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- Budget ¥ 2.4 billion US$24 million Box office ¥ 23.2 billion US$236 million (worldwide)
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- Hayao Miyazaki
- PG
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Apr 27, 2024 · “Howl’s Moving Castle” is a fantasy tale about love, courage, and self-discovery. The protagonist of this story, Sophie Hatter, is a shy girl with very low self-esteem. One day, she runs into Howl, “The Wizard”, who rescues her from two royal guards trying to harass her.
Don't miss Howl's Moving Castle, the Oscar-nominated fantasy from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. Join Sophie on her magical adventure with a mysterious wizard and a fire demon.
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- Overview
- Plot
- Characters
- Mechanical Designs
- Motif
- Behind the Scenes
- Release and Reception
- Advertising Copy
- Music
(ハウルの動く城 , Howl no Ugoku Shiro) is the 14th animated fantasy film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, produced by Toshio Suzuki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2004, and premiered in Toho cinemas in Japan on November 20, 2004.
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.
had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2004, and was screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, 2004. It went on to gross ¥23.2 billion worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history. The film received critical acclaim, particularly for its visuals and Miyazaki's presentation of the themes. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 78th Academy Awards, but lost to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, in 2006, and won several other awards, including four Tokyo Anime Awards and a Nebula Award for Best Script.
The film notably has Chieko Baisho, who voices Sophie, sing the theme song The Promise of the World, similar to Tokiko Kato who played Gina in Porco Rosso. The Ghibli Museum-exclusive animated short, The Day I Bought A Star, has ties to this film.
The film is available for streaming on Max, and purchasable on most digital storefronts.
A Chance Encounter
Sophie, a needlewoman who works at her family's hat shop, is a responsible-yet-plain 18-year-old girl who goes to Cesari's café 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 her home of Market Chipping and seek out a cure out in the waste.
The Indelible Curse
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 of Ingary, 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 cowers in his bedroom and comes up with an idea to send Sophie to pose as his mother, announcing that he would be useless. At the palace in the capital of Kingsbury, Sophie runs into an asthmatic dog, Heen, who she thinks is Howl undercover. She also meets the Witch of the Waste, who rides on a palanquin carried by two blob men. Magical wards disintegrate the Witch's henchmen and she is forced to travel by foot. They begin to race up the stairs.
Howl (ハウル , Hauru) Takuya Kimura (Japanese), Christian Bale (English)
The protagonist of this tale. A pretty young man, Howl was rumored to eat the hearts of beautiful women. He travels throughout the land of Ingary via a magical moving castle. According to Suliman, he was a talented wizard who would've succeeded her in court, but Howl abruptly left due to his immaturity and cowardly nature. He hid himself and went under various pseudonyms such as Jenkins and Pendragon. He lived a somewhat wretched life away from society, but grew to be more humane thanks to Sophie. Howl came under contract with the fire demon Calcifer in his youth, which further increased his magical powers. However, his constant use of demonic powers proved to be dangerous, and Suliman would later warn him that he may become a demon himself. Howl happens to have a long deceased uncle who left a hidden flower garden on his study in his old cottage.
Although Howl began as a blonde, he fell into a deep depression upon seeing Sophie's cleaning which dissolved some of his magic, turning his hair black. He eventually recovered, and kept his new black hair. Whenever Howl flies to the battlefield, he transforms into a huge black swallow that possesses his human face.
Sophie Hatter (ソフィー・ハッター, Sofī Hattā) Chieko Baisho (Japanese), Emily Mortimer (young), Jean Simmons (old) (English)
Another protagonist of this tale. The eldest daughter of three sisters. She's eighteen years old and works as a needlewoman at her family's store, the "Hatter's Hat Shop", which was originally managed by her father.
She is transformed into a 90-year-old old woman by the curse of the Witch of the Waste and would later become the cleaning lady of Howl aboard his moving castle. She develops romantic feelings for Howl, who himself develops into a positive and bold character.
Moving Castle
Wizard Howl's home. Its 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 Waste 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 and Naval Transportation
Much of the film's land and naval 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. Naval battleships were used during the war, with one fleet seen leaving the harbor city of Porthaven. 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. Large aerial bombers 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, such as the flying battleship 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 in Kingsbury.
