after Magic World had been alerted of its existence through a film festival. Impressed by the "unconventional" nature of its story elements and visual motifs, he was enthusiastic about preparing it for an international audience.

To aid him in this project, Magic World called in the husband and wife duo Pascal & Sandra Colline, because of their humble background working in children's media, for a job in the writing department. Both Collines agreed just as the project's financier Entervest (who was tied with Magic World, purportedly to help the studio branch out internationally) brought forth Margaret Murray, another client of theirs.

From there, trouble began, especially after a subtitled preview screening. While the Collines diplomatically voiced their concerns that it would possibly be traumatizing for very young children, Murray denounced it more vocally to the point of angry complaints towards the higher-ups who then proceeded to make cuts.

By his own account, Hughes, who made a point of analyzing the film and its contents every day as the dub was in the works, feuded with Entervest over the cuts and, with difficulty, managed to gain authorization to the editing department where he could try his best and make sure the plot would remain coherent amidst the financiers' orders.

Of further issue was that Entervest tried to make the project more "marketable" by demanding the inclusion of pop music, particularly aiming for a potential youth audience in Europe (whose favourite acts might in turn receive exposure in Canada through the film's soundtrack), although Magic World was permitted to suggest which out of numerous available pop songs would best match the story and messages.

Release and reception
The film was released theatrically in much of Europe, Australia and New Zealand from mid-1999 to early 2000 while it had a direct-to-video release in Canada. Despite considerable promotion and the inclusion of songs by popular artists, it was not a box office success in these territories.

In the United States, it fared even worse. Other than a few sporadic showings on Toon Disney and other cable networks during the late 90's and early/mid-2000's, it had little to no release and its home media debut wouldn't be until 2012 when Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released it on DVD as part of their deal with Miramax.

It has been suspected that this was due to legal issues regarding confusion with a translated video release of the original film but according to Haddad, "Entervest wasn't really intent on giving it a U.S. release. TV showings were arranged mostly because it was the minimum of a contractual stipulation in order to set the international release in motion as they had wanted."