Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Description: 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.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay), Diana Wynne Jones (novel) (as Daiana Win Jônzu)
Stars: Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin

Photos

Trivia

Upon seeing Spirited Away (2001), Christian Bale immediately agreed to play any role in this film. He didn’t expect to get the titular role.

Sophie’s city 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 the movie is based on, the black door is actually a portal to Howl’s homeland, which is in Wales in our current time and dimension and also Christian Bale is from Wales.

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.

In the novel, Sophie actually has two sisters. The second is named Martha, who is sent to be a witch’s apprentice but finds a spell to change her appearance and switch with Lettie so that she can work in the bakery instead. So when Sophie goes to see “Lettie” at the beginning of the film, it should have actually been Martha in disguise. Martha is also the character that Markl falls in love with in the book. In the film Martha is mentioned by the shop girls, saying that Howl ate Martha’s heart, but not presented as Sophie’s sister.

In the Japanese version Chieko Baishô plays both Young and Grandma Sophie, while in the English dub it is split between Emily Mortimer as Young Sophie and Jean Simmons as Grandma Sophie.

Mamoru Hosoda was selected to direct the film but he abruptly left the project. Hayao Miyazaki then took up the director’s role.