Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城, Howl no Ugoku Shiro) is an animated fantasy film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, produced by Toshio Suzuki and animated by Studio Ghibli.

It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2004 and was officially released in Japan on November 20, 2004 by Toho.

It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name (translated in Japan as "The Wizard's Howl and the Devil of Fire") by British writer Diana Wynne Jones and is about a young milliner named Sophie, who is transformed into an old woman by a witch, and the wizard Howl.

The first half of the film is relatively faithful to the original novel, but the second half was changed completely during development, adding themes of war not present in the source material. The original author, Diana Wynne Jones' only request was that Miyazaki "not change Howl's character". She later gave a positive impression of the film, saying it retained the same spirit as her original work. The film is notable in how the Japanese voice actor who played Sophie also sang the theme song "Promise of the World", similar to Tokiko Kato who played Gina in Porco Rosso.

A Chance Encounter
"There you are, sweetheart. Sorry I'm late. I was looking everywhere for you!"

- Howl

Sophie, a hatter, is a responsible-yet-plain 18-year-old girl who goes to the bakery to visit her sister Lettie when she encounters by chance a mysterious wizard named Howl. This encounter arouses the evil Witch of the Waste, who later enters the hat shop and transforms Sophie into a 90-year-old woman. As the curse prevents her from telling anyone of her condition, Sophie decides to leave and seek out a cure.

The Indelible Curse
"A fire demon. Well, then you should be able to break my curse."

- Sophie

Along the way, Sophie meets upon the hill the scarecrow Turnip Head. She passes the mysterious Moving Castle and enters it. At this point, she meets the enchanted fire demon named Calcifer, who powers the castle and recognizes that Sophie has been cursed. Calcifer offers to break the curse in exchange for Sophie's help in breaking the spell he's under, which keeps Calcifer bound to the house. She also meets Howl's young apprentice Markl.

When Howl appears, Sophie announces that she is the castle's new cleaning lady, hired by Calcifer because he was sick of how dirty the castle was.

Sophie's Choice
Meanwhile, in Sophie's home country, the beginning of a war has sparked against another neighboring town - following the disappearance of the other realm's Crown Prince. Slowly the war begins to creep into Sophie's country itself. Howl receives summons from the King, who orders his various assumed identities to fight in the war. However, Howl comes up with an idea to send Sophie to pose as his mother, announcing what a coward he is and that he would be useless. At the palace, Sophie runs into an asthmatic dog, Heen, who she thinks is Howl undercover. She also meets the Witch of the Waste. They begin to race up the stairs.

Once they are inside the castle, the Witch of The Waste finds herself a place to sit down - only to find her magical powers drained by Suliman as a punishment. This causes her to regress into a harmless old woman with few memories of her past actions. Suliman tells Sophie that Howl will meet the same fate if he does not contribute to the war. As Sophie vehemently protests these measures, the Witch's spell temporarily weakens due to the love in her words. This causes Sophie to change briefly to her younger self, then regress to her older persona. Madame Suliman realizes Sophie's true relation to Howl and her romantic feelings towards him. Howl then arrives to rescue Sophie, Suliman tries to entrap Howl, but with Sophie's help, they escape.

Love of War
"That boy is extremely dangerous. His powers are far too great for someone without a heart."

- Suliman

Sophie learns that Howl is able to transform into a bird-like creature to interfere in the war, but each transformation makes it more difficult for him to return to human form. Sophie fears that Howl is preparing to leave them, as his remaining time as a human is limited, and he returns to interfering in the war. Sophie's mother shows up under Suliman's control and leaves behind a bag containing a "peeping bug" under her orders. The former Witch of the Waste discovers it and promptly destroys the bug by tossing it into Calcifer who gets sick, rendering him unable to conceal the castle.

A few hours later, the city is carpet-bombed by enemy aircraft while Suliman's Blobbmen invade the hat shop. After arriving just in time to protect the shop from the bombing, Howl draws the guards away after healing Calcifer. He tells Sophie he is not going to run away anymore because he has something he wants to protect before leaving to interfere with the war. Deducing that Howl must be saved, Sophie moves everyone out of the castle and removes Calcifer from the fireplace, destroying the castle. She offers Calcifer some of her braided hair to give him enough strength to power a portion of the castle. They head toward Howl when the former Witch of the Waste discovers Howl's heart within Calcifer. Sophie pours water on Calcifer to make her let go of the heart, making Calcifer lose his power. The segment of the castle splits, and she and Heen fall down a chasm.

The Boy Who Drank Stars
"A heart's a heavy burden."

- Sophie

Making her way toward Howl's heart, Sophie enters through the door into Howl's childhood. She sees Howl and Calcifer meet: Howl eats Calcifer, who gains his heart. Sophie finds Howl, having now lost his human consciousness in bird form. They head back to the group, and Sophie asks the Witch for Howl's heart. She gives it to her and places the heart back in Howl, resurrecting him and freeing Calcifer. She kisses the scarecrow who reveals that he is actually the missing prince. Heen shows the scene of their happy end to Suliman, and the war is finally over. Howl, Sophie, and the others return home from the end of the war, flying high above the bomber planes in a moving house.

