Howl's Moving Castle (2004) Review
Howl’s moving castle is such a classic that I think someone has to watch it once in a lifetime. This is also one of the most intriguing works from Studio Ghibli that its theme is quite apparent. While this is an animation, the idea that war is bad and it only creates misery for those who are not indirectly involved is there. It’s almost difficult to find faults in this animation, at least personally it was moving, intriguing and definitely piqued my interest about Hayao Miyazaki even more.
The story starts with introducing the character Sophie, a young hatter who works at a hat shop. On the way to visit her sister, she met Howl, a 20 something wizard who was on the run from the witch of waste. Howl’s was also flirting with Shopie and eventually Sophie was a target for the witch of waste and was turned into an old lady. Once youthful and beautiful, Sophie now is an old lady because of the curse of the witch of waste. She then traveled to the countryside to find Howl’s and met with another cursed scarecrow who showed her the way to meet Howl’s. Eventually, Sophie meets with the fire demon and a young looking boy Markl. While eventually working for Howl’s, she traveled around with them and Howl’s story was slowly revealed and it was later on revealed the cause of the war and that though the war stopped, there would be more reason for more wars to wage.
In my opinion, this animation was one of the hardest for me to express.I don’t think anything I write would make a lot more sense as there are plenty of layers of this animation. There’s friendship, love, war, politics all into one animation. It’s one of those animations where its message is quite hidden and it’s up to you how to interpret it. But most importantly, It’s the animation that is quite striking to me.The details that were put into it, the music and the overall aesthetic that makes this animation distinct from the other and also makes you aware that it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s work. It’s also one of my top animations and earned 8 out of 10 in my rating.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
This is my favorite anime movie. I have watched it a lot of times, I love the story and the animation. Thanks for the review of this classic film. I agree, everyone should watch it at least once, it's incredible good.
It's definitely that good. I even rewatched it more than twice too.
Es una linda animación, si hay algo que me gusta de Studio Ghibli es la música que utilizan en sus películas, una de mi banda sonora favorita es la del Castillo en el cielo. En cuanto al castillo ambulante es divertida y un poco conmovedora, pero no sé...
Me quedo con el libro.
Interesting you liked it for the same reason that I take marks away from it for. I thought the anti-war message was a little too overt and in our faces. I prefer the more subtle messages of Miyazaki's other films. It also wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly for me. "Let's call off this silly war" and that's that.
That said, I did very much enjoy the film. I will take an overt anti-war message over that pro-war crap Hollywood is constantly stuffing in our faces any day. The characters are also all wonderful, as we can expect from Miyazaki. My kids used to enjoy Ponyo the most, but I think they've moved to this one. Well, my oldest loves the Lupin film Miyazaki did too, so it might be a tie for him.
Another thing I find so interesting is that Miyazaki's work can be enjoyed by kids too. They certainly might not catch the deeper meaning from it but the fact it's kid's friendly is something. Ponyo is also wonderful animation, the characters might seem weird in that movie but I am sure, children and adults have different ways of seeing it.
Sounds like a great movie. Would love to watch that.
I thought you have watched it :D
One of the kids we work with got me into studio Ghibli movies about 4 years ago and whereas previously I dismissed all things 'cartoon' these movies are incredible in depth and complexity and I was also surprised that some were based on traditional English literature. This wasn't my favourite on first watch, but after being forced to watch two or three times, it grew on me as I kept seeing new things and details. Amazing movie.
Hope you and your family are all well Mac and having a great weekend :-)
Studio Ghibli was an exception to me. I watch a few cartoon and animation here and there but anything made from that Studio is truly exceptional. They can be enjoyed by adult and children alike and they would have completely intriguing views after watching the works. Have a great weekend ahead 😊
If you were in Bangkok still, tou could visit the interactive Studio Ghibli exhibition at Central World!
You have a great weekend too Mac :-)