This article is about the Studio Ghibli film. For the original book by Diana Wynne Jones, see Howl's Moving Castle.
Howl's Moving Castle
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by Toshio Suzuki
Written by Diana Wynne Jones (novel)
Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Starring Christian Bale
Jean Simmons
Emily Mortimer
Lauren Bacall
Billy Crystal
Blythe Danner
Josh Hutcherson
Crispin Freeman
Jena Malone
Music by Joe Hisaishi
Distributed by Toho (Japan)
Buena Vista Home Entertainment (USA)
Madman Entertainment (Australia)
Release date(s) November 20, 2004
June 10, 2005
September 1, 2005
September 16, 2005
September 22, 2005
Running time 118 minutes
Language Japanese
Preceded by The Cat Returns
Followed by Tales from Earthsea
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城, Hauru no Ugoku Shiro?) is an Academy Award-nominated Japanese animated fantasy film, based on Diana Wynne Jones' novel of the same name, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. Grossing $231,710,455 by mid-2007[1], it became one of Japan's most successful films. Mamoru Hosoda, director of two seasons and one movie from the Digimon series, was originally selected to direct but abruptly left the project, leaving the then retired Miyazaki to take up the director's role.
The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2004. The animated film was released in Japanese cinemas on November 20, 2004. The film has also been dubbed into English by Pixar's Peter Docter and is being distributed in North America by Walt Disney Pictures. The film began showing in select cinemas around the United States and Canada on June 10, 2005. It was released nationwide in Australia on September 22 and in the UK on September 23.
Contents [hide]
1 Story
2 Cast
3 Staff credits
4 Awards
5 Differences between the Film and the Novel
6 See also
7 Notes
8 Reception
9 External links
Story
The film starts off with the protagonist of Howl’s Moving Castle, Sophie, a timid and unconfident 18-year-old girl who works in her late father's hat shop in the town of Market Chipping. While walking to meet her pretty younger sister Lettie at the bakery one day, Sophie has a chance encounter with the handsome but mysterious wizard Howl, who rescues her from some menacing soldiers. Howl charms her with his looks and dashing feats of magic, briefly sparking happiness in Sophie. But later that night, the vain and jealous Witch of the Waste appears in Sophie's hat shop in the form of an obese, wealthy woman, along with several of her minions. The Witch hints at a prior connection to Howl, and curses Sophie by aging her into a 90-year-old hag before disappearing.
On self-imposed exile, Sophie runs away from home and journeys into the Waste. There, she befriends a magically animated scarecrow whom she names Turnip Head. Turnip Head secures her shelter from the Waste within Howl’s moving castle, a chaotic ensemble on mechanical legs (similar to Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut of Russian folklore).
Inside the castle, Sophie makes a deal with Calcifer, a fire demon who powers the castle's movement. Because of a magic contract that binds Calcifer and Howl together, Calcifer must work as Howl's servant, which he has grown to resent. Calcifer agrees to change Sophie back to her normal age if she can break the contract, but since the contract stipulates that its terms cannot be disclosed to a third party, Sophie must figure out the terms on her own.
"Grandma" Sophie, as she now calls herself, also meets Markl (Michael), Howl's eight-year-old apprentice; Howl himself appears soon after. Embarrassed by her transformation, Sophie hides her true identity and claims to be a cleaning lady hired by Calcifer to maintain the castle. She's accepted by Markl and Howl, and sets to work cleaning the castle.
Sophie discovers that the front door of the moving castle is magically connected to buildings in two towns (Porthaven and Kingsbury) where Howl maintains different identities. She also sees that, despite being a grown man, Howl is selfish, childish, and immature in many ways: He is vain about his looks and insensitive of others' feelings. Howl eventually reveals to Sophie how he knows the Witch: she once came to him as a beautiful young woman and he pursued her as a lover, but he rejected her after seeing her true form. The Witch now assails Howl with the fury of a jilted lover.
Howl receives summons from both Porthaven and Kingsbury to help each side in a war against the other. The war is being fought over the missing Crown Prince Justin, each side blaming the other for his disappearance. Howl suspects the Kingsbury summons is a trap set by Madame Suliman, Kingsbury's head sorceress and Howl's old mentor; also, Howl is a pacifist who despises war. Too cowardly to confront Madame Suliman, he convinces Sophie to speak to Suliman by posing as his mother, "Mrs Pendragon."