Pre-Production
Every month, publisher Tokuma Shoten sent Hayao Miyazaki a children's book every month. One of those books happened to be Diana Wynne Jones' original novel, which intrigued Miyazaki, who then decided to adapt it into a feature-length animated film.

In 2000, animator Mamoru Hosoda, who worked at Toei Animation at that time, decided to become a director and was invited by Studio Ghibli to adapt the novel. Howl's Moving Castle would have been Hosoda's debut as a director, and he was given Miyazaki's blessing, as the elder director had grown to love the young talent's work. A production team was formed, which included screenwriter Reiko Yoshida and animation director Katsuya Kondō. They originally planned to release Howl's Moving Castle simultaneously with The Cat Returns, which was tentatively called "Baron" at that time. In April 2001, the first draft for the scenario was completed, and on December 13th of the same year, Toho announced that the film would be released in the spring of 2003. Early concept work by Hosoda showed that the film would have taken place in modern times.

However, in spring of 2002, the project was abandoned and Hosoda, along with his production staff, parted ways with Studio Ghibli. The internal staff at Ghibli were initially confused as to why production had ceased, and Hosoda later cited he was sacked by the legendary studio. Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki never gave a clear answer as to his departure.

Production
In October 1, 2002, production restarted, this time with Hayao Miyazaki as the director. Hosoda was shocked and upset by these turn of events, but later recalled, "I think I was too young at the time". It had been rumored that Hosoda's version of "Howl's Moving Castle" was kept somewhere at Ghibli, but Hosoda remained vague when interviewed regarding this.

On December 13, 2002, Toho announced that Miyazaki's new "Howl's Moving Castle" would be released in the summer of 2004. Storyboard drawing began on February 1, 2003, and production was scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2004. On January 7, 2004, Toho suddenly announced they were delaying the film's release due to Miyazaki not completing the film's storyboards and even increasing the film's length. This was the first time for Miyazaki decided to postpone the release of his films due to production delays. On June 25, the in-between animation was completed and checking was completed on June 26. Toho announced the film would be released on November 20, 2004.

In February 2004, a sticker-collecting advertising campaign was held by convenience store chain Lawson, with a special mug as a prize. Heen the dog appeared on this special prize, known as "Innocence Howl's Moving Castle Mug Present". A similar promotional campaign would also be utilized in later Ghibli films.

Release and Reception
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The film was a smash hit in Japan, selling nearly 1.1 million tickets were sold on its second day of release. It generated 1.48 billion yen in the box office, which was the highest opening of any Japanese movie in history at that time. By May 1, 2005, the film went on to sell 15 million tickets or a box office revenue of 19.6 billion yen, making it the number one box office champion of 2004 and 2005. It is considered the second largest box office earner in Ghibli history after Spirited Away. As of May 2007, nearly 2.7 million units were sold on home video.

The film received several accolades abroad, such as the Osella Award at the 61st Venice International Film Festival and the Best Animation Award of the New York Film Critics Association the following year. In addition to being nominated  for the feature film section of the 33rd Annie Award, which is said to be the Academy Award for Animation, it was also nominated for the 78th Academy Award since Spirited Away. In 2008, it was voted among the best 500 movies in history by the Empire magazine. The film ranked at #46 in the British magazine's 2011 Total Film "best animated movie" category.

Upon its first TV broadcast on July 21, 2006, it had a record high audience rating of 32.9% (video research, Kanto area survey).

Acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii praised the film for drawing out the dark side in Hayao Miyazaki for the first time. The story is an "unreasonable but mature expression." Despite its box office success, reviews were initially mixed in Japan as some critics disliked its illogical and clichéd plotting. Others faulted the film as being Studio Ghibli's first "stumble" after a string of critical successes. The film also met some controversy in its casting of Takuya Kimura to play the titular Howl. Miyazaki himself was dissatisfied with the film's critical response locally and abroad, as audiences in Europe favored the Japanese setting of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

When Miyazaki announced his early retirement at the time, he was asked which was his favorite work thus far. He immediately replied, "I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but Howl's Moving Castle is a thorn that has stuck in me for years."

Advertising Copy
The film's various posters and advertising featured short phrases, translated here.


 * "The two lived. " (Shigesato Itoi)


 * "The castle moves."


 * "The joy of living."


 * "Loving joy."


 * "The heroine is a 90-year-old girl."


 * "My lover is a weakling wizard."

Musical Inspiration
The score was composed and conducted by Joe Hisaishi, and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic. He stated he was influenced by famed composer Nino Rota's work on Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Other influences could be traced to French director Marcel Albert Carné's work. The soundtrack CD was first released on November 19, 2004 by Tokuma Japan Communications. Hisaishi also composed and conducted a special "Image Album" called Howl's Moving Castle: Symphony Suite, which was published on January 21, 2004.

