Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle ハウルの動く城 Hauru no Ugoku Shiro, is the story of a girl named Sophie Hatter who is turned into an old woman by the Witch of the Waste, and who finds employment in the service of the wizard Howl.

Summary
Eighteen-year-old Sophie spends her days running her late father's hat shop. One day after work, she goes off to visit her sister Lettie. Along the way, she encounters the mysterious wizard Howl. He takes a liking to her. This attracts the attention of the Witch of the Waste, who has been seeking Howl's heart for herself. She puts a curse on Sophie that not only turns her into an old woman, but also prevents her from telling anyone about it. Unable to continue in her new aged form, Sophie runs away. Traveling around the hills, she meets and befriends an animated scarecrow she names Turnip Head. The scarecrow finds Sophie a cane and leads her to Howl's castle. Once inside, Sophie meets the fire demon Calcifer who powers the castle. The demon instantly realizes that Sophie has been cursed. Calcifer offers to break the curse in exchange for Sophie's help in breaking the contract between him and Howl. When Howl appears, Sophie announces that she is the castle's new cleaning lady. She also meets Markl, Howl's young apprentice. Sophie quickly adjusts to life in the strange castle, which contains a magic front door that is capable if opening upon several different places. She also learns about Howl, that he is vain and immature, and that the reason the Witch of the Waste wants vengeance is due to Howl's poor treatment of her in the past.

Howl receives multiple summons from the King, who has ordered all his various assumed identities to fight in the war now going on that had been started by the disappearance of Crown Prince Justin. Howl refuses to fight in the war. He also suspects that this is a trap set by his mentor, the King's Head Sorceress, Madame Suliman. The Sorceress is really the one who rules the kingdom in many ways, albeit from outside the spotlight. Howl convinces Sophie to pretend to be his mother and decline on his behalf. At the palace, Sophie runs into the Witch of the Waste, who reveals that she cannot reverse the spell she cast on Sophie. The witch and Sophie are separated, whereupon we learn that the Witch of the Waste gained her power by forming a pact with a demon. As this is a practice Madame Suliman is against, she punishes the Witch by draining all of her power. Unable to hold on to her slightly more youthful facade, the Witch revertsher true age, and seems to be a senile old woman. Suliman tells Sophie that Howl will meet the same fate as the witch if he does not contribute to the war. As she is telling Madame Suliman that Howl is kind (albeit selfish and cowardly) and has noble intentions, Sophie briefly changes back to her youthful self. However, she shifts back into an old woman when Madame Suliman mockingly states that Sophie is in love with Howl. Howl shows up to rescue Sophie, and the Witch and Suliman's asthmatic dog Heen come along. Howl separates from them to draw their pursuers away, but first he gives Sophie a magical ring that would guide her to Calcifer. Suliman, knowing who Sophie really is, begins tracking her to get to Howl.

By questioning Calcifer and through dreams she has, Sophie learns that Howl transforms into a bird-like creature to both escape pursuers and interfere in the war. However, each transformation makes it more difficult for him to return to human form. Indeed, we see other wizards who have become permanently trapped as winged monsters. Thanks to the love Sophie has for Howl and the others at the castle, Sophie has become closer to her real age. She looks younger and is no longer hunched over. In order to show his appreciation for Sophie, Howl changes the castle so that it becomes neater and more pleasant, as well as no being able to lead to Sophie's old home as well as Howl's childhood residence. This last destination he gives to Sophie as a gift.

One day Sophie's young and beautiful mother, Honey, visits, pretending to be affectionate and happy. In truth, she has been threatened into helping Madame Suliman. The Witch of the Waste discovers the spying "bug" Honey leaves behind. Before it is destroyed by being tossed into the fire, the bug informs Suliman of their location, and she sends troops to capture Howl. Howl transforms and leads the guards away, while Sophie andCalcifer bring the castle to the Wastes. However, Calcifer is rapidly fading due to swallowing the spying bug. The Witch of the Waste notices Howl's heart in Calcifer's dwindling flames, and snatches it. In order to save her from burning, Sophie douses the witch with water. Calcifer is reduced to a small, blue flame, and no longer has the strength to support the castle. The castle breaks apart, and Sophie and Heen are thrown over a cliff.