Going to the royal castle to meet with Madame Suliman, Sophie runs into the Witch of the Waste, who boasts that Suliman sent her a royal invitation, presumably to become a war magician. However, the Witch of the Waste is captured by Suliman's stronger magic, stripped of her powers, and shrunken into a helpless old lady. Suliman then confronts "Mrs. Pendragon" and demands that Howl become a war magician, or else she will deal with him as she has dealt with the Witch. Sophie defends Howl and her passion temporarily restores her youth. Howl comes to her rescue and the two escape Suliman on a flying machine along with Heen, Suliman's asthmatic errand dog, and the now-helpless Witch of the Waste. Suliman, however, learns Sophie's true identity and uses her to track Howl. However, Howl arrives disguised as the King of Ingary but Suliman sees through his disguise. Howl stays behind fighting off the chasing soldiers while Sophie goes ahead flying back to the castle. That night, Howl comes back in a large bird-like form walking up the stairs of the castle. Sophie wakes up as her young self again and tries to look for him, finding him in his rearranged room hiding himself. She tells Howl she wants to help him break his curse and that she loves him but his only reply is that she can't help him because she cannot break her own curse and flies away into the night, with Sophie turning back into her old self and wakes up, learning it was a dream.
Japan DVD CoverAfter escaping from Suliman, Howl transforms the castle into a larger and more beautiful version of itself as a present for Sophie. This severs the portals to Porthaven and Kingsbury, but opens two new portals: one leading to a flowery alpine field where Howl used to roam as a child, and another to Sophie's old hat shop in Ingary. Unbeknownst to Sophie, the self-confidence she has gained, along with her developing affection towards Howl, has begun to reverse the curse, returning her gradually to her true age.
As the war continues, Madame Suliman attempts to track Howl down at the hat shop, and Howl fears for the safety of Sophie and the others. Meanwhile, Howl's contract with Calcifer takes its toll: Each time he transforms into a large birdlike creature to defend himself and his friends, it becomes increasingly difficult to revert to human form.
Soon, there is a knock on the door of the hat shop, which Sophie answers to find her mother Honey; the two share a brief but emotional reunion. Honey conveniently forgets a small bag before she leaves, lamenting outside that she was blackmailed by Madame Suliman into betraying Sophie. Hidden in the bag is a spy bug; which the Witch of the Waste disposes of by feeding to Calcifer, but Calcifer becomes severely weakened as a result.
Eventually, the war comes to Ingary. As bombers attack the town, Suliman's henchmen swarm the hat shop, forcing Howl and Sophie to retreat. Howl transforms into the bird creature to draw the enemies away, while Sophie moves the castle back to the Wastes. Sophie realizes that Howl is caught in a hopeless battle, and convinces Calcifer to rescue Howl. In his weakened state, Calcifer is unable to move the entire castle. Sophie temporarily removes Calcifer from his hearth, which demolishes the castle along with her hat shop. She returns Calcifer to the hearth and, fueled by Sophie's long braided hair, Calcifer powers a smaller part of the castle and moves it to rescue Howl.
Unfortunately, as Calcifer is moving the castle, the Witch spies Howl's heart in the ashes - the one thing she had been seeking for ages. She greedily grabs it, but the heart is so hot it sets her aflame; to save her, Sophie throws a bucket of water on her and Calcifer. The shock of having his flames extinguished incapacitates Calcifer, who becomes unable to control the castle. It teeters on a high precipice, and Sophie and Heen are thrown over a cliff as the castle starts to collapse.
Surviving the fall, Sophie cries over the thought that by dousing Calcifer, she may have killed Howl. In the rubble, she finds the magical castle portal. Sophie enters the door to find herself transported into Howl's childhood. She learns that as a boy, Howl caught a dying (falling) star — Calcifer — and saved its life by giving it his own heart. This bound Calcifer to Howl indefinitely as a servant, but in the process Howl metaphorically lost his heart and became emotionally trapped forever in childhood - among other things, he is unable to truly love anyone. After being pulled back through the door, Sophie finds Howl outside the door. He is still in bird creature form, and badly injured and bleeding, but is able to take them back to their friends.
