Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay), Diana Wynne Jones (novel) (as Daiana Win Jônzu)

Stars:

Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin

Top Rated Movies #144 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 15 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chieko Baishô	...	Sofî (voice)
Takuya Kimura	...	Hauru (voice)
Akihiro Miwa	...	Arechi no Majo (voice)
Tatsuya Gashûin	...	Karushifâ (voice)
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Marukuru (voice)
Mitsunori Isaki	...	Koshô (voice)
Yô Ôizumi	...	Kakashi no Kabu (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Kokuô (voice)
Daijirô Harada	...	Hin (voice)
Haruko Katô	...	Sariman (voice)
Jean Simmons	...	Grandma Sophie (voice)
Christian Bale	...	Howl (voice)
Lauren Bacall	...	Witch of the Waste (voice)
Blythe Danner	...	Madame Suliman (voice)
Emily Mortimer	...	Young Sophie (voice)

Storyline

A love story between an 18-year-old girl named Sophie, cursed by a witch into an old woman's body, and a magician named Howl. Under the curse, Sophie sets out to seek her fortune, which takes her to Howl's strange moving castle. In the castle, Sophie meets Howl's fire demon, named Karishifâ. Seeing that she is under a curse, the demon makes a deal with Sophie--if she breaks the contract he is under with Howl, then Karushifâ will lift the curse that Sophie is under, and she will return to her 18-year-old shape.

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Plot Keywords:

steampunk | anime | castle | witch | demon | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for frightening images and brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 June 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Howl's Moving Castle

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,474,751 (Japan) (19 November 2004)

Gross:

$4,710,455 (USA) (30 September 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Mitsubishi

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hayao Miyazaki: [Flying] Howl flies in a birdlike form and Sophie uses a flying contraption to escape the castle.

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Goofs

When Sophie leaves her bedroom, her dress has turned from green to blue. However, she couldn't have changed dresses because none of them would fit her after she was transformed (wider, much shorter, etc.).

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Quotes

Old Sophie: All right Calcifer, let's get cooking.
Calcifer: I don't cook! I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!

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Connections

Referenced in Angel Beats!: My Song (2010)

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Soundtracks

Sekai no Yakusoku
Written by Yumi Kimura
Performed by Chieko Baisho

User Reviews

I really enjoyed this film!

It's hard to make any movie that follow after 'Spirited Away' So, when you watch, you have to try and keep an open mind....which is hard to do since the characters, and the whole feel of the film seems so much like his previous works.

But what fun this film is! And interestingly beautiful. I could watch most any of his movies, just to look at the beautiful scenery. I love some of the incredible imagination that goes into his works.

I could easily recommend this film. No, it's not the better than the rest, but I feel it's definitely worth your time.

I look forward to seeing the film again, maybe I will understand some things a bit better.