Howl's Moving Castle

I'm a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki and, although Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a close second, Howl's Moving Castle has to rank as my absolute favorite of his films. This movie has lovable characters and a unique plot all within a wonderfully imaginative world. Parts of this movie may be a bit much for very small or sensitive children.

I discovered this movie by accident one day and have been trying to get it for months. If you like anime, you should give this movie a chance.

Easily one of my favorite movies. Great for all ages. Good character development and great animation. In my opinion it just doesn't get much better than this movie!

This is yet another beautifully rendered Miyazaki masterpiece about a wizard called Howl (and sometimes Jenkins . . . and sometimes Pendragon) who lives in a castle that moves across the moors (or the "waste" as it's called in this world). It can also move between cities, all through a magically color-coded door. A young girl named Sophie starts the tale. She works in a hat shop and is very shy and rather drab and very afraid of adventure. However, she winds up getting one whether she likes it or not when a witch puts a spell on her, turning her into an old woman. She goes to Howl in an attempt to get the spell taken off, but since part of the spell's magic is that she can't say she's under one, she has no choice but to remain with him in the guise of a cleaning lady until she can figure out how to get rid of it. However, she soon practically forgets all about her own spell when she realizes that Howl is trapped in a sinister spell of his own -- one that may kill him. Sophie is the only one who can find a way to save him, and somewhere along the way, she learns how to save herself.

Features the voices of Christian Bale as Howl (He even SOUNDS hot -- how does he manage that???), Blythe Danner, legendary actress Jean Simmons as Old Sophie, up and coming Emily Mortimer (Match Point) as Young Sophie, and Lauren Bacall as the witch. It's based on a book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Both are very good, but in different ways. The book is more lighthearted and has far more subplots (and at times is frankly a bit confusing). It's a bit hard to find -- I had to order it at Half.com myself to avoid paying through the nose for it, because most stores don't carry it, and neither did Amazon.com at the time. It's worth checking out if you can manage to hunt a copy down. And the movie is a DON'T MISS, for sure. Miyazaki's subplot about the war is not in the book; he invented it to help make the story more poignant, and it works -- this is another film that can be described literally as magical. You just have to see it to believe it, and believing is bliss.

Check this one out, and see for yourself how it was robbed of the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Wallace & Gromit ain't got nothing on this!

Using my 9-year old daughter's words, this movie has a bit of everything to be a great movie: romance, humor, action, story line, imagination and best graphic designs.