Night on the Galactic Railroad

I have to admit that I went into this 1985 Japanese animated movie knowing little other than it had an interesting title and cute cat characters. It ended up being one of those movies I will think back on and maybe rewatch. It's deeply dreamlike, strange and wonderful.

Night on the Galactic Railroad starts out rather straightforwardly, with blue cat Giovanni being bullied, having an absent/missing father and a mother who is ill. His only ally is pink cat Campanella, a serious and smart young guy who helps him out through solidarity when they're asked in class what the Milky Way is made of. Later, as Giovanni goes out late at night to fetch milk for his mother, he spots a train, boards it and finds Campanella aboard. They travel on the train across the Milky Way, aiming for the end of the universe, with many odd stops and passengers on the way. 

The characters are anthropomorphic cats that seem to be subbing in for humans for cuteness, until some humans (refugees from the Titanic) get on board and upend that theory. There is a ton of Christian imagery, and it is taken seriously but also not accepted by the main characters, who are one point leave a traditional heaven and find what one thinks is "true heaven" at the next stop. It's a black hole. Night on the Galactic Railroad is clearly very influential, not just the movie but the 1927 book it is based on. There are images, themes and styles that reminded me of so many other things, from Miyazaki to Over the Garden Wall. Any true animation fan should watch this. 

A lot of odd imagery on the train voyage

Main cat Giovanni. All the text in the movie is Esperanto and they seem to live in cat Italy