Changing One's Heart
According to French fansite Buta Connection, the film's message, "behind an apparent simplicity, is much more complex than it appears. From a simple approach to old age, we can then read several levels of reflection around appearances, pretenses and masks. In fact, Sophie is the emblematic character of this theme. She initially appears in a youthful guise, but her stepmother Honey calls her far too serious for a young girl." "After the initial shock of her metamorphosis by the Witch of the Waste, she gets used to her new body very quickly, despite her face being hollowed out with wrinkles. This curse is therefore more a burden, and gradually, Sophie adopts this tired body and deals with it pretty well, as seen in the scene with her and Markl by Star Lake, since it corresponds to his state of mind: "I don't think I have never known such peace.” "But sometimes, at key moments, Sophie lifts the spell and becomes a beautiful young girl again. When she passionately defends the young wizard, when she confesses her love to him in her dreams, or when she sleeps, others can see her in her juvenile form. But the slightest doubt, the slightest fear brings her back to her old woman's body: she confides to Howl. As she explains in a fit of anger, she feels ugly, and one can think that her appearance of an old woman thus comforts her in her vision. By accepting her beauty, her love for Hauru, she will break the spell and can finally become this beautiful young girl with whom Howl is in love.'
The Symbol of Stars
According to French fansite Buta Connection, "throughout the film, Miyazaki also leaves a common thread: the star. They appears early on in the film, when Sophie arrives in the castle. She gives Howl a small piece of paper which turns out to be a curse. We realize that it is a shooting star. Later, Suliman will attempt to trap Howl by casting a spell on him, which takes the form of a round of shooting stars encircling the wizard and Sophie. Then, our heroine will discover the key to this riddle: Calcifer was a demon in the form of a shooting star, with whom Howl will make a pact. This discovery will forever mark Sophie, whose hair will remain gray, like the color of the star, as if the discovery of the enigma were to mark her forever." "We understand then that the Witch of the Waste has always known Howl's curse too, hence her message and her interest in Calcifer. This symbolism of the star is one of the recurring themes of the story's universe: the three wise men and the polar star, the myth of Castor and Pollux turning into a star, The Little Prince. But in Howl's Moving Castle, Miyazaki once again reverses the symbolism. Where usually the star evoked hope, the fulfillment of a wish, the miracle, the star here becomes a curse, a powerful spell which pursues Howl throughout the work, and which will mark Sophie forever."
The Happy Ending
According to Buta Connection, "the most striking fact of the film remains this strange, abrupt happy ending, this semblance of "they married and lived happily ever after"! This is the first time Miyazaki has fully assumed a romantic relationship between the lead characters. But it's also probably the only time its ending seems so idyllic, stereotypical and definitive. Usually we know that, with an open ending, Miyazaki leaves it up to the spectator to imagine any follow-up to his adventure. But looking more closely at the end of Howl's Moving Castle, we can look at a few elements that can qualify this point of view." "First of all, Suliman's disconcerting attitude seems to send us a message: this terrible war is in fact only a simple battle of ego of sorcerers who play with their subjects like vulgar pawns. Suliman getting tired of this game, she decides to stop this apocalyptic war like a child stopping his game of Monopoly. The message is therefore much stronger than the apparent casualness with which Miyazaki seems to treat the subject." Then that final kiss and that idyllic vision of the little family aboard Howl's flying castle may confuse viewers. Such an easy and predictable happy ending is uncommon for the veteran director. However, as the credits roll, the final song gives some insight to the director's intent: "The outcome with the idyllic message is tinted with a new and strange nostalgia: What future then for our characters? Will an event separate Howl and Sophie? Would their love be threatened?"
