Howl's Moving Castle (film)

Howl's Moving Castle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay by	Hayao Miyazaki
Based on	Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Starring	Chieko Baishō Takuya Kimura Akihiro Miwa
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Atsushi Okui
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Studio Ghibli
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) Walt Disney Pictures (International)
Release date(s)	November 20, 2004 (2004-11-20)
Running time	158 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥2.4 billion USD$24 million
Box office	¥23.2 billion $231,711,096 (worldwide)

Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城, Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) is a 2004 Japanese animated (anime) fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Mamoru Hosoda, director of one episode and two movies 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 and was released in Japanese theaters on November 20, 2004. It went on to gross $231.7 million worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history. The film was subsequently dubbed into English by Pixar's Peter Docter and distributed in North America by Walt Disney Pictures. It received a limited release in the United States and Canada beginning June 10, 2005 and was released nationwide in Australia on September 22 and in the UK the following September. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006.

Wynne Jones's novel allows Miyazaki to combine a plucky young woman and a mother figure into a single character in the heroine, Sophie. She starts out as an 18-year-old hat maker, but then a witch's curse transforms her into a 90-year-old gray haired woman. Sophie is horrified by the change at first. Nevertheless she learns to embrace it as a liberation from anxiety, fear and self-consciousness. The change might be a blessed chance for adventure.

Cast

• Kakin is voiced by Chardman in Japanese and Tyro Cracjua in English.
• Howl is voiced by Takuya Kimura in Japanese and Christian Bale in English.
• "Grandma Sophie" is voiced by Chieko Baishō in Japanese and Jean Simmons in English.
• The Witch of the Waste is voiced by Akihiro Miwa in Japanese and Lauren Bacall in English.
• Calcifer is voiced by Tatsuya Gashūin in Japanese and Billy Crystal in English.
• Markl is voiced by Ryūnosuke Kamiki in Japanese and Josh Hutcherson in English.
• Madame Suliman is voiced by Haruko Katō in Japanese and Blythe Danner in English.
• Lettie is voiced by Yayoi Kazuki in Japanese and Jena Malone in English.
• Honey is voiced by Mayuno Yasokawa in Japanese and Mari Devon in English.
• Prince Justin/Turnip Head is voiced by Yō Ōizumi in Japanese and Crispin Freeman in English.
• The Minister of Defense is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in Japanese and Mark Silverman in English.
• Heen the dog is voiced by Daijirō Harada.
• Madge is voiced by Rio Kanno in Japanese and Liliana Mumy in English.
• The King is voiced by Mark Silverman.
• Kabuto is voiced by Tomoe Hanba.

Differences between film and 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 traveled to England in the summer of 2004 to give Jones a private viewing of the finished film. 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."

The film is very different from Jones's original novel. The plot is similar, but it is flavored with Miyazaki's familiar style and characters, as well as several missing or drastically altered key plot points from the book. The plot is still focused on Sophie and her adventure while cursed with old age; however, the main action of the film's story takes place during a war, and its plot is chiefly concerned with Howl's attempts to avoid fighting in it for pacifist reasons. 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. The film is located in a fantastical nation somewhat reminiscent of pre-World War I Alsace. 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.

In contrast, the novel is concerned with Howl's womanizing and his attempts to lift the curse upon himself (discovering later how his lethal predicament is entangled with the fates of a lost wizard and prince) as well as running from the incredibly powerful and beautiful Witch of the Waste, who is the story's main villain and not at all the ugly, yet harmless, character she plays on screen. Another noteworthy change is that Sophie is herself an unwitting sorceress totally unaware of her power, with the ability to "talk life into things" such as the hats she makes and her own walking stick, taking on a life of their own the more attention Sophie gives to them.

There is also a chapter in the book that detours for one chapter into 20th century Wales where Howl is known as Howell Jenkins and has a sister with children. This glimpse into Howl's complicated past is not shown in the film, but one of Howl's aliases is "The Great Wizard Jenkins."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack CD was first released on November 19, 2004 by Tokuma. Artist Joe Hisaishi also composed and conducted a Howl's Moving Castle: Symphony Suite, an album published on January 21, 2005 which includes ten re-arranged pieces from the original soundtrack.

Reception

Howl's Moving Castle received mostly positive reviews. As of August 2011, review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% of critics gave positive reviews, based on 148 reviews, certifying it "Fresh". USA Today critic Claudia Puig praised it for its ability to blend "a childlike sense of wonder with sophisticated emotions and motives" while Richard Roeper called it an "insanely creative work". Other critics described it as "a visual wonder", "A gorgeous life-affirming piece", and "an animated tour de force." Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it two and a half out of four stars, and felt that it was one of Miyazaki's "weakest" films.

Top ten lists

"There's a word for the kind of comic, dramatic, romantic, transporting visions Miyazaki achieves in Howl's: bliss."

—Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2005.

• 2nd – Ella Taylor LA Weekly (tie)
• 4th – Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
• 5th – Tasha Robinson The Onion
• 6th – Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
• 6th – Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader (tie)
• 8th – Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun
• 8th – Michael Wilmington The Chicago Tribune
• NA – Peter Rainer The Christian Science Monitor (Listed alphabetically)

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

Influences

Gore Verbinski cited it as an influence for Rango.

External links

• Studioghibli.tv: STUDIO GHIBLI TV (trailers and other related anime works)

• Howl's Moving Castle
• Hauru no Ugoku Shiro [Howl's Moving Castle ] at the Internet Movie Database
• Hauru No Ugoku Shiro at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Hauru no Ugoku Shiro [Howl's Moving Castle] at AllRovi
• Howl's Moving Castle at Nausicaa.net
• "ハウルの動く城 (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2004/eb004590.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-21.