Sophie, Howl and Heen land on the remnants of the castle, and Howl falls unconscious as he transforms back into human shape. Sophie convinces the Witch to give Howl's heart back to him. Sophie pushes it into Howl's chest and Calcifer emerges in his true form - a shooting star gleefully spiralling into the distance. Without Calcifer powering it however, the remnants of the castle suddenly give way and plummet down a steep slope. Turnip Head, in a moment of bravery, uses his pole to stop the castle from sliding off a cliff, although he is badly broken in the process. Sophie thanks him for saving their lives by giving him a kiss; Turnip Head then turns into Crown Prince Justin, who had been transformed by a spell that could only be broken by a kiss from his true love. However, when Howl wakes up, Sophie shows she is really in love with Howl, which breaks her own curse, although her hair still stays a silvery colour. Calcifer soon returns, saying he missed them, and decides to stay even though his contract with Howl was broken.
Madame Suliman witnesses all this in her crystal ball back in Kingsbury; with Prince Justin rescued and Howl's heart restored, there is no reason to continue the war. She calls for an immediate cease-fire and the conflict ends. As the kingdom's aerial warships return home, Sophie, Howl, the Witch, Calcifer and Markl fly away in the newly rebuilt castle.
Cast
The movie stars the following actors:
Character Japanese version English version
Howl Takuya Kimura Christian Bale
Grandma Sophie Chieko Baisho Jean Simmons
Calcifer Tatsuya Gashuin Billy Crystal
Young Sophie Chieko Baisho Emily Mortimer
Witch of the Waste Akihiro Miwa Lauren Bacall
Markl Ryunosuke Kamiki Josh Hutcherson
Madame Suliman Haruko Kato Blythe Danner
Prince Justin/Turnip Yo Oizumi Crispin Freeman
Lettie Yayoi Kazuki Jena Malone
Heen (Dog) Daijiro Harada
King Akio Ohtsuka Mark Silverman
Honey Mayuno Yasokawa Mari Devon
Suliman's Servant Mitsunori Isaki
Additional Voices: Carlos Alazraqui, Newell Alexander, Rosemary Alexander, Julia Barnett, Susan Blakeslee, Leslie Carrara, Mitch Carter, David Cowgill, Holly Dorff, Moosie Drier, Ike Eisenmann, Will Friedle, Bridget Hoffman, Richard Steven Horvitz, Sherry Hursey, Hope Levy, Christina MacGregor, Joel McCrary, Edie Mirman, Daran Norris, Peter Renaday, Kristina Rutherford, Warren Sroka
Staff credits
Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay written and directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
From the novel by: Diana Wynne Jones
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Theme song: "Sekai no Yakusoku" ("The Promise of the World")
Music: Yumi Kimura
Lyrics: Shuntarō Tanikawa
Arrangement: Joe Hisaishi
Performance: Chieko Baisho
Editor: Takeshi Seyama
Supervising animators: Akihiko Yamashita, Takeshi Inamura, Kitarō Kōsaka
Art directors: Yoji Takeshige, Noboru Yoshida
Director of digital animation: Mitsunori Kataama
Color designer: Michiyo Yasuda
Director of digital imaging: Atsushi Okui
Audio director: Kazuhiro Hayashi
Recording and sound mixing engineer: Shuji Inoue
Sound effects: Toru Noguchi
Music performance: New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor & Piano: Joe Hisaishi
Associate producers: Seiji Okuda, Ryōichi Fukuyama
Film development laboratory: IMAGICA
Production: Studio Ghibli
Distributor: Toho
Howl's Moving Castle production committee: Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Dentsu, D-Rights, Mitsubishi, Toho
Awards
Osella Awards for Technical Achievement; 61st Venice Film Festival
Best Japanese Movie Overall; 2004 Mainichi Film Awards
Excellence Prize, Animation; 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival
Animation of the Year; 2005 Tokyo International Anime Fair
Best Director (Hayao Miyazaki); 2005 Tokyo Anime Awards
Best Voice Actor/Actress (Chieko Baisho); 2005 Tokyo Anime Awards
Best Music (Joe Hisaishi); 2005 Tokyo Anime Awards
Audience Award; 2005 Maui Film Festival
1st Runner Up, Golden Space Needle Award; 2005 Seattle International Film Festival
Nomination, Best Animated Feature; 78th Academy Awards
Differences between the Film and the Novel
Diana Wynne Jones did meet with representatives from Studio Ghibli but did not have any input or involvement in the production of the film. Miyazaki travelled to England in summer 2004 to give Jones a private viewing of the finished movie. She has been quoted as saying:
"It's fantastic. No, I have no input—I write books, not films. Yes it will be different from the book—in fact it's likely to be very different, but that's as it should be. It will still be a fantastic film." [2]
