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The movie doesn’t entirely deviate from the novel, but the scenes it chooses to exactly recreate are deliberate. Image: Studio Ghibli/GKids The movie follows the book - except when it doesn’t The Studio Ghibli version of Howl’s Moving Castle understands the strengths and weaknesses that come with an animated movie and makes changes accordingly, shifting the tone of the story, but never losing the magic. The book is droll and witty, a testament to Jones’ sharp prose the movie is gentle and graceful, a hallmark of Miyazaki’s filmmaking. The book, however, deals more with the fallout of his various love affairs, trips to our world, and cursed English homework. The Witch of the Waste is defanged as an enemy early on. Howl turns into a monstrous bird-creature to try to stop it. But almost every detail of the Studio Ghibli movie diverges from the book. The basic storyline of Howl’s Moving Castle remains the same in both versions: mild-mannered teenager Sophie gets transformed into an old lady by the envious Witch of the Waste, and meets the flamboyant wizard Howl and his wisecracking fire demon Calcifer. While they tell the same story, more or less, they tell it in starkly different ways - but the storytelling methods preserve the brilliance of both versions.
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The book’s sharp, wry storytelling has little in common with the film’s sweet sincerity. The movie creates such a lush, vibrant visual story that coming across the source material, Diana Wynne Jones’ 1986 fantasy novel, might be jarring.
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įans of Studio Ghibli’s animated feature Howl’s Moving Castle might be surprised to learn that in the original book, the castle isn’t a walking steampunk contraption, it’s a more stereotypically windy medieval fixture that just happens to have doors leading to different cities. Read all of the stories on our Ghibli Guide page. Extraordinary characters, inventive imagery, and stunning artistry make this latest masterpiece from the visionary Miyazaki an unforgettable filmgoing experience.With Studio Ghibli’s library now on digital and streaming services, we’ve surveyed the studio’s history, impact, and biggest themes. Sophie's love and support comes to have a major impact on Howl, who flies in the face of orders from the palace to become a pawn of war and instead risks his life to help bring peace to the kingdom. Embarking on an incredible odyssey to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl's magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl's apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal). Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl (voiced by Christian Bale), and is subsequently turned into a 90-year old woman (voiced by screen legend and two-time Oscar® nominee Jean Simmons) by the vain and conniving Wicked Witch of the Waste (voiced by screen legend and Oscar® nominee Lauren Bacall). Brimming with a blend of imagination, humor, action, and romance, "Howl's Moving Castle" recently played to great acclaim at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, and has become one of the biggest blockbusters of all time in Japan – earning more than $193 million at the box office and still counting.Ī distinguished cast of actors, under the direction of Pixar's Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc."), lend their vocal talents to this English-language version of the film. Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") takes moviegoers on an amazing new animated adventure that celebrates the power of love to transform and the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of adversity.