Moving Castle
Wizard Howl's home. It's scale changes from scene to scene, and its weight is unknown. There are multiple turrets on the top and turret-like structures in the front, but film gives no indications that they fire. It moves around the wasteland with four bird-like legs. To the naked eye, it appears more like a collection of junk and a living creature than a traditional “castle”.

Few know the precise location of the castle, but eyewitnesses claim to have seen it pass by several towns from time to time.

There is a rotary switch connected to the main doorway, with four colors (green, blue, red, black). Using the switch and entering the doorway will transport you to either the wastelands (green), Porthaven (blue), Kingsbury (red), and a battlefield (black). Later in the film, the order of destinations is changed to green, yellow, pink, black, with yellow becoming the town where Sophie was born and pink becoming Howl's secret garden.

The fire demon Calcifer supplies all the energy to the castle, which supports its basic functions such as walking, lighting, cooking and bathing.

Calcifer's magic also holds the castle's structure together. If he so happens to leave of the castle, the entire construct would collapse in an instant. Towards the end of the film, the castle collapses due to Sophie and the Witch of the Wastelands dousing Calcifer with water. The castle is eventually rebuilt into a flying monstrosity.

The castle's animation was inspired by a weaving machine in motion, and moved along with a heavy, creaking sound. Staff at Studio Ghibli were of the opinion that that it would be unpleasant to use metallic sounds while it was in motion, so they opted to use the squeaking sound of wood to express the castle's weight. They called on a local carpenter to the studio, assembled the building materials, and kneaded and captured various sounds that were rubbed, moved, and broken. The castle's sound design and movement was finalized in three to four months.

Ground Transportation
Much of the film's land transportation uses steam engines. In bustling towns, steam cars, steam tractors and steam trams can be seen, which wasn't the case in reality as the use of diesel engines took over.

A steam locomotive can also be seen in the opening of the film that travels under Sophie's home.

Aviation
Much of the flapping-type flight machines widely used throughout the film were inspired by 19th century French artist Alberta Robida's work. Several types of these flapping-type warships operated in both kingdoms and its neighboring territories. They are used in fleet combat and are seen bombing cities as well. Neighboring countries also operated massive fixed-wing bombers. The propulsion for these warships is mainly covered by small moving wings fixed on the ship's hull, while propeller engines are hardly used. Many of the massive airships seen are also mainly used for military and not civilian use.

A small, two-seater "flying kayak", also makes appearance. They are mainly used by the military, although ordinary people are seen giving it a test-ride outside the palace's entrance.

Easter Eggs & Trivia

 * As elder Sophie leaves Howl's shop, a boy pass the shop. He looks like Pazu from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. He is seen again in Market Chipping, when Sophie leaves her home town. He sits next to a man on a cart with straw on it.
 * Miyazaki original wanted to call the film "Howl's Ugoku Castle", but this was "forcibly" rejected by producer Toshio Suzuki.
 * Mamoru Hosoda was originally supposed to direct the film, but dropped out due to creative differences.
 * Upon seeing Spirited Away, Christian Bale immediately agreed to play any role in this film. He didn't expect to get the titular role.
 * Hayao Miyazaki and Lauren Bacall, both long-time fans of each other's work, met at a subtitled screening in New York. Reportedly, Bacall jokingly asked Miyazaki if he was married.
 * Sophie's hometown was modeled after Colmar, France.
 * Although the film was not released in the United Kingdom until 23 September 2005, director Hayao Miyazaki personally traveled to England in the summer of 2004 to give a private showing of the film to Diana Wynne Jones.
 * In the novel by Diane Wynne Jones, Markl's character is actually called Michael.
 * Shortly after the film's release, it was subject to a short 2005 documentary, Ghibli: The Miyazaki Temple.
 * The film's second half was changed somewhat due to Miyazaki's opposition to the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003.
 * At the end of the movie, the words "Happy End" appear.
 * A small replica of Howl's castle was built in Asahikawa, Hokkaido.

Goofs
In the world of wizards and witches, everything is possible. Maybe the goofs were added on purpose.

The Magic Ring
When Sophie and Howl flee from Blobbmen for the first time in the film, they fly to Chezarys where Lettie works. Howl's rings vanished and appeared again. It happens two times during the fly.

Cursed Clothing
The Witch of the Waste cursed Sophie who becomes an old lady. Her body shape and size changed. So her clothes from her young age wouldn't fit her, but she elects to wear the same clothes. It was shown visually in Porthaven Marshes where Howl shows Sophie his secret garden.

Escape from the Royal Palace
When Sophie and her companions escape from the palace and finally reach Howl's Castle, Sophie wears lilac/purple/lavender/mauve/rose/pink/rosy clothes. In the next scene, the colour changes into blue.