Rarely have metaphors for sprouting adolescence and adulthood been more elegantly portrayed. And he has his own transformational problems: His body starts turning, part by part, into a bird. Alas, Sophie’s pursuit of love is impeded when she has a spell cast upon her that turns her into a hunched 90-year-old woman (voice supplied, in a wonderful return to the screen, by Jean Simmons), whom the young man-who proves to be the Prince Howl of the title-fails to recognize. As creepy, ink-black blobs chase Sophie and her new friend, he suddenly lifts her with him into the sky and tells her to do what he’s doing: to move her legs and walk on the air-it’s breathtaking. Another gorgeous quiet moment occurs early on. The Japanese director has adapted the popular British writer Diana Wynne Jones’s 2000 novel, about a teenage nineteenth-century hat-maker named Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer) who falls in love with a dashing and brave but vain young man (Christian Bale). You also may find yourself thankful that you’re not trapped in another noisy, frenetic joke-machine of a cartoon like Madagascar or Shrek 2, where the ceaseless rat-a-tat-tat of topical gags and body-odor yuks serve primarily to introduce kiddies to the very definition of “flop sweat.” Although those last two movies may make far more money than the serenely nuanced Howl’s Moving Castle, they are films that beg for an audience’s love, and you can be pretty sure that children recognize such unseemly flailing, even as they may snort and snicker enthusiastically.īy contrast, there is giggling, belly-laughing, and gasping to be done watching Howl’s Moving Castle. Watching the opening moments of his latest wonder-work, Howl’s Moving Castle-seeing the way the contraption of the title, a gigantic, bulbous wood-and-metal edifice that lumbers along a pastel countryside dotted with silent sheep-you’re struck by the exceedingly odd beauty of the scene. Images and information used for promotional and informational purposes only.The great animation director Hayao Miyazaki frequently gives us a gift too often withheld from contemporary cartoons: blessed quiet. Original work ©Copyright 1986 Diana Wynne Jones. Hauru no Ugoku Shiro and Howl's Moving Castle ©Copyright 2004 Nibariki, TGNDDDT. Miyazaki then took up the director's role. Hosoda had been selected to direct the film but abruptly left the project. Hayao Miyazaki, who also directed the film. The screenplay for the film was written by The book has enchanted readers of all ages for nearly 20 years, and the film was released on Novemin Toho theaters across Japan (see the FAQ for other release dates). Howl has been cursed by the Witch as well, and is seeking the love of young girl to help him break the curse. Cursed by the Witch of the Waste with the body of a 90-year-old woman, she finds her way to the moving castle inhabited by the wizard Howl, said by all to eat the souls of young girls. Sophie resigns herself to her boring fate, but fate has other plans for her. ![]() ![]() Howl's Moving Castle follows the story of young Sophie Hatter, a bookworm, the eldest of three daughters, a girl doomed to an uninteresting life as a hat maker. Based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
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