As Jones noted, the film is significantly different from her original novel. Roughly the first third of the plot is similar, after which the movie branches off into original territory, flavored with many of Miyazaki's familiar themes: airships, redemption, solving one's own problems, re-appearing characters from other Miyazaki films (with differing ages, forms and roles), beautiful natural landscapes, Victorian to World War II period European or Japanese societies (roughly 1860-1945), and cute non-human sidekicks. The focus is still on Sophie and her adventure while being cursed with old age, but the main action of the film's story takes place during a war, reminiscent of World War I (with bombing-attacks on civilian cities remeniscant of the Blitz of World War II, and monstrously large Dreadnought style battleships), and located in a fantastical nation somewhat reminiscent of pre-World War I Alsace. Indeed, many buildings in the town are identical to actual buildings in the Alsatian town of Colmar, which Miyazaki acknowledged as the inspiration for its setting.
Concept art for the film's moving castle, which walks about on mechanical legs.Whereas the novel is concerned with Howl's womanizing and his attempts to weasel out of locating a lost wizard and a prince, the film has Howl avoiding helping in a national war for pacifist reasons, and deals with the consequences of this decision. This aspect of the film's plot is actually rooted in Miyazaki's political views as a pacifist- in an interview with NewsWeek magazine, Miyazaki told the interviewer that the movie had started production "just as your country [the USA] had started the war against Iraq", and the subsequent rage he felt about the Iraq war "profoundly impacted" the film. [1]
The movie also delves into spectacular scenes of radically alternate realities co-existing within the normal reality of the main story, and phantasmagorical visuals are prominently featured throughout the second half of the film. The book has the protagonists detour for one chapter into the 20th century world, where Howl is known as Howell Jenkins. This element is not used in the film, although one of Howl's aliases is "The Great Wizard Jenkins."
Many of the book's characters are modified for the film. The character of Howl's apprentice, Michael Fisher, is a teenager in the book but a young boy, "Markl", in the film. Sophie has only one sister in the movie compared to two in the book (although the other sister is alluded to as an aside near the film's opening). The Witch of the Waste, instead of looking young and beautiful, is a huge heavyset woman that later becomes an old crone; as opposed to the frightening villain terrorizing the characters in the book, the film's latter half transforms her into a "grandmother" character and is even taken into Howl's home. Calcifer, who is a scary looking fire demon in the book, is portrayed as an adorable little flame in the film, although twice he blazes up into a wicked-looking blue flame strongly reminiscent of his appearance in the book. Finally, while in the book the 'Wizard Suliman' is an ally, in the film this is changed to 'Madame Suliman', a villain. Various other characters in the film are composites of the book's characters, with different motivations and personalities. Sophie and Howl themselves most strongly resemble Jones's characters (though Howl has a completely different background), but with gentler personas and less selfish motivations; that is, typical Jones character traits are softened into typical Miyazaki character traits.
The depiction of magic effects seem to be centered around stick-like figures of light or shadow that seem to represent shooting stars, demons, magical minions or aspects of the essence of magical power all at once. These "beings" make their appearance numerous times in the film: The "blob men" of Madame Suliman, the magical barrier on the ground around Kingsbury that disabled vehicles and magic, the shooting stars (which die upon contact with the Earth, especially bodies of water), as the ring of disabling magic that appears around the captured Witch of the Waste and the nearly-captured Howl (in this instance, the beings sing a childlike song as they hold hands and move in a slow ring around Howl and Sophie). The dual-nature of the demons seems to be that they are made of starlight, of normal flame, and also an essense of magic power in general.