Sophie recovers in tears, believing that she has now killed both Calcifer and Howl, as their lives are interconnected. As she cries, Howl's ring points to the remains of Howl's castle door; she walks through it. Sophie finds herself in Howl's past, where she sees a falling star, Calcifer, being caught by a young Howl. To save Calcifer's life, Howl gives his heart to him and thus loses the ability to love. As the ring disintegrates, Sophie is pulled back to the present. However, before leaving she tells Howl to find her in the future.

Back in the present, Sophie finds Howl and realizes that he has been waiting for her all along. He carries her to the others and then collapses. She takes Howl's heart from the Witch and puts it back in his chest, thereby breaking the bond between Howl and Calcifer. Calcifer returns to his original form and flies away. The remains of the castle they are sitting on, suddenly no longer powered, begin to slide down the cliff. The scarecrow, Turnip Head, stops the fall and saves everyone, but he is damaged in the process. Sophie gives him a kiss, and he transforms back into the missing Prince Justin. The Prince thanks Sophie for breaking the curse as his true love, but Sophie then kisses Howl, her own true love. Sophie has almost completely changed back to her correct age, but her hair is still gray. Prince Justin leaves to put an end to the war. Madame Suliman, who has been watching the scene through Heen's eyes, orders her subjects to cease fire. Later, Howl, Sophie, and the others are seen aboard a new, flying castle powered by Calcifer, now of his free will. Howl and Sophie embrace and kiss.

Themes
War and Pacifism

In the novel, Howl's character does his best to avoid any responsibility whatsoever. At the first sign of someone trying to pin him down, he immediately flees. Thus, when the king begins to become dependent on him, Howl does all he can to avoid having to help. In the movie, however, Howl's help is requested for fighting in a massive war going on between countries. Howl, a pacifist, refuses to aid the cause. This is quite a change, and it was included to reflect Miyazaki's sentiments. The United States had recently entered into a war with Iraq, and Miyazaki, himself a pacifist, was greatly angered by this action. He admits that his feelings "profoundly impacted" Howl's Moving Castle.

Influences
Howl's Moving Castle is based off of a novel by Diana Wynne Jones of the same name. The author was not consulted in the creation of the film, though she did give support of it.

Though there were many things that were kept the same, Miyazaki also altered the story to fit his own style. Several characters were modified. Madame Suliman seems to be a combination of Wizard Suliman and Mrs. Penstemmon, but also with an added sinister aspect to her character, as neither character is a villain in the book. 15-year-old apprentice Michael became the young Markl. Calcifer's appearance is altered from the frightening description in the book to the cute depiction we see in the film. Turnip Head is believed to be malicious in nature for most of the novel. The Witch of the Waste is portrayed as a beautiful young woman in the novel as opposed to the large, overweight woman of the movie.

Further changes include the addition of the war, and Howl's avoidance of it due to pacifist beliefs. This was included, as stated earlier, to portray Miyazaki's sentiments towards the US war in Iraq. In the novel, there is no war, and Howl merely seeks to avoid being pinned down into any sort of definite position of responsibility. The movie also drops the parts of the novel involving travel to the 20th century.

Miyazaki credits the Alsatian town of Colmar as his inspiration for most of the setting.

Reception
The film did quite well economically speaking, with a total revenue of approximately ¥23.2 billion.

In terms of reviews, Howl's Moving Castle also did well, receiving favorable ratings for the most part. On Metacritics it received a score of 80, and it received a score of 85 on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a study performed at UGA, Howl's Moving Castle was the most preferred out of the three Miyazaki films showed (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke). Viewers felt that the plot was more relatable to Americans. They also found the story to be more fun, with a less heavy-handed theme than the other two. The viewers also generally found the characters to be more likeable.

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

Cast
Japanese:
 * Sophie - Chieko Baisho
 * Howl - Takuya Kimura
 * Witch of the Waste - Akihiro Miwa
 * Calcifer - Tatsuya Gashuin
 * Markl - Ryunosuke Kamiki
 * Servant - Mitsunori Isaki
 * Prince - Yo Oizumi
 * King of Ingary - Akio Otsuka
 * Heen - Daijiro Harada
 * Madam Suliman - Haruko Kato

English:
 * Old Sophie - Jean Simmons
 * Young Sophie - Emily Mortimer
 * Howl - Christian Bale
 * Witch of the Waste - Lauren Bacall
 * Calcifer - Billy Crystal
 * Markl - Josh Hutcherson
 * Prince - Crispin Freeman
 * King - Mark Silverman
 * Madam Suliman - Blythe Danner