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. Tankobon Hardcover edition. The first volume was published by Tokuma Shoten on May 1, 1997. Studio Ghibli originally planned to release Howl's Moving Castle simultaneously with The Cat Returns (2002), 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
On 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 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. Under the advice of the Walt Disney French distributor of Spirited Away, Miyazaki discovered the town of Colmar, in Alsace, France, and was struck by its architecture.. During the trip, the team notably visited the Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle and observed the work of local craftsmen such as hats and blacksmiths. Diana Wynne Jones approved of the choice of such an aesthetic bias, “I've never been to Alsace, but I've heard that there are landscapes straight out of a fairy tale." To amplify this French atmosphere, Miyazaki took inspiration from French illustrator and novelist Albert Robida (1848-1926). This rival of Jules Verne projected his visions of the future through novels such as The Twentieth Century, where zany romanticism and technical rigor are mixed, which also figure in Miyazaki's films. Howl's titular castle, which was barely described in the original novel, was conceptualized by Miyazaki as being made entirely of scrap iron, walkways, and has a gaping mouth spewing steam. The design is reminiscent of the creations of Jean Tinguely, a 20th-century Swiss sculptor artist. This technical challenge in animating the castle was be taken up by the team of graphic designers. The painted design is first scanned on a computer before it is broken down into several components and then pieced back together like a mosaic using Adobe Photoshop. The drawing will therefore be divided into a multitude of small fragments: the smaller the pieces, the more precise the rendering of the texture set in motion. Finally, with the Softimage software, the parts are assembled on a base polygon, paying careful attention to their order of superposition. Once the elements are in place, it is animated as a whole. In order to make the movement of the castle as realistic as possible, the graphic designers took inspiration from a full hiker bag with hanging utensils. The base polygon of the castle must make the superimposed elements move slightly offset. The castle then appeared asymmetrical, where Westerners are more accustomed to symmetrically designed buildings. As for the legs, several versions were made, such as human legs but the final design used bird's legs. Another question arose, how many legs would the castle have? The crew settled for four, as according to producer Toshio Suzuki, it was 'more practical (and cheaper) to draw'. 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.
Dubbing
Veteran actress Chieko Baisho voiced both the young and old versions of Sophie in the film when she was 63 years old. Baisho started out as a singer in 1962 and became well known for playing the role of Sakura in the long-running film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo, commonly known as Tora-San, which ran from 1969 to 1995. Takuya Kimura, a popular singer / male idol in Japan, was responsible for voicing Howl. At the time, Johnny & Associates agency, the producers of Kimura, had immense pressure over the entire Japanese audiovisual landscape and imposed his casting on Miyazaki. As for the role of the Witch of the Waste, the actor-singer-trans activist Akihiro Miwa was chosen since the character was conceived. Lastly, Ryûnosuke Kamiki was chosen for Markl and Tatsuya Gashûin was cast as Calcifer. Both actors respectively played the baby Boh and the green frog in Spirited Away. Ultimately, this desire to use actors and singers — and often well-known ones at that — over voice actors in Ghibli films does appear to satisfy both the creative desires of Miyazaki as director and promotional needs of Suzuki as producer. In the interview, given to the Guardian in 2005 ahead of the U.K. premiere of Howl’s Moving Castle, Miyazaki was commenting on the foreign actors cast for the movie's dubbed version. When the discussion turned to Lauren Bacall, who voiced the Witch of the Waste for the English-language dub, Miyazaki spoke approvingly, describing her as a “a fabulous woman”. He then went on to say, “All the Japanese female voice actors have voices that are very coquettish and wanting male attention, which was not what we wanted at all.”
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After several high-profile newspaper announcements promoting the film's success abroad at the Venice International Film Festival, not to mention the controversy surrounding the casting of Takuya Kimura, Toshio Suzuki successfully lobbied for the The film to premiere on 450 screens across Japan. The film was a smash hit, selling nearly 1.1 million tickets 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. Many critics have judged his performance below the quality expected for a Ghibli. Meanwhile, 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.
The film's various posters and advertising featured short phrases, translated here.
•"The two lived." (Shigesato Itoi)
(イメージ交響組曲ハウルの動く城 , Hauru no Ugoku Shiro Imeeji Arubamu) was a 10-track album released by Tokuma Japan Communications on January 21, 2004. It was composed by Joe Hisaishi and performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
(サウンドトラック , Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) was released by Tokuma Japan Communications on November 19, 2004. The score was composed and conducted by Joe Hisaishi, and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic.
It went on to gross $190 million in Japan and $236 million worldwide, making it one of the most commercially successful Japanese films in history. The film received critical acclaim, with particular praise toward its visuals and Miyazaki's presentation of the themes.
Jul 26, 2023 · Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) traverses several themes — humanity, selfhood, compassion and belonging. However, the film derives its most enduring message from its ideas of war and its evils.
Mar 27, 2022 · Howl's Moving Castle is no exception. With airships bobbing overhead, bustling cities filled with steampunk-like technology, and the iconic theme playing softly in